The Windsor Essex County Health Unit is issuing reminders to people crossing the border as part of essential travel.
On Monday, the health unit reported an additional 18 cases of COVID-19, eight in the community, seven in agri-farm workers and three are still under investigation.
When it comes to crossing the border, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed says these travelers are not subject to the quarantine act, which means they need to be extra careful.
"Workers should restrict their activities to work and home only," he says. "Essential workers should avoid shopping or engaging in non-essential work activities while in the U.S. for that purpose."
According to Dr. Ahmed, the health unit still gets multiple questions as it relates to screening for COVID-19 and how it applies to people crossing the border.
He says he, along with his colleagues in other border communities have reached out to the province.
"And how best to address the standard screening question for essential workers. Until we get a direction coming from the ministry, we'll continue with our local recommendations and ensure that anyone who is traveling across the border, should restrict their activities only for essential work and then just do their work and return back to Canada safely.”
Dr. Ahmed says it's important to remember that what’s happening in the U.S. is significantly different than what's happening in Canada.
“The likelihood of us contracting COVID-19 while traveling to the U.S. is something we should always be mindful of,” he says. “The same goes for anyone who is coming from the U.S. to Canada, they also need to restrict their activities to their work and then immediately return back to their home country."
The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel since March and another 30-day extension was recently put in to place, keeping the border closed until August 21.