WINDSOR, ONT. -- Windsor and Essex County’s medical health officer believes it’s too early to say if this area will be entering a lockdown.
“We would like to see the results of the additional restrictions before going into the lockdown and haven’t had that discussion at this time,” says Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
During the morning briefing with reporters on Thursday, Ahmed said the province just moved the region from Orange-Restrict to Red-Control under the COVID-19 Response Framework on Monday.
Ahmed says he would like to see one week’s worth of data before making the call for a lockdown, which would be the next elevated level.
“We are looking at the data and trying to understand the impact on the community with respect to the community transmission and the pressure across the region,” he adds.
The health unit reported 63 new cases bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 3,801 with 415 cases remaining active.
Ahmed remains concerned about the transmission through close contact.
“I feel that our case counts increase everyday with 63 cases,” says Ahmed. “We are putting out information and educating the public and the emphasis continues to be close contact.”
Testing delays
The health unit’s chief nursing officer Theresa Marentette says the added cases are putting more pressure on testing.
“It is taking up to three days to get appointment at the assessment centre,” says Marentette
Marentette adds decrease capacity of staff to notify people is behind the slowdown.
Ahmed says its critical for results to be done in a timely manner as a slowdown delays contact tracing investigation creating a potential ripple effect in transmission.
“We’ll definitely be talking about additional capacity,” says Ahmed.
Ahmed wants to have a discussion with the province and hospitals to see if more testing could be done in the region.
