The acting medical officer of health for Windsor-Essex believes the burden of COVID-19 in the area is less than it was a few weeks ago.
Dr. Shanker Nesathurai says it's reassuring to see a drop in case counts and credits increased vaccination rates and individuals following public health measures.
He anticipates work to control the virus will continue into 2022.
"I think it's reassuring that the case counts are coming down but I think in point the case counts are coming down because vaccinations are going up and people are continuing broadly with public health measures," says Dr. Nesathurai.
He says it's important to get the vaccination rates up.
"We still have lots of young people being dismissed from schools related to COVID-19 and we still have a large group of people that have yet not been vaccinated, that is people eligible for the vaccine over 12," says Nesathurai.
He hopes the community continues to follow all public health safety measures.
"I think there is still many months more I think of work to be done to bring COVID-19 under control," says Dr. Nesathurai.
Between Oct. 17 and Oct. 20, there have been 76 cases of the virus reported across the region.
Last week, there were 205 cases. (Oct 10-16)
As of Wednesday morning, 84.9 per cent of individuals 12 and over in Windsor-Essex have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
80.2 per cent have received both doses of the vaccine.