The Windsor Essex County Health Unit reported a spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday morning.
There were 76 new cases in the region. However, that represents two days of data. Of the 76 cases, 33 should have been reported on Tuesday when zero cases were reported, while 43 are Wednesday's cases.
There are 328 active cases in the community. Local hospitals are treating 43 patients with COVID-19, and 10 of those are in the intensive care unit.
Outbreaks in the community have gone down significantly over the last week. There are 11 active outbreaks in Windsor-Essex right now. Of those, six are in long-term care or retirement facilities, two are in workplaces, and three are in the community.
Two of the community outbreaks are at the Downtown Mission and Salvation Army. There have been 65 cases linked to these outbreaks.
Vaccination efforts continue throughout the community. To date, 9,888 people have been fully vaccinated and another 2,191 have received a single dose of the vaccine.
A shipment of 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived at Windsor Regional Hospital on Wednesday. Those doses will continue to go to front-line health care workers, designated essential caregivers of long-term care residents, and people in chronic home health care. The doses will allow Windsor Regional Hospital to complete second doses for all 7,000 individuals who received a first dose from the hospital. Some additional first doses will also be given out with these doses.
“The goal is to complete the ‘immediate priority’ groups as set by the Province by the end of February 2021 and be able to start on the ‘next priority’ starting in early March 2021. All of this will be done based on discussions with, and at the direction of, the Province of Ontario and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit,” said David Musyj, President and CEO, Windsor Regional Hospital.
The health unit continues to develop plans for mass vaccination clinics and the next phase of vaccine delivery which will include seniors in the community over the age of 80. Announcements surrounding how those vaccines will be administered are coming in the next week.
