Good afternoon,
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 today, with four coming from the agri-farm sector, one is travel related, one is a local health care worker and five remain under investigation. Nine people are in the hospital and two of those are in the Intensive Care Unit. The region’s total is now 3,097 confirmed cases, while 2,819 have been listed as resolved, and there have been 76 deaths. Across the province today, there were 1,487 cases reported. On Sunday there were 1,248 cases, and on Saturday, there were 1,581 cases, which was a record high for the province.
Today, Windsor-Essex entered in the yellow category of the provincial framework, and with that, the local health unit has issued additional measures to help control the spread of COVID-19. These instructions can be found here.
In order to adhere to the public health instructions set out by Dr. Ahmed and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, our office remains open by appointment only, and we are only booking essential visits. We are not taking any walk-ins at this time. If you would like to book an appointment, please call us at 519-251-5199 or email us at phatfield-co@ndp.on.ca.
The Greater Essex County District School Board is reporting a case of COVID-19 at Begley Public School. A case was also detected at this school on November 12. The school board is not releasing many details at this time but has said they are working with the local health unit.
Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare will be temporarily suspending its visitor program due to the rise in local COVID-19 cases beginning Tuesday November 17. Designated Care Partners (DCPs) will still be allowed to visit but will be limited to patients’ rooms and are able to visit seven days a week between 10:30am and 6:30pm. You can read more here.
Last week our region saw nearly 50 new cases of COVID-19 in the agri-farm sector, as the second wave of COVID-19 clearly establishes itself across the province. Today, the provincial government announced a new strategy to prevent COVID-19 transmission among workers in the agri-farm sector. More information is available here.
The provincial government announced the establishment of Supply Ontario, a new centralized procurement agency that will enable a whole-of-government approach to purchasing goods and services. Supply Ontario is designed to help schools, hospitals and the public sector get critical supplies and equipment. More information can be found here.
Another COVID-19 vaccine, this time from Moderna, is claiming to have a similar rate of success from trials as Pfizer. Though it is too soon to know how long protection might last, Canada has pre-ordered doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and hopes to have them in the early part of 2021. More information can be found here.
Please continue to wear a mask or face covering when out in public, maintain physical distancing of two metres, and wash your hands often.
- Percy