30 New Cases Of COVID-19, 1 New Death, 1 New Outbreak In Windsor Essex As Of Wednesday

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The Windsor Essex County Health Unit has confirmed 30 new cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the local total to 2,275. They say 1,440 people locally have recovered.

Cases increased from 2,245 on Tuesday July 28th to 2,275 on Wednesday July 29th and 712 people are currently self-isolating with COVID-19.

The Health Unit says 3 of the 30 cases are agri-farm workers, 14 cases are from the community, and 13 cases are still under investigation.

There has been one additional death in due to COVID-19 as of Wednesday bringing the local death toll to 71. Dr. Wajid Ahmed, Medical Officer of Health says a woman in her 80s passed away in hospital on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, 14 people are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Windsor Essex, according to the Health Unit, and 7 hospitalizations are listed at Windsor Regional Hospital.

The Health Unit lists Chartwell Leamington, Village of Aspen Lake and Augustine Villas as still under outbreak, with two positive staff cases from each.

Workplace Outbreaks

As of Tuesday, the Health Unit listed the following under outbreak:

• 6 farms (4 in Kingsville and 2 in Leamington)
• 5 manufacturing facilities (2 in Windsor, 1 in Tecumseh, 1 in Leamington, and 1 in Kingsville)

As of Wednesday, the Health Unit says the following are under outbreak:

• 6 farms (4 in Kingsville and 2 in Leamington)
• 5 manufacturing facilities (2 in Windsor, 1 in Tecumseh, 1 in Leamington, and 1 in Kingsville)
• 1 construction company in Leamington

A workplace outbreak is declared when two or more employees test positive for COVID-19 within a reasonable timeline to suspect transmission in the workplace, according to the Health Unit. Officials with the Health Unit have said a workplace will only be named if a threat to the public exists.

Cases On The Rise

Dr. Ahmed says cases are on the rise within the City of Windsor and physical distancing and other public health measures remain the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19.

He says months ago positive cases had around two to three close contacts while recently that number has increased to in excess of five or six, which are converting into cases.

“So basically that is telling us that people are not following the recommendations,” he said.

Dr. Ahmed also made reference to people feeling like the threat of COVID-19 has diminished.

“As more businesses are opening and we’re talking about getting back to normal, it’s making people think that the threat is gone,” he said. “But actually it’s not, it still exits and it’s much more likely that you may come in contact with someone who is a positive case.”

“A couple of months ago when everything was practically shut down, the likelihood of anyone COVID positive spending time outdoors or going into any [businesses] was low to none,” he said. “But now with the reopening and more opportunities for people to congregate, the likelihood of anyone coming in contact with a COVID positive person has actually increased much more than a couple of months ago.”

Dr. Ahmed says while some recent vaccine trials have have encouraging results, measures to reduce the spread of the virus remain the most effective.

“We need to adapt to a new lifestyle with physical distancing and face coverings,” Dr. Ahmed said. “Those are the only measures that we’ve seen that have been working.”