The COVID-19 case rate in Windsor-Essex has doubled in the last week.
There are now 12.7 cases per 100,000 residents. The number of tests coming back positive has also increased slightly and is now 1.2 per cent.
The Windsor Essex County Health Unit reported another 20 new cases on Friday.
"Generally [the new cases] are still among the household. Most of these exposures are happening in their houses, but also in places that are currently open in Step 3," said Medical Officer Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
There are now 79 active cases in the community and 32 of them involve a variant of concern. The Alpha variant has been the most prevalent in the region but Dr. Ahmed says the Delta variant is starting to take hold.
"People need to be mindful, this is a much more transmissible strain and we need to be fully vaccinated to protect ourselves and to break the chain of transmission," said Dr. Ahmed.
Two of the three active workplace outbreaks involve the Delta variant.
The health unit also reported one additional death in the region. A 70-year-old woman, who was unvaccinated, passed away after contracting the virus. There have been 436 deaths in the region connected to COVID-19.
Local hospitals are treating three patients for the virus, one of them is in the intensive care unit.
The vaccination rate in the region continues to plateau. This week only around 1,300 doses were administered daily while last week there were around 2,100.
To date, 546,693 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the region. Around 76.4 per cent of eligible residents have been partially vaccinated and 67.6 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The health unit estimates there are over 64,000 adults in Windsor-Essex who have not been vaccinated.
