Five new COVID-19 cases in Windsor-essex as region heads ‘in the right direction’
Five more local residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the Windsor-essex County Health Unit reported Wednesday.
Three of the five new cases are among health-care workers, according to Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health. The remaining two contracted the disease through community spread.
“Over the last month or so, what we have seen is the community transmission going down ... dropping down to between roughly 20 per cent and 30 per cent of our cases, which is a good sign,” Ahmed said during the health unit’s daily news conference.
“We would like to still see that number going down significantly. We cannot eliminate community transmission as long as COVID -19 exists in this community.”
Ahmed said the community is “heading in the right direction,” despite some recent spikes in positive tests.
Many of those cases were among close contacts of individuals who had previously tested positive for COVID-19, he said.
“We hope that if everyone is following the public health recommendations we will be in a better spot soon.”
As of Wednesday morning, 982 local residents have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, 566 individuals have recovered, 307 are self-isolating, and 20 are in the hospital. The status of 22 cases is currently unknown to the health unit.
To date, 66 people have lost their lives due to complications from the disease. No new deaths were reported on Wednesday.
Two long-term care homes remain in outbreak: Chartwell Royal Oak in Kingsville where one resident tested positive and Heron Terrace in Windsor where 70 residents and 34 staff members tested positive.
Windsor Regional Hospital announced on Wednesday a reduction in operating hours at its COVID-19 assessment centre. Starting Thursday, the assessment centre will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday due to lower volumes of individuals seeking a swab test in the evening.
The centre had been operating form 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays.
Saturday and Sunday hours remain from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The drive-thru COVID -19 testing station held in Essex on Tuesday saw more than 500 individuals swabbed for the virus.
Additional random drive-thru testing was performed at the Kingsville Recreational Sports Field from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Nationwide, 92,410 individuals have tested positive for the COVID-19. Of those, 28,709 live in Ontario.
Michigan has recorded 57,731 cases, and Detroit has 11,068 of them. The United States has 1,831,821 cases.
Worldwide cases have surpassed 6,400,000.