On the day that the local death toll from COVID-19 reached 350 in Windsor-Essex, the health unit reported that a COVID-19 variant has been detected in the area.
On Thursday, the health unit reported 30 new cases of COVID-19, one of which involved a person who tested positive for a variant of concern. The variant was detected through a rapid test. The sample will now be sent for further analysis to determine which variant is present.
"These variants are appearing in different parts of Ontario and it's a possibility that people will contact it and that's why it's very important for us to know how we can protect ourselves and how we can keep our community safe," said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
All contacts of the individual have been contacted and asked to self-isolate.
"The definition of close contacts is different that what we see with the rest of the COVID cases, so it generates a lot of work but at this time we do have the capacity," said Dr. Ahmed. "If things start to change it could be a problem and that's why the key part is we don't want it to replicate in our community."
The individual who tested positive for the variant visited the Zehrs grocery store in Tecumseh on February 2 between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. The individual was not showing symptoms at the time but the visit was still within the infectious period. While the risk is low, the health unit is asking anyone who visited the store during that time frame to monitor their symptoms closely.
The health unit also reported two additional deaths in Windsor-Essex connected to COVID-19. A woman in her 60s who lived in the community and a woman in her 80s who lived in a long-term care home passed away after contracting COVID-19. There have now been 350 deaths in the region connected to the virus.
There are 274 known active cases of COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex.
