There are almost 100 active cases of COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent following the Labour Day long weekend.
Forty-seven new cases were reported by the CK public health unit since Friday, along with 26 resolved cases. That brings the active case count up to 98.
The last time there were more than 98 active COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent was back on March 25, 2021.
There is also a new outbreak, with two patients on the Medicine Unit at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance site in Chatham testing positive. While an outbreak is declared, there will be no visitors or care partners allowed for patients on the Medicine Unit.
The CKHA said they are workly closely with CKPHU to manage the outbreak. CK Public Health is communicating with the impacted patients and families for contract tracing.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 went up by three over the weekend to nine -- two of those patients are in the ICU and none of them are are fully vaccinated. That has Dr. David Colby, the local Medical Officer of Health, reminding people why it's so important to get the vaccine.
"People who are unvaccinated have a 30-fold higher risk of being in the hospital, and a 40-fold higher risk of being in the ICU, compared to the fully vaccinated," he said.
The vaccine passport is set to go into effect in Ontario on September 22, but Dr. Colby says even after that happens, we will still need to wear masks in indoor settings.
"I think we need everything at our disposal right now," Colby added. "Everybody would just love to look forward to the time when we don't have to do these kinds of things, but right now there's still virus around."
Colby said the Delta-variant is so transmissible, masks will still be required to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
"We're really going to need to minimize our number of day-to-day contacts on an overall basis across Ontario," said Dr. Colby. "Get vaccinated and wear masks until this wave is over."