There are fewer cases, fewer people are testing positive, and vaccination rates are slowly, very slowly climbing in Windsor-Essex. However, the Medical Officer of Health in Windsor-Essex will not say the fourth wave of COVID-19 is over.
Doctor Shanker Nesathurai will tell you he will make no such predictions, and the Manager of Epidemiology and Evaluation at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit backs him up.
"We are seeing a large school dismissals and school-related outbreaks," said Ramsey D'Souza. "We're continuing to monitor that and see where that goes, but I think right now it's a little early to see if we're past the fourth wave or if it will be a continuation."
The Greater Essex County District School Board has reported 28 cases at 23 schools. At the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, there are 27 cases at nine schools. There are seven schools across the region with outbreaks.
There were 32 new cases on Thursday, of which six were from close contacts with an already confirmed infection. Another 12 people acquired the virus in the community, and 14 are still under investigation. There are 320 active cases, and 25 of those people are in the hospital.
During their weekly epidemiological update on Thursday morning, D'Souza told reporters the number of cases per 100,000 residents fell to 66.4. Last week, it was 96.6 per 100,000. The positivity rate also fell to 3.9 per cent of tests, whereas it was 6.4 per cent the week before. The rate the virus is replicating the community has not changed significantly.
The region's full vaccination rate has finally topped 75 per cent. It is now 75.7 per cent for all residents 12 and older. There are still as many as 70,000 people in Windsor-Essex who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine that have not got one.
Asked why some residents remain unvaccinated, Nesathurai had few answers but parroted the message public health officials have repeated throughout the pandemic. Get vaccinated, if not for yourself, for those around you. Wear a mask indoors and when you cannot physically distance, and keep your number of social contacts low.
