WINGHAM, ONT. -- It’s now 22 new COVID-19 cases connected to Zehr’s Country Market locations in Bayfield and Dashwood.
Two more were added Wednesday, in addition to a record 13 new casesreported Tuesday by Huron Perth Public Health.
There are now 27 active cases of COVID-19 in Huron and Perth counties, the most active cases in the region since the pandemic began.
“I think it’s a wake-up call for us to realize we are still in a pandemic, a global pandemic,” says South Huron Mayor George Finch.
The 22 cases connected to Zehr’s Country Market are in all in the Bluewater and South Huron regions of Huron County.
While the health unit says many of the cases are clusters within the same households, Finch says the surge in cases in Huron County just goes to show that no region is immune to the virus.
“It does seem to be isolated, but it’s still a warning shot that the virus is still there,” says Finch.
Municipality of Bluewater Mayor Paul Klopp says the surge concerns him as well.
“Concerning numbers. I’m promoting people to get the COVID app. It will be a big help keeping COVID under control, moving forward,” he says.
The 22 new cases, all in southern Huron County, are part of a larger spread of cases across Southwestern Ontario in the Low German and Mennonite communities.
The Huron-Perth Health Unit says it is working with local leaders in those communities to try and control the outbreak.
Zehr’s Country Market locations in Dashwood and Bayfield remain closed, after being forced shut by the health unit last Friday.
So far, no customers of Zehr’s Country Market have tested positive for the virus.
