Three weeks into the new year, Windsor-Essex has already had over 100 different outbreaks of COVID-19.
As of Thursday morning, 23 of the total 81 current outbreaks in the region are in long-term care homes.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit said three more seniors succumbed to the virus. That is 16 fatalities so far this week.
The three, two men and a woman between 70 and 90, lived in the community. They were among 75 deaths across Ontario.
The health unit also reported 324 new cases in high-risk settings and 3,844 active infections across Windsor-Essex.
Public health officials have warned daily case counts are very likely an under-representation of the true rate of infection in the community now that testing is limited.
Provincially, there were 7,757 new cases.
As the province prepared to announce a relaxing of current public health restrictions, Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai told reporters area hospitals are at 95 per cent capacity.
In area hospitals, 125 people tested positive for the virus.
Sixty-seven are receiving treatment primarily for COVID-19 at Windsor Regional, and there are 13 patients at Erie Shores Healthcare that have either tested positive or are waiting for results.
Ontario hospitals are treating 4,061 people for the virus, a slight dip from Wednesday's count of 4,132. There are 594 people in intensive care units.
As of next week, the health unit will change the metrics it uses to communicate the burden of illness. It will rely more on hospitalizations, wastewater testing results, and absenteeism.
