The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent has jumped again.
CK Public Health reported on Friday 12 new cases, for a total of 120. Eleven of the 12 new cases are related to the Greenhill Produce greenhouse operation in Kent Bridge. The total number of cases at Greenhill has jumped to 80 after Chatham-Kent's Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby decided to retest the entire workforce following 17 more cases at the site on Wednesday.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent is up to 34 with 30 of them at Greenhill Produce.
Dr. Colby said he did not expect this many positives when he re-tested the entire Greenhill workforce.
“Am I worried? No, but very concerned,” he tells Blackburn News.
Colby said he’s still waiting on 106 results from Greenhill (almost half of the workforce) and 51 from the community. He said he expects the number of positives to rise.
“We have had more positives and I am certain we have not seen the last one,” added Colby. “Only when I get the majority of results back can I plan the next move.”
The local public health unit reported a total of 85 people have recovered so far -- 50 of them at Greenhill.
Almost 2,300 tests have been done across Chatham-Kent to date. The swab testing of nearly 2,000 residents and staff at seven local long term care homes has been finished and health officials are waiting for the results.
To date, no one in a long-term care setting has tested positive for COVID-19.The death toll in Chatham-Kent stands at one and there is no one from Chatham-Kent in the hospital with the virus.
An investigation is underway to determine if the latest Greenhill workers caught the virus from 12 infected contract workers who went back and forth from Leamington.
The Leamington workers are not included in the CK Public Health numbers and are counted by the health unit in Windsor-Essex.
