The Windsor Essex County Health Unit reported an additional 21 cases of COVID-19 Thursday.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said they are examing the uptick cases very closely. Of the new cases, 13 are migrant farmworkers and eight are from the community.
"In the community, if we continue to see this pattern, maybe we need to have a conversation again to see if it is going in the right direction or should we be talking about putting more control measures in place to avoid this type of local surge," said Dr. Wajid Ahmed, Medical Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex.
Dr. Ahmed said the migrant farmworkers are from at least two different facilities in the region.
"We are working with these farms right now and a lot of them are contacts of the original cases, which were already self-isolating and we are working with all of them to get a better handle of who else can be at risk and how we can isolate them to prevent the spread in other workers," said Dr. Ahmed.
A total of 826 people have tested positive for the virus since March. Of the confirmed cases, 63 people have passed away and 465 people have recovered. To date, 14,728 people in Windsor-Essex have been tested and 956 people are still waiting for their results.
The health unit is managing outbreaks at 13 long-term care and retirement facilities in the region. The outbreak at Amica at Windsor was rescinded Wednesday.
