There are two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent.
The public health unit reported the latest cases during its daily update on Monday afternoon. The new cases bring the total number of local infected people to 31, with 15 of those having recovered. COVID-19 has only claimed one life in Chatham-Kent so far -- a woman in her 80s who travelled to the U.S. in March.
Local health officials said 1,032 tests have been done so far and 194 results are pending. Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said it's around one percent of Chatham-Kent's population. He said that may seem low, but it's actually higher than some other communities which are testing half that.
Community Living Chatham-Kent is reporting that its first two employees who tested positive for the virus have been released from isolation by the health unit, while another worker sick with the virus continues to recover.
Two residents at a Community Living Chatham-Kent home who caught the virus in late March returned home in early April after isolation and are doing well.
Community Living Wallaceburg is still dealing with its outbreak. The agency reported late Friday afternoon that four more employees tested positive for COVID-19 to bring its total of confirmed cases to nine.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Lori Marshall, said the Chatham hospital has a two-week supply of personal protective equipment for its front line workers.
"I'm feeling better today than I was last week about the PPE supply," said Marshall.
Marshall is praising Transform Shared Services for doing a good job finding PPE for the health care sector in the area.
She also said the assessment centre beside the hospital in Chatham is keeping up with testing volumes.
Dr. Colby is also praising local grocery stores for complying with social distancing regulations and successfully putting measures in place to keep customers safe. He said his health inspectors have been out to check on things and report stores have hand sanitizer at the entrance, markings on the floor to keep people two metres apart, and plexiglass at the check-out counter to protect workers and customers alike from infection.
He said "it's safe to get your groceries" but the pandemic is not over yet and we need to maintain our social distancing. Colby said we started social distancing measures early and so far "we've reaped the benefits" because the numbers are staying low.
