Provided by the Windsor Essex County Health Unit. Provided by the Windsor Essex County Health Unit.
Windsor

COVID-19 case rate still on the rise in Windsor-Essex

Despite a stay-at-home order being in effect for two weeks, case rates continue to rise in Windsor-Essex.

Over the last seven days, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit saw a case rate of 95.9 cases per 100,000 residents. That’s an increase from an 86.6 case rate reported last week.

The percentage of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 over the last seven days is about the same as last week at 5.8 per cent.

"With at least two week in since the stay-at-home order came into effect we should start to see some stabilization or trending down. But I do worry that if people are complacent and people are not following these precautions things can get really bad,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed.

On Friday, the health unit reported 62 new cases of COVID-19 in the region. Among the new infections, 28 were contacts of previously confirmed cases and 10 were community-acquired. The health unit continues to investigate 24 cases.

There are 485 people who are currently positive for COVID-19. Among these active cases, 164 have been identified as variants of concern.

“I don't want people to be complacent and think that we have things under control. These variants definitely have the potential to turn things around and increase at a rapid rate in our region. We know that almost one third of our cases that are currently active are variants of concern and it’s not the time to let our guards down,” said Dr. Ahmed.

The health unit is monitoring 11 active outbreaks in the community. A new outbreak has been declared at a long-term care facility in the community. Three staff cases at Extendicare Southwood Lakes have been identified.  The health unit could not say whether or not these staff members had been vaccinated.

“The risk is deemed to be low given the interaction and the type of exposure that happened. But, recognizing the spread can be very quick, that’s why we have declared the outbreak and are managing it as such,” said Dr. Ahmed.

The health unit is also monitoring nine workplace outbreaks.

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