While the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit welcomes new capacity limits at concerts and sporting events, it wishes the province would implement other restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant, including limits at retail stores.
Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai said leaving it up to public health units to impose local restrictions creates a patchwork of rules across the province.
Residents in Windsor-Essex are urged to keep their indoor social gatherings to just ten people. Local restaurants and bars can only admit half of their capacity. However, those rules are not applied in many other parts of the province.
Now that the holiday season is upon us, people will be travelling, possibly increasing the spread of COVID-19 from one region to another.
"I would appeal to the province to act and act as quickly as possible," said Nesathurai. "My concern is the chain of transmission will not be sufficiently broken with the measures that are put forth. Vaccination will help -- but it will take many weeks for that benefit to come to fruition."
On Wednesday, the province also announced it was opening up appointments for booster shots against COVID-19 to all adults on Monday.
Again, Nesathurai welcomes the province's move, but he's concerned about the spread in the meantime.
"You can't vaccinate everyone in one day, and there's a time lag between the vaccine and the time that you can benefit," he explained. "And if you're not vaccinated, and you get your vaccine today, wait for your second injection, a number of weeks, and then wait two weeks. And then, you'll get some level of reasonable protection."
In Windsor-Essex, only those 50 and older can book appointments at the mass vaccination clinic at Devonshire Mall, and there are no spots available until after Christmas. CEO Nicole Dupuis said the health unit would look for ways to increase the number of appointments, but first, it needs to increase capacity.
The mass vaccination clinic at the Libro Credit Union Centre in Amherstburg, March 29, 2021. (Photo by Maureen Revait)
Up to 2,000 people can be vaccinated a day at the mass vaccination clinic, but the health unit hopes family doctors will administer more vaccines.
Dupuis said opening up other mass vaccination clinics is a real possibility, but the health unit also needs people to staff those sites.
Already, workers are being redeployed from case and contact management to help at the existing vaccine clinic, but the health unit might ask dentists for help. It's also talking to officials at the Schulich School of Medicine at the University of Windsor. Even volunteers may be pressed into service.
"The number of people we would need is also contingent on space," Dupuis said. "We're still working on plans for additional spaces, but the general message is that we're looking for everyone and anyone to be part of this."
Windsor-Essex currently has the fourth-highest case rate in the province, with 137 cases of COVID-19 for every 100,000 residents. Last week, the Kingston area was fourth with 115. Just an indication of how fast the Omicron variant spreads, Kingston is first this week with 426.3 in the past seven days, according to the Kingston Frontenac Area Public Health Unit.
Thursday's daily case count was 109. Forty-six cases are under investigation, but public health officials know 36 resulted from close contact, 24 from community spread. Two more are related to travel, and one is outbreak-related.
There are 654 active cases in the region, and 41 people are in local hospitals with the virus.
Thirteen schools have outbreaks of the virus. The latest additions to the list are Maranatha Christian Academy, St. Theresa of Calcutta Catholic Elementary, Bellewood Public School, John Campbell Public School, and East Mersea Public School. They continue at Stella Maris Catholic Elementary, St. Anne French Immersion Catholic Elementary, Margaret D. Bennie Public School, D.M. Eagle Public School, Hugh Beaton Public School, Our Lady of Annunciation Catholic Elementary and Leamington District Secondary School.
There are 12 workplace outbreaks, five in the community, and at two long-term care or retirement homes; County Village Health Care and Sun Parlour Home for Senior Citizens.
Meanwhile, Canada has had 30,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Ontario recorded nine new deaths today pushing the national total to its new grim milestone.
The province also reported 2,421 new cases and there are now 14,065 active cases.
