CBC Windsor's March 31 COVID-19 update: 65 confirmed cases in Windsor-Essex

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit confirmed Tuesday morning there are now 65 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex.

Overall, 1,052 individuals have been tested in Windsor-Essex with more than 300 tests still pending.

There is little details about the new cases announced Tuesday, but the health unit provided details on the 44 cases announced on Monday.

Here's a breakdown of the 44who have tested positive:

• 50 per centare maleand 50 per cent are female.
• 20 per cent of cases are community transmission.
• 80 per cent of cases are travel-related.
• At least one-third of cases are in health-care workersand all except one are health-care workersin Michigan.
• 20 per cent of cases are hospitalized, with the rest of the individuals recovering at home.
• 3 people are in the ICU.

Chief medical officer Dr. Wajid Ahmed said he continues to be concerned about flattening the curve in Windsor-Essex, given the close proximity to Michigan where a significant outbreak is happening.

"We hope to work with federal and provincial governments to address cross-border travel and limit border crossing when possible," said Ahmed.

Ahmed would like to see the "movements" of health-care workers who work on both sides of the border reduced where it can be.

"We don't want to take those critical health-care workers away from their jobs, nobody would want that," said Ahemd."I think all of us have a little bit of a role in solving this problem. Right now the border is allowing those essential services to cross which is understandable."

Watch the health unit's March 31 update here:

But Ahmed saidmore can be done by all stakeholders including government, employers, and community members who can do as much as they can to limit contact with others and their travel across the border.

As for when Windsor-Essex might see the curve flattening, Ahmed said the next two weeks will be critical.

"It's hard to say when we will see the peak," said Ahmed, attributing the spike recently seen locally to the number of testscoming back.

"Across Canada, this week and next week is crucial," explained Ahmed, when it comes to seeing if the precautions happening across the country are working to limit transmission of the coronavirus.

Here's what's happening in Windsor-Essex.

• Chinese community group to donate 5,000 surgical masks to Windsor Regional Hospital
• More restrictions needed at Canada-U.S. border, total closure still risky, say MPs
• Michigan officials plead for ventilators, people to run them as COVID-19cases hit nearly 6,500
• A new reality for those who rely on public transit in Windsor

Four deaths in Sarnia-Lambton, 39 cases

Four people have died from COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton, according to Lambton Public Health.

Three of those people who have died resided at the Landmark Village in Sarnia.

The Lambton region has 39positive cases as of Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Chatham-Kent cases

Chatham Kent Public Health reports there are eightconfirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region.

Two new cases were announced Tuesday.One male, 45, and one female, 43, at the request of CK Public Health officials were already isolating at their home before the test results were obtained.

As of Monday evening, Chatham-Kent medical officer of health Dr. David Colby confirmed that the region's first confirmed COVID-19 case a man in his 50s has made a full recovery.

"He has done wonderfully," Colby wrote in a media release published Monday. "He has satisfied every quarantine measure that was put in place to prevent the spread of the infection."

Meanwhile, more than 100 staff members at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance hospitals are in self-isolation after the March Break holiday.

"We have 100 staff and 17 physicians who are currently on self-isolation at home," said Lori Marshall, president andCEO at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. Marshall said there are about 1,400 staff members employed at the hospitals in Chatham and Wallaceburg, and 250 physicians.

Chatham man diagnosed with COVID-19 says virus feels 'like death'

Luke Davidson said that symptoms from COVID-19 felt like the worstsickness he's ever had, comparing it to a feeling of on-coming death which made his skin crawl with pain.

Davidson, 38, is one of the dozensof people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in southwestern Ontario, a number that reached 119 Monday afternoon and included fivedeaths.

Chatham man with COVID-19 explains symptoms

5 years ago

Duration 4:20

Luke Davidson explains what it was like to get tested, live with COVID-19.