Health unit reports 93 new cases of COVID-19
A local spike in COVID-19 cases indicates Windsor-essex could be heading down the same dangerous path other regions in Ontario have been on for weeks, the local medical officer of health says.
The Windsor-essex County Health Unit on Thursday reported 93 new infections, a large jump from case counts recorded over the last seven days when the average daily increase was about 45.
“We need to be vigilant,” said Dr. Wajid Ahmed. “We need to be cautious in everything we are doing. We need to make sure that we are following the public health guidelines to ensure the safety of our own self, our family, and for the entire community.”
Ontario broke its own single-day record on Thursday with 4,736 new cases. The rolling seven-day provincial average now stands at about 4,208. Toronto reported 983 of those cases, followed by Peel Region with 526 and York Region with 216.
The number of people being treated for the disease in Ontario intensive care units has surpassed 650 for the first time. According to the province, there are 1,932 people with COVID-19 in hospitals, and at least 659 of them are in ICU.
In Windsor-essex, 19 people who have tested positive are in hospital, and four of them are in intensive care.
“I still believe we can avoid a major surge of cases in Windsor-essex,” Ahmed said. “It is absolutely critical that we must do our part and follow the public health measures.”
Although some residents are being protected by COVID-19 vaccines, not enough have been inoculated to prevent widespread transmission, he said. Physical distancing, face masks, and frequent hand washing are still important, as is avoiding contact with anyone who you do not live with.
“We have an opportunity as a community to come out stronger when the stay-at-home order is lifted.”
Of the 93 new cases reported locally, 36 were close contacts of confirmed cases, 28 were attributed to community spread, one was related to an outbreak, and one caught the virus while in Michigan. The sources of transmission for the remaining 27 cases were still under investigation by public health unit staff at the time of reporting.
Ahmed said the health unit had no reason to believe the sudden spike of 93 cases was related to any possible delays at the lab that processes local test specimens. When such delays have happened in the past and caused days-worth of test results to become available at once, the labs have notified the health unit.
To date, 14,602 local residents have tested positive for COVID -19. Of those, 13,741 are considered resolved, 452 are active, and 409 died as a result of the disease.
Windsor Regional Hospital has temporarily reopened its second COVID-19 assessment centre. Located at Met campus, the facility was closed earlier this year amid lower testing volumes, but reopened on Tuesday and Thursday this week, largely to allow for asymptomatic testing of students and education staff during the April break.
The hospital will keep the Met campus assessment centre open on Friday as well for students and school staff, but also for those with COVID-19 symptoms who meet the criteria for testing.
To book a test, visit the hospital website, wrh.on.ca. Testing is available to those who have COVID -19 symptoms which include but are not limited to cough, shortness of breath, fever, headache, and loss of taste or smell.