The Medical Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex is reminding businesses to follow all public health measures.
"We are noticing an increase in cases at the workplaces now," says Dr. Wajid Ahmed. "With many businesses currently closed or operating virtually, it is important for the businesses that are still open and have staff on site to follow the strict public health measures."
Dr. Ahmed says the health unit is not at a point where it needs to shutdown workplaces.
"We are seeing some cases but most of these cases still are not resulting in a major transmission risk at the workplaces," he says. "Generally there are cases and then they are contained," adding, he does not have any indication individuals are attending their workplace "initially knowingly sick."
At this time, Dr. Ahmed says he does not have any indication individuals are attending their workplace "initially knowingly sick," adding "There are some odd instances but generally speaking, that is not the case. It's more of people either in their, very close to their infectious period without necessarily realizing that they are a case."
According to Dr. Ahmed, there is also a risk of transmission with the variant of concern cases in the region.
"With the variants of concerns on the rise, cases can increase rapidly especially in the workplace and can potential lead to closure of the workplace which may have an impact on the businesses," he says.
There are currently seven workplace outbreaks in Windsor-Essex, two are in the agriculture sector, three are in health care & social assistance and two are in manufacturing.