37 new cases today, as WECHU warns to celebrate Easter with new traditions

Ahead of a suspected province-wide COVID-19 shutdown Thursday, Windsor-Essex health officials told residents to work on new traditions this Easter weekend that will reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

During Thursday's COVID-19 briefing, medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said residents should plan a virtual meal, keep any gatherings outdoors with a maintained physical distance and wear a face covering if distancing can't be maintained. The rules are ones that the health unit has emphasized countless times before, but they come ahead of an expectedshutdownfrom the province.

Though Windsor-Essex is not seeing case rates or hospitalizations as high as the rest of the province, Ahmed said if Ontario Premier Doug Ford declares a province-wide shutdown it makes sense to restrict mobility.

"Broader lockdown results in much better containment of the disease," he said. "Because of the mobility and the risks,if you lockdown one area and you leave the other you see more trend for people leaving one area and going into another one to do various things."

Ahmed continued to say that he knows how difficult restrictions can be on people, but says if the situation is dealt with now, it will "keep everyone safe."

The health unit reported 37new COVID-19 cases Thursday. Of these, 17 are close contacts of a confirmed case, five arecommunity acquired, two are from a COVID-19 outbreak and 13are still being investigated.

The pandemic has claimed 403 lives in Windsor-Essex.

As of Thursday, 81,335people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

There are14 people inhospital with the disease, with four in intensive-care this hasn't changed since Wednesday.

There are 79 preliminary or concerned cases ofCOVID-19 that involve variants of concern in Windsor-Essex. Four cases are the variant first foundin the U.K.

There are 337 active local cases, and seven ongoing outbreaks.

Two community settings are in outbreak:

• Victoria Manor.
• South West Detention Centre.

The outbreak at the Downtown Mission, which sparked the largest outbreak among the region's homeless population, has now been cleared.

Four workplaces are in outbreak:

• Two in Kingsville's agriculture sector
• One in Essex's manufacturing sector.
• One in Lakeshore's manufacturing sector.

One school,W.F. Herman Academy, remains in outbreak.

Long weekend schedule for vaccine clinics

The WFCU Centre in Windsor and Libro Credit Union Centre in Ahmerstburgarefully booked Thursday and Friday, according to the health unit's CEO Theresa Marentette. Both centres will be closed Sunday and Monday butappointments are available starting Tuesday.

Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre in Leamington is closed this weekend and will reopen Wednesday and Thursday.

The St. Clair College Sportsplex will be open Saturday, Sunday and Monday and has availability for appointments.

Windsor Hall in the city's downtown will be open Friday to Monday and has availability.

COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton

There are 12 new cases of COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, and 83are active overall. Ten people have died in the region and seven people are currently in hospital as a result of the disease.

On a health unit call Thursday, medical officer of health for Chatham-Kent, Dr. David Colby, said by the end of today,25 per cent ofresidents who are 60 and older will likely have received one shot of the vaccine.

The region also has 57 cases of the variant.

CEO of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Lori Marshall said while their number of in-hospital patients is low, they are "concerned" about their intakes growing. She also said their patient demographic profile is different from the first and second wave, where now they are seeing people from their 50s to their 80s being admitted.

In Sarnia-Lambton, 178casesare active overall.Fifty people have died after contracting the disease since the pandemic started.