With Easter weekend coming up, the CEO at Erie Shores Healthcare hopes people do not take COVID-19 for granted.
Cases were down significantly last week, but on Saturday, Windsor-Essex recorded 59 new infections and one new death, bringing the region's death toll to 402.
Kristin Kennedy at the hospital in Leamington fears people will forget the dangers, pushing the daily caseload up further.
"It is concerning that we will have larger groups of individuals possibly congregating like we did at Christmas. We saw the results of that," she said. "We would suggest strongly that we do our due diligence."
Due diligence would mean meeting with family members virtually instead of in-person and keeping the circle of those we see small.
"Hopefully, the weather is good, and we can be outside. But, we really need to practice our social distancing," Kennedy reminded the public.
The second wave of the pandemic gathered steam following the Christmas season, and many public health officials warn the third wave is already underway.
On Monday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported 37 new cases of COVID-19. Ten people caught it from close contact with another infected person. Community spread accounts for nine infections, and one is related to one of the region's 11 outbreaks. The health unit is still investigating another 17 instances.
There are currently 293 active infections in the region, and public health officials have identified 61 cases involving a variant of the virus.
