Ontario’s COVID-19 Cases Just Went Up Again & Most Of Them Are In Windsor

It looks like the province's downward trend has come to a halt. After reporting less than 200 cases a day throughout the weekend, Ontario's new COVID-19 cases hit 257 on Monday. However, over half of these were reported in Windsor. 

On June 29, 177 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Windsor. 

According to Ontario's Minister of Health, Christine Elliott, the spike comes after "extensive testing" took place over the weekend that targeted temporary workers in the area. 

Despite the large jump in numbers in Windsor, the rest of Ontario announced some pretty hopeful news.  

Only 80 additional cases were recorded across the rest of the province. 

"After extensive testing this weekend of temporary workers in Southwestern Ontario, the province is reporting 177 new cases of #COVID19 in Windsor-Essex, with another 80 new cases across the rest of the province. There were over 27,000 tests processed yesterday," read a tweet from Elliott.

"Following some initial challenges with testing in the agriculture and agri-food sectors, these numbers reflect the implementation of our three-point plan to reduce the risk of transmission of #COVID19 on farms."

This brings the total number of cases across Ontario to 34,911, however, 86.5% of those have been resolved.

According to the Windsor-Essex Health Unit, the area alone has seen 1,580 cases with 68 deaths. 

Multiple outbreaks have also been reported in the agriculture industry. 

Due to the high amount of temporary workers testing positive for COVID-19, Windsor-Essex was the last area in Ontario to move into stage two of the province's reopening plan. 

On June 25, multiple towns within the area were able to open their doors to restaurant patios, salons and pools. 

However, Leamington and Kingsville still remain in stage one. 

The spike comes after Ontario saw only 111 new cases on Friday, which marked the lowest number the province had seen in over three months.