96 COVID-19 cases in Windsor-Essex Wednesday, another death

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is reporting 96 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, and another person has lost their life due to the disease. 

A woman in her 80s is the latest victim of the disease locally, bringing the total number of people who have died locally to 483. 

On Tuesday it was shared that three other people had died due to COVID-19, including a woman in her 20s. 

During a media briefing Wednesday, WECHU would not provide any details about those individuals, including whether they were vaccinated or not. Acting medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai did say that since August, about 45 people have died locally due to the illness, and about two-thirds were unvaccinated. 

The remaining one-third had "some level of medical problems, many significant," he said. 

The doctor explained that some people may be immunocompromised due to other health issues, and on medications that can impact the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

He said a few deaths are being reported every week, and each week a few of these deaths could have been prevented with vaccines. 

Locally, 50,000 people eligible for a vaccine remain unvaccinated, according to the health unit. 

"I would ask every person who knows someone who is not vaccinated to at least have a dialogue with them about why they are not vaccinated," said Nesathurai. 

Currently, there are 37 people in hospital with COVID-19 and 14 people in the ICU. 

Nesathurai and WECHU CEO Nicole Dupuis stressed the fact that this burden on the healthcare system prevents people with other ailments from getting the care they need. 

Cases surging amid first Omicron detection

As of Wednesday, there are 636 active cases in the community of Windsor-Essex. 

The first case of Omicron was detected in the region Tuesday, however public health believes the variant was already present in the community. 

Nesathurai said public health knew this variant would be "dominant" given the doubling rate of infection compared to Delta. 

Calls have been growing for the province to expand booster access further to the protect against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

Locally, Dupuis said priorities include getting those who have not been vaccinated a first and second dose, and getting a third dose to those age 50 and up. Eligibility for this group opened on Monday. 

Local outbreaks

There are 18 workplace and community outbreaks in Windsor-Essex. 

Two long-term care homes, Country Village Health Care and Sun Parlor Home for Senior Citizens, are also under an outbreak. 

Eleven schools are currently under outbreak:

• Stella Maris Catholic School.
• St. Anne French Immersion Catholic School.
• Margaret D. Bennie Public School.
• Leamington District Secondary School.
• Our Lady of Annunciation Catholic School.
• Hugh Beaton Public School.
• Maranatha Christian Academy.
• Centennial Central Public School
• St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic School.
• Bellewood Public School.
• John Campbell Public School.

According to WECHU, when a case is identified at a school or child-care centre, an investigation is launched to determine if others may have been impacted. 

If there's evidence of the virus spreading, a dismissal of classes or cohorts will take place. This may also include bus cohorts or extracurricular program cohorts. 

However, having a dismissal does not always mean there is an outbreak. More information can be found here. 

COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton

Sarnia-Lambton has 94 active cases and six outbreaks as of Wednesday, according to Lambton Public Health. 

Chatham-Kent Public Health reported an increase of 18 new cases Wednesday and 144 active cases for the region. Twelve people are in hospital with COVID-19.