Most COVID-19 indicators in Windsor-Essex have nearly tripled in the last week.
The case rate is now 37.3 per 100,000 resident, while last week it was 12.7. The percentage of tests coming back positive has also tripled and is now 3.6 per cent.
On Friday, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit reported 45 new cases in the region. Among the new cases, 14 are close contacts of previously confirmed infections, 13 are community-acquired, and one case is travel-related. Case and contact management staff continue to investigate 17 cases.
There are 193 active cases now and, of those, 81 involve a variant of concern.
Hospitalizations remain low with only four patients in the hospital being treated for the virus. None of the patients are in the ICU.
Vaccination rates have hit a plateau. About 1,100 doses are being given out daily. To date, 77.1 per cent of eligible residents have been partially vaccinated and 69.2 per cent have received both doses.
"We have lower vaccination rates than we should and that is worrisome going into a fourth wave certainly," said Health Unit CEO Nicole Dupuis. "We need to do everything we can to prevent the very large impact of that."
Dupuis said as the fourth wave is quickly approaching it is more important than ever to get vaccinated if you haven't done so already.
"Continue to adhere to public health measures including masking, keeping a distance of two metres from those outside your household and washing and sanitizing," said Dupuis.
Moving forward, there will be different isolation recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
"For those who are fully vaccinated, and are identified as close contacts of someone with COVID-19, they may, based on the investigation, not be required to self-isolate the full 10-14 days," said Dupuis.
Unvaccinated individuals, including children who are unable to get the vaccine, will still be required to isolate, potentially up to 20 days, if they are identified as a close contact.
