15,000 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex

Windsor-Essex has now had more than 15,000 COVID-19 cases diagnosed since the pandemic began over a year ago.

The 57 new cases announced by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) on Thursday brought the total to 15,022.

Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the region's medical officer of health, said it's unfortunate that cases continue to rise but said vaccines are a "silver lining." He said over 31 per cent of the local population has now received at least one shot.

"We are covering a large number of people,"  he said, adding that vaccines alone aren't enough to stop the spread of the virus.

The health unit also reported one additional death, that of a woman in her 80s who died of COVID-19 complications after contracting the virus months ago. She was the 412th resident to die after contracting COVID-19.

Overall, 478 COVID-19 cases are active in the region, 141 of which involve the more contagious mutations of the virus known as variants of concern.

As of Thursday,144,405 vaccine doses have been administered and 130,897 people have gotten at least one dose.

Of the 57 new cases announced Thursday, 22 were close contacts of previously confirmed cases, 10 were community acquired, one was outbreak related, another was tied to travel outside North America and the remainder are under investigation.

Outbreaks are active across nine settings, including one new one at a school.

The outbreak at Amherstburg Public School, which like other schools has been closed since before the April break, involves two cases.  

Ahmed said the outbreak was declared after a second case was discovered that had no known source and it was "reasonable to consider"  that there could have been transmission.

The outbreak is contained and it should be cleared in the next few days, he said.

There are also eight outbreaks at workplaces:

• Two in Leamington's agriculture sector.
• One in Windsor's construction sector.
• Three in Windsor's health care and social assistance sector.
• One in Windsor's manufacturing sector.
• One in Tecumseh's manufacturing sector.

COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton

Lambton Public Health reported 17 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. Overall, there are 79 active cases and four outbreaks are active.

There were nine new cases in Chatham-Kent and 36 cases active overall. More than 30,000 people in the region have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. David Colby, medical officer of health for Chatham-Kent, said at a media briefing Thursday that the municipality has seen a reduction in the supply of Moderna vaccine, which is affecting other health units across the province, but he doesn't believe it will have a significant impact on the rollout.

He also mentioned that officials plan to hold more mobile vaccination clinics in Chatham-Kent, saying that two recent events, one in Highgate and one in Wheatley, were successful.