Health officials report more than 60 new cases for third time this week
The Windsor-essex County Health Unit reported 63 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the third time this week that single-day case counts have surpassed 60.
Thirteen of the cases are close contacts of people who previously tested positive, two are farm workers and three are attributed to community spread. The transmission source for the remaining 45 cases is still under investigation by public health staff.
To date, 3,801 residents of Windsor-essex have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The health unit on Thursday reported two cases previously identified locally had been transferred to another health unit jurisdiction.
There are 415 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
The backlog of cases still under investigation by public health staff is anticipated to soon diminish as 28 workers sent by the province to help with contact tracing and case management in Windsor and Essex County begin operations this week.
Health unit CEO Theresa Marentette on Wednesday said she expects it will take seven to 10 days for staff to have a better handle on the workload as new cases continue to mount.
Thursday's infection number ties Saturday's for the region's third-highest single-day case count — as reported during the health unit's morning briefings — since the pandemic began in March. On Tuesday, 62 cases were reported.
No additional outbreaks were declared on Thursday, although 19 locations in various sectors throughout the community are currently under outbreak. They include seven workplaces, five longterm care homes and two lodging complexes in Windsor.
Hotel-dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital both have active COVID-19 outbreaks and, in response, have implemented a no-visitor policy at all locations, among other precautionary measures.
The health unit continues to monitor outbreaks at three Windsor schools. On Wednesday, it declared an outbreak at Corpus Christi Catholic Middle School's Central Park Athletics campus, where seven students have tested positive. So far, virus transmission is limited to one class cohort, the members of which were dismissed and directed to self-isolate and monitor themselves for symptoms.
F. W. Begley Public School and W. J. Langlois Catholic Elementary School remain closed. Their outbreaks were declared on Nov. 17 and Nov. 19, respectively, more than two weeks ago, but public health has not yet given either school community the green light to return to in-class learning. The health unit said it is working with the school boards on a return-to-school plan.
The Windsor-essex Catholic District School Board on Wednesday dismissed a class of 23 students from St. Pius X Catholic Elementary School in Tecumseh and a class of 10 students from St. Anne Catholic High School in Lakeshore after receiving notification of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
A student at Forest Glade Public School in Windsor also tested positive on Wednesday, according to the Greater-essex County District School Board's website.
No additional COVID-19 deaths were reported Thursday. There are 22 people in hospital with the disease, five of them in the intensive care unit.