Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Monday that Windsor-Essex will enter Stage 3 of the province’s reopening plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Windsor-Essex, which was the only region of the province remaining in Stage 2, has been at the centre of COVID-19 outbreaks among migrant farm workers. The rest of Ontario had moved into Stage 3 at various points in July.

Officials said the decision was based on positive local trends that included lower transmission of the virus in recent daily case counts.

"Thank you for listening to the public health advice and ensuring more businesses can open and more people can go back to work," Ford said.

The premier also announced during his update that the province would be investing $6 million over three years into new closed-circuit television (CCTV) grant programming, which he said is “an important tool in the fight against gun and gang violence, human trafficking and sexual violence.”

Ontario reported 115 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, bringing the provincial total to 40,161. The death toll in the province remains at 2,786 as no new deaths were reported.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7262415/windsor-essex-stage-3-reopening-aug-12-coronavirus/

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