Lambton's medical officer of health is urging caution as Ontario starts to slowly reopen.
Dr. Sudit Ranade told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) that we have to proceed very carefully with the lifting of restrictions.
"There are places in China, places in Japan that thought they had a handle on it and after they opened things back up because of the nature of people interacting again and the nature of travel between different communities, they started to see spikes in cases," said Ranade. "So that is something we all have to be on alert for, over the next couple of weeks, while things are easing up a little bit, what is the impact of that so that we can assess that before we move to another stage."
Dr. Ranade said we have to continue to physically distance for the foreseeable future.
"Wherever possible you should still be trying to maintain six feet or two metres, or a hockey stick of distance away from you and other people. If you work in an environment where there are close quarters it is important to have that discussion with your employer about what are the ways that you can stay protected. And if you are not feeling well in any way you should not be working and you shouldn't be going out to do things," he said.
Lambton Public Health reported on its website Sunday night that 142 people have recovered from the virus, up from 136 reported Saturday night.
No new confirmed cases of the virus were reported since Saturday and the total sits at 200.
According to the health unit's website, 14 per cent of the local cases are among health care workers and 19 per cent are residents of long-term care homes and retirement facilities.
There have been 17 COVID-19- related deaths in the community. The latest death reported over the weekend was linked to an outbreak at Vision Nursing Home. The health unit has received results from 4,240 tests, of which 95 per cent have been negative.
Monday morning, Bluewater Health reported there are eight people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, and 17 patients are suspected of having it with tests pending.
-With files from Sue Storr