CBC Windsor July 9 COVID-19 update: 46 new cases reported today
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported 46 new COVID-19 cases for our area on Thursday, a day after 47 new cases were reported.
Of the new cases, 31 are workers in the agri-farm sector, seven are close contacts of people in the community who have tested positive already, and eight cases are currently under investigation.
"Seven of these cases are family members and close contacts with confirmed case so it's not unusual in a large family of someone gets infected that other family members are already exposed," said medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
The cases currently under investigation are cause for some concern, say Ahmed, as health officials closely monitor the spread of the virus as businesses and services slowly reopen across the region.
To date, roughly 750 farm workers have tested positive for the disease, most of them being temporary foreign workers.
Wednesday saw the fourth-highest day of reported confirmed cases of the disease. The health unit reported 47 new COVID-19 cases in our region, with 45 of those cases in workers in the agri-farm sector, one in a health-care worker and one case is still under investigation.
Ahmed said Wednesday the new cases originated from farms that were already under an outbreak.
"All were close contacts of the symptomatic cases, so by default they were at a high risk of contacting the disease," Ahmed said during a daily press briefing.
Workers at the four farms under outbreak have been identified as "close contacts" of those who have already contracted the virus, said Ahmed, so they have already been self-isolating before the positive test results were announced.
"Once you have a positive case it's easy to pretty much spread it to everyone else living at the same bunkhouse or accommodation."
WATCH | The health unit's COVID-19 update for July 9:
Two seniors' homes in the area are currently under a COVID-19 outbreak. Riverside Place long-term care home in Windsor has had one staff member test positive, Devonshire Retirement Residence retirement home in Windsor has had three staff members test positive.
An outbreak at Extendicare Tecumseh long-term care home is now over. One resident had tested positive for COVID-19 there.
Five workplaces are currently under a COVID-19 outbreak. One is in the manufacturing sector and four others are in the agricultural sector. The businesses are located in Leamington and Kingsville but the health unit does not name businesses under an outbreak unless there is a risk to public health, say officials.
Should we be testing for COVID-19 after death? An Ontario man thinks so
An Ontario man says he wants to see more post-mortem COVID-19 testing, after a Windsor Regional Hospital denied a swab test request following the death of his grandmother.
In June, Ada Lidwell was admitted to the hospital after she fell and fractured her hip. The 103-year-old was swabbed for COVID-19 upon arrival, but tested negative.
More than a week after surgery, Lidwell developed severe pneumonia, dying on June 23.
Her grandson, Steve Saunders, asked hospital staff to swab his dead grandmother, only to be told that post-mortem COVID-19 tests are against hospital policy.
"We had a discussion about how this made no sense if the hospital was at all serious about contact tracing," said Saunders. "Obviously you always want to establish if there is a patient zero in any infection chain."
Though Saunders continued to petition to the hospital for a test, his request was denied.
A spokesperson for Windsor Regional Hospital said via email that "our policies reflect active patients."
"A deceased patient is under the jurisdiction of the coroner's office," said Steve Erwin, manager of corporate communications, government and community relations for Windsor Regional Hospital.
COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton
Lambton Public Health reported no new cases of COVID-19 in the region since last week. There have been 286 total cases in the region and overall, there have been 25 deaths.
Another 259 people have recovered.
COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent
Chatham-Kent's health unit is reporting no new cases of COVID-19. The area has had 162 total cases, but only five cases are currently active. Those individuals are self-isolating.
In Chatham-Kent, one person has died due to COVID-19 and 156 people have recovered.
