Windsor-Essex surpasses 500 active COVID-19 cases as outbreaks increase

Windsor-Essex is continuing to see the number of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks rise, according to the latest data from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

The health unit reported 213 new cases since Friday. Of those, 57 cases were reported Saturday, and 88 cases were reported Sunday and 68 were reported Monday.

Throughout the region, a dozen people who have COVID-19 are in hospital.

The number of active cases, which has climbed throughout the month following the loosening of restrictions in mid-July, stood at 518 as of Monday. That figure includes 330 cases involving COVID-19 variants of concern.

By comparison, on July 16, when the province moved to Step 3 of its reopening framework, Windsor-Essex had just 21 cases.

The number of outbreaks has grown from 10 to 15 since Friday. All but two of the active outbreaks involve the delta variant, which experts say is more transmissible than the original strain.

One of the new outbreaks is taking place at Southwest Detention Centre and an outbreak has been newly declared at Ciociaro Club in Tecumseh. Another ongoing outbreak is tied to a wedding that took place in Kingsville and Tecumseh.

There are 12 outbreaks ongoing at workplaces:

• One construction workplace in Windsor. 
• One food and beverage workplace in Leamington. 
• One food and beverage workplace in Kingsville.
• Five health-care and social assistance workplaces in Windsor. 
• Two health-care and social assistance workplaces in Kingsville
• One manufacturing workplace in Windsor. 
• One professional services workplace in Windsor.

COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton

In Sarnia-Lambton, one person has newly tested positive, and 18 cases of COVID-19 are active overall.

In Chatham-Kent, the number of COVID-19 cases has grown to 52. The public health unit reported an increase of seven new cases since Friday.