WECHU reports 3 additional deaths, 146 new high-risk cases since last week

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, May 12, 2022. (Melanie Borrelli/CTV News Windsor)

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is reporting three new deaths and 146 new high-risk COVID-19 cases over the past week.

The death toll related to COVID-19 in the region is at 628 people.

According to the health unit, there have been 44,453 cases with 20 active high-risk cases.

There are currently four active outbreaks with two in long-term care and retirement homes as well as two community outbreaks.

There are 25 people with COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex hospitals including two in critical care.

Local COVID-19 trends are continuing downward as the WECHU reported a decrease in weekly high-risk case rates and a slight dip in wastewater viral signalling during its epidemiology update on Thursday.

According to data from the health unit, the weekly high-risk case rate is 36.1 cases per 100,000 population, a decrease of 43.5 per cent compared to last week.

“During the past week (May 23 - 29, 2022), the high-risk case rate for Windsor-Essex County has decreased and a similar significant decline was observed for all health units across Ontario,” the epidemiology summary said. “As testing has been limited to cases in high-risk settings, the rates are an underrepresentation of the true case rate.”

In addition, wastewater viral signals slightly declined, WECHU said. Compared to the week before, the signal intensity remained pretty stable with a slight decrease toward the end of the week.

However, the health unit said despite the declining trend, the viral signal remains significantly higher than the low levels observed in October 2021.

Data Highlights:

• The weekly high-risk case rate is 36.1 cases per 100,000 population, a decrease of 43.5% compared to the previous week.
• Percent positivity remained relatively unchanged from the previous week.
• The number of in-patient hospitalizations remained unchanged for Windsor-Essex County but declined across Ontario.
• ICU admissions decreased for Windsor-Essex County but remained stable across Ontario.
• Wastewater viral signals for May 23 - 29, 2022 slightly declined compared to the previous week.
• Two deaths were reported this week (May 23 - 29, 2022), compared to three deaths reported during the previous week (May 16 - 22, 2022).
• One outbreak was declared during the current week (May 23 - 29, 2022), compared to four outbreaks declared during the previous week (May 16 - 22, 2022).
• Windsor-Essex County has an overall third dose coverage rate of 52.1% for residents 12 years and older.
• Residents 12 to 17 year olds have the lowest third dose coverage rate (11.0%), whereas the 80+ age group has the highest coverage rate (89.1%).