Is Windsor-Essex in a seventh wave of COVID-19? Local experts weigh-in

The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table declared last week the province was in a new wave of the pandemic, because of rising levels in wastewater.

“We haven't yet seen it in Windsor,” says Mike McKay, director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER). “We're cautiously optimistic.”

Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent are part of the “South West” region for COVID-19 data. But so is the City of London, according to McKay, where he says wastewater levels are rising.

“Certainly in the last few waves, we've been a little bit delayed behind other locations in the province. Maybe because of our location at one of the extremities of the province,” says McKay. “We haven't seen it yet. Fingers crossed we won’t.”

McKay says wastewater data is a leading indicator of the region’s COVID-19 situation.

Over at Windsor Regional Hospital, where hospitalizations are a trailing indicator, executive Erica Vitale says the situation is “stable” with “around 15 patients a day being reported and only one in the ICU at this point.”

Vitale, who is the director of infection control and pandemic planning, tells CTV News they saw an increase in the number of staff calling in sick over the weekend.

“It kind of leads us to believe that there may be more COVID spreading around in the community despite people not being able to get tested,” says Vitale.

“We wouldn't expect these indicators to be increasing when it's summertime months when more people are actually spending time outdoors. So that's the piece that's a little bit alarming to myself,” says Vitale.

Vitale and McKay both urge residents to continue or resume public health protocols like masking while indoors if you can’t stay physically distant, frequent hand washing and stay home if you’re not feeling well.

“I know people are tired of COVID,” says McKay. “COVID is not tired of us.”

In a statement to CTV News late Monday, WECHU confirmed the COVID-19 activity is increasing locally, which officials attribute to the BA.5 variant.

When asked specifically, if Windsor-Essex is in a seventh wave, officials wrote “this current time period constitutes another wave in the pandemic.”  

The statement goes on to say, “The burden of COVID-19 to the community is dependent on a number of factors. This includes the presence of new variants and the number of people up to date on their vaccines. Additionally, the level of disease activity is related to adherence to public health measures such as such as wearing a mask, and social distancing.  As we move forward in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health service anticipates periods of increased and decreased disease activity.”