Active COVID-19 cases drop, but 2 deaths reported Tuesday

There were 39 new cases of COVID-19 in the Windsor-essex region Tuesday and two people have died, the health unit reported.

The Windsor-essex County Health Unit (WECHU) reported 39 new cases.

There are 333 ongoing COVID -19 cases in the region, a decrease of 33 cases since Monday.

About half of the region's cases are COVID -19 variants of concern.

The health unit is reporting 450 deaths from COVID-19, an increase of two from Monday.

One death was a woman in her 80s, the second was a man in his 50s.

Of the region's new cases, 18 are close contacts of confirmed cases, six were acquired in the community, three are outbreak-related and 12 cases are still under investigation.

The health unit reports 21 ongoing outbreaks — defined as when two or more people in a setting catch COVID-19 within a given setting — including five outbreaks at local schools.

The rate of positive COVID-19 tests in Windsor and Essex is higher than the provincial average, according to data dated Sept. 19.

In Windsor, about 3.3 per cent of COVID -19 tests are positive based on the seven-day rolling average, compared to 2.4 per cent in Ontario.

There are 20 people in hospital with the virus, including five people in intensive care.

There is one local long-term care home that has an outbreak. Berkshire Care Centre reported it has one resident and four staff cases of COVID-19 to date.

To date, 82 per cent of Windsor Essex residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 75.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Ontario's vaccine mandate for indoor dining, entertainment and exercise comes into effect Wednesday.

On Monday, WECHU CEO Nicole Dupuis said the health unit has seen a steady number of residents getting a first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, but has not seen a spike related to the new vaccine mandate.