The Medical Officer of Health for Windsor Essex is issuing a new order to make sure people who are positive for COVID-19 are self-isolating.
Under the new Section 22 order, anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who has symptoms and has been tested is required to self isolate. The order will give the health unit another tool to penalize an individual should they not follow instructions given by the health unit.
“If they ignore the order we will be in the position where we see community spread again and adding on top of that is the new variant of concern that some of the other regions are seeing. So having this order in place will help us to give out a clear message and allows us enforcement if necessary,” said Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
The order also requires individuals to provide the health unit with contact information for anyone who is considered a close contact.
“We do hope that this tool will allow us to do better case containment in the community so we don’t get to the point of wide-spread community transmission again,” said Dr. Ahmed.
The new order comes into effect on February 1, 2021. If people are found to be acting against the order, fines up to $5,000 could be issued.
“We do want people to comply voluntarily. It’s not the intention to start issuing tickets, it doesn’t benefit anyone. I think it’s just about sending a clear message with some potential consequences if, despite those messages, someone is intentionally not interested in following the public health guidelines,” said Dr. Ahmed.
On Thursday, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit reported 53 new cases of the virus in the community. There are now 821 known active cases of COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex.
The health unit also reported a man in his 70s passed away after contracting COVID-19. There have been 304 deaths in Windsor-Essex connected to COVID-19 since March 2020.