The region's Acting Medical Officer of Health will watch local COVID-19 case numbers closely once the U.S. border reopens to Canadian travellers next week.
The border will be open for the first time since March 2020 to Canadians who wish to visit family and friends, shop, or vacation on November 8.
"I am hopeful the number of cases will remain under control," said Doctor Shanker Nesathurai.
Michigan reported 8,078 new cases for last Thursday and Friday last week, an average of over 4,000 per day. The state's health department only releases those numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Should Windsor-Essex see a spike in infections, Nesathurai said the health unit will "reformulate its public health plans."
"We always keep every option open and available to us," he explained. "What we're doing currently is to monitor the situation, and I know the federal and provincial authorities are also monitoring the situation, and then we'll make decisions based on the data that is available at that point in time."
As of Monday, 81.5 per cent of residents who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine had had two doses, and 5,099 people had received a booster shot.
CEO Nicole Dupuis said people are still going to the mass vaccination clinic at Devonshire Mall for their first dose, and uptake at the mobile vaccination clinic has been encouraging.
The health unit reported 70 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend. There were 18 on Saturday, 31 yesterday, and 21 Monday morning.
Of those, public health officials are still investigating where 15 people were infected. Two cases are related to travel. Community transmission accounts for another 17, while close contact with another person who has tested positive is blamed for 36.
The number of active cases in the region is now 195, an increase of 21 from Friday. Of those infections, 110 involve a variant of concern.
There are nine active outbreaks in Windsor-Essex. Two are at schools, Princess Elizabeth Public School in Windsor and Tecumseh Vista Academy. There are five in the community and two at area workplaces.
Meanwhile, the province topped another milestone in the pandemic since its start almost 20 months ago. It reported 422 new cases on Monday morning for a total of 600,377 since March 2020. There were three new deaths from the virus, and there are 3,159 active cases province-wide.
