Dr. Ahmed stresses importance of kindness on 1st day back after leave

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday as the region's medical officer of health returned to the job after atwo-week leave of absence.

Dr. Wajid Ahmed said at the health unit's briefing Thursdaythat he was humbled bythe support he's received, including cards and letters, while he took time off to "take care of" himself.

Ahmed saidthat one of most importantlessons from the pandemic for him has been kindness.

"We have to be kind to each other. We don't know what the other person is experiencing or going through. We can only see what is right in front of us," he said.

Ahmed's return comes as the COVID-19 vaccination rollout continues, largely through four targeted clinics in Windsor-Essex and at 57 local pharmacies.

WECHU CEO Theresa Marentette said73,978 shots have been given so far. The health unit is booking about 1,900 people per day across its clinics.

Of the 21 new cases of the virus announced Thursday,six are close contacts of previous cases, six were community acquired, two are related to outbreaks and the remainder are under investigation.

There are 229 cases activeand more than 13,000have been resolved. Fifty-onecases of COVID-19 that involve variants of concern have been identified locally. Two have been confirmed to be the variant first foundin the U.K. while the rest of the results are preliminary.

Since the pandemic began, 401 residents of Windsor-Essex have died after contracting COVID-19. No additional deaths have been reported in well over a week.

Thirteen people are currently in hospital, including fivein intensive care.

There are currently 11active outbreaks throughout the region.

Five community settings are in outbreak:

• The Welcome Centre.
• The Salvation Army.
• The Downtown Mission.
• Victoria Manor.
• South West Detention Centre.

Five workplaces are in outbreak:

• One in Kingsville's agriculture sector
• One in Essex's manufacturing sector.
• One in Tecumseh's manufacturing sector.
• One in Windsor's public administration sector.
• One in Windsor's repair and maintenance sector.

One school,W.F. Herman Academy, has an active outbreak.

COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia Lambton

On Thursday, Lambton Public Health announced 41 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death. There are currently 222 active cases in the region.Forty-eight people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Chatham-Kent saw four new cases.There are 104 active cases, a decrease of four since Wednesday.