COVID-19 has found its way into two local long-term care homes.
According to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, two staff members have tested positive for the virus — one at Country Village Homes in Woodslee, the other at AMICA in Windsor.
As per the Ministry of Health, a single case in a resident or a staff member is now to be considered an outbreak for any facility.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed says both staff members and anyone who may have come in contact with them are now in self-isolation.
He says the potential for spread is significant as most staff visit multiple rooms.
"Most of the people in a long-term care home are generally bedridden and they're not mobilizing that much, but the staff people do. So they go from one patient to another. So we keep a close eye on those on the staff. If they are symptomatic or if they're positive we try and remove them from the workforce immediately."
Ahmed says in an environment like a long-term care home, containment is crucial.
"It is very, very important because that's the population that we are seeing most of these serious consequences. We definitely want to act on it very quickly. The long-term care homes, they know that. The ministry had updated their guidelines to protect these populations."
He says the health unit continues to keep a close eye on the situation.
"We will be working very, very closely with these homes to make sure that they are doing everything that they should with respect to infection prevention and control measures to limit the transmission as much as possible."
Both facilities have implemented outbreak management protocols and continue to follow an upgraded protection regiment.
Windsor-Essex had it's first COVID-19 related death Tuesday night — a man in his 80s with underlying chronic health issues and recent travel history to Michigan passed away at Windsor Regional Hospital's intensive care unit.