Key metrics in this week's epidemiological summary charting progress against COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex appear to point in the right direction.
According to the summary, the high-risk case rate continues to fall, hospitalizations are stable, and the viral load in wastewater dropped again in the past week.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit charts the high-risk rate at 51.8 for every 100,000 residents, a decline of 47.8 per cent from the week before. It now sits at about the provincial average.
Of the 2,000 tests for the virus performed between May 16 and May 22, the percentage of positive tests hasn't changed for four weeks. On May 3, the health unit reported that 6.9 per cent of tests were positive.
Windsor-Essex hospitalization rates are below the provincial average and stable, although admissions to intensive care were up slightly. Thirty-three new patients were admitted to one of the region's hospitals with COVID-19, compared to 34 the previous week.
Public health officials continue to stress the importance of vaccination. However, the number of people who receive a shot has continued to decline in the past month. Between April 25 and May 1, 3,774 got one compared to 3,032 this past week, a decrease of 19.6 per cent. The vaccination rate has barely budged. About 52 per cent of residents over the age of 12 have had a third dose.
In its final COVID-19 public health update Thursday, the health unit reported a total of 35 new high-risk cases of COVID-19, with 22 on Wednesday and 13 Thursday. There are 25 active high-risk cases.
Two people have died since Tuesday, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 80s, both living in the community, bringing the Windsor-Essex death toll to 625.
As of 3 p.m. Thursday, hospitals were reporting a total of 34 patients being treated for COVID-19. Windsor Regional Hospital was caring for 29 of them, with 15 primarily admitted with the virus. Twenty-six of those patients have been fully vaccinated. At Erie Shores HealthCare, there were five people admitted, none primarily for COVID-19.
