COVID-19 data will look a bit different locally, as WECHU updates case reporting

Public health officials in Windsor-Essex are changing how they communicate the spread of COVID-19 within the community, and residents will notice starting Monday.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) is updating COVID-19 data on its website at noon on weekdays moving forward, as opposed to earlier in the day. People can also expect changes to some of the key indicators we've gotten used to seeing on a daily basis throughout this pandemic. That includes how the health unit records new cases — see more about these changes below. 

Since December, WECHU has stated provincial changes mean that local case counts are less reliable. Ontario has limited eligibility for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and case and contact management, and due to the prioritized testing, the number of cases confirmed this way is an underestimate of the true number of people who are positive for COVID-19, according to WECHU. 

Public health officials have been hoping the province would update their metrics for how local health reports its data, however that guidance has not been provided. 

"We recognize for the past two years we've used case counts as a burden of illness," acting medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai said earlier this month.  

"I think we are evaluating the correct approach."

Last week, the health unit said it would be updating the website dashboard and on Monday, those changes took effect.

On Monday, the health unit reported 500 new "high-risk" COVID-19 cases in Windsor. A "high-risk" case is a new definition by WECHU, meaning this person was eligible for PCR test in Ontario. The list of individuals who are eligible for that test is available online here. 

The health unit also reported another person has died due to COVID. He was a man in his 80s who was a resident of a long-term care or retirement home in the region. 

WECHU also reported 127 people are in hospital with COVID-19, including 16 in the ICU. 

WECHU recorded the following 88 outbreaks in the community Monday:

Local case counts since mid-December have been underestimates. Because of this, WECHU is making changes to the information it offers to the public, as it tries to give an accurate glimpse of how the virus is tracking locally: 

Lambton Public Health reported Monday another person in the region has died due to COVID-19. Overall, 102 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton. 

Chatham-Kent Public Health reported Monday another person has died in the region due to the disease. There have now been 41 deaths in the community.