After a few hours with no outbreaks, WECHU reports cases at a retirement home

Hours after the health unit announced that there were no active COVID-19 outbreaks at seniors' homes in Windsor-Essex, a retirement home went into outbreak. 

Following the Wednesday briefing, where health officials said the region reached a milestone — Dolce Vita Retirement home in Windsor went into outbreak around 3 p.m., the health unit told CBC News in an email. The home has three resident cases.

Earlier this year, about 20 facilities were experiencing outbreaks at the same time. Of the 388 people in the region who have lost their lives to COVID-19 since the pandemic began, 237 were residents or staff at long-term care and retirement homes.

Since January, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has administered thousands of COVID-19 vaccines at long-term care and retirement facilities, and the vast majority of residents who want the vaccine have received it.

The health unit announced 10 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the lowest daily increase since early November. It also announced one additional death, a man in his 70s who lived in a long-term care home.

There are currently 262 active cases of the disease in the community. 

The health unit says there are 12 COVID-19 outbreaks, including two at Windsor Regional Hospital and two at shelters serving the homeless population — the Downtown Mission and Salvation Army.

Those outbreaks prompted the city to open the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre as an emergency shelter last week. In a news release on Wednesday, the city said 35 people have stayed at the temporary shelter to date.

Outbreaks are active at five workplaces: one in Leamington's agricultural sector, two in Windsor's health-care and social assistance sector, one in Windsor's repair and maintenance sector and another in Windsor's manufacturing sector.

A new COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at a school. The outbreak is affecting one cohort at École Élémentaire Catholique Monseigneur-Jean-Noël.

At least two cases have been diagnosed within a single classroom, according to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. Students in that class had already been sent home and asked to isolate for 14 days and get tested.

COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent

One new COVID-19 case was recorded Wednesday in Sarnia-Lambton. There are 65 active cases.

Chatham-Kent did not provide an online update on new cases due to system maintenance. The municipality saw no new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The number of active infections fell from 15 to 13.