Windsor-Essex will finally move to stage three of the province’s COVID-19 reopening plan Wednesday.

That means people in the region can begin to go to restaurants and bars indoors, more personal services will open and there can be larger gatherings – up to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors with proper social distancing.

A news release from the province says the decision was based on positive local trends of key public health indicators including lower transmission of COVID-19, ongoing hospital capacity, public health capacity to conduct rapid case and contact management and a significant increase in testing.

Windsor/Essex has been struggling with the virus which shutdown the province in March, particularly in the greenhouse and vegetable industry where COVID-19 spread through the migrant farm worker population. The province worked with the greenhouse owners on testing however it took several weeks for the workers and their employers to get on board.

There have been 2,379 cases in Windsor-Essex and 71 people have died. Currently there are 11 workplace outbreaks including one at a Leamington nursing home where three health care workers have contracted COVID-19.