The manager of epidemiology at the Windsor Essex County Health Unit believes the region is on the "precipice" of a third wave.
"Windsor-Essex currently, at the moment, has not entered the third wave but remains on the precipice," said Ramsey D'Souza, manager of epidemiology for the health unit. "Our case rates and seven-day averages remain high for the region which is keeping us in the red."
The case rate in Windsor-Essex has remained consistently high since the second wave ended in the first week of February.
D'Souza indicated case rates, seven-day moving averages and hospitalization rates are increasing throughout the province indicating the start of the third wave.
"We may not be there just yet, and it's up to us as a region to make sure that we are following all the measures so that way we can continue to have a downward trend from the second wave," said D'Souza.
Hospitalizations have gone down considerably since the end of the second wave. There are currently 23 people in local hospitals who have tested positive for COVID-19, and four of those are receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
On Thursday, the health unit reported 30 new cases of the virus. Among the new cases, 10 are close contacts of confirmed cases, seven are outbreak-related, seven are community-acquired, and six are still under investigation. There are now 279 active cases in the community.
It's expected the region will remain in the red zone after weekly figures are evaluated by the province.