Jump to: Hospitalizations – Outbreaks – Schools – Vaccinations and testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 17 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, along with 42 recoveries.
This brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 12,247, of which 11,752 have resolved.
A total of 219 deaths have been reported to date. The latest death was reported Saturday and involved a man in his 50s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home.
The health unit says at least 234 cases are active in the region, a decrease of 24 from the day before.
London-Middlesex recorded at least 1,743 cases last month, along with 19 deaths, three of which have involved people under the age of 50, including an 18-year-old.
Of the 17 new cases reported Monday, 16 are from London, one is pending location.
The number of variant cases in the region stands at 3,044, an increase of 14 from the day before.
All of the new cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the U.K.
The B.1.1.7 variant accounts for the vast majority of the region’s variant cases — 2,992.
Forty-nine cases have been confirmed to involve the P.1 variant, first identified in Brazil, and two have been confirmed to involve the B.1.617 variant, first identified in India. Of those, one has been identified as being the sub-lineage B.1.617.2.
Meanwhile, one case, reported Thursday, has been confirmed to involve the B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa.
Meanwhile, 375 other cases were found to have a spike protein mutation consistent with one or more coronavirus variants. An undetermined number are currently under investigation.
A total of 11,070 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 361 have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, 330 cases have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 154 in Thames Centre, 72 in Lucan Biddulph, 58 in North Middlesex, 54 in Southwest Middlesex, 15 in Adelaide Metcalfe and six in Newbury, while 127 cases have pending location information.
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Hospitalizations
Thirty-one COVID-19 patients were in the care of London Health Sciences Centre on Monday, up one from the day before. Of those, nine were in intensive care, down two from the day before.
Fewer than five COVID-19 patients from out of region are receiving acute care, and fewer than five are in ICU.
Though that tally has decreased, LHSC officials say they have begun to accept patients from hard-hit Manitoba.
The organization is currently tending to fewer than five patients from Manitoba, and says a small number of transfers are expected from the province in the coming days and weeks.
At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, meanwhile, no COVID-19 patients were reported in their care at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Three staff cases are active within SJHCL as of Monday.
The health unit says at least 641 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 during the pandemic, including 110 who have needed intensive care.
Outbreaks
No new outbreaks have been declared.
Two remain active, both involving seniors’ facilities.
Outbreaks are active at Kensington Village (first-floor long-term care) and Kensington Village Retirement (Canterbury).
A total of 851 cases and 109 deaths have been reported during the pandemic at local long-term care and retirement homes.
Meanwhile, a months-long outbreak at the city’s jail remains active, however, no inmate cases are currently listed there.
The outbreak at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, declared on Jan. 18, has been linked to cases involving 62 inmates and 43 staff.
Schools
No new school cases have been reported, with no current active cases.
An outbreak is still declared active at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School.
A total of 354 cases have been reported involving local elementary and secondary schools during the pandemic, according to the health unit.
Meanwhile, at least four cases are active in the region’s child-care sector involving two facilities.
Three are linked to Simply Kids. An active outbreak declaration has been in place since May 12.
Elsewhere, one case is active involving Kidorable Child Care Centre – Jim Ashton.
A total of 106 cases have been reported during the pandemic involving child-care and early-years settings.
In post-secondary, no outbreaks are currently active.
Western University students will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine in order to live on campus, university officials announced Thursday.
Eight student residence outbreaks on Western’s campus in late March and early April were linked to nearly 200 cases.
Vaccinations and testing
A majority of Ontarians aged 80 and older will be able to begin booking second dose appointments this week, but those in London and Middlesex will have to wait for another week.
The MLHU says it is still prioritizing first doses for those 12 and older, but it expects to allow those 80 and older “the opportunity to re-book their second dose appointments starting Monday, June 7 or sooner.”
The health unit will provide an update on Thursday on when those 80 and older can re-book.
Anyone aged 12 and older is eligible to get the vaccine, with youth able to get the Pfizer shot.
Eligible residents are asked to visit the local vaccine booking website or call 226-289-3560 to book an appointment at one of the region’s four vaccination clinics. Online appointments are encouraged.
A number of local pharmacies are also offering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Four mass vaccination clinics are in operation in the region, vaccinating roughly 3,200 people per day, about half of the maximum potential capacity.
Those looking for a COVID-19 test can visit the region’s two main assessment centres.
The assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, remain open and operating by appointment.
Small and medium-sized businesses looking to get their hands on free, rapid testing kits can still do so as part of the StaySafe London initiative.
As of May 29, the best up to date information available, 282,178 doses of COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in the Middlesex-London region.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting 699 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the lowest increase in daily cases in seven-and-a-half months as the province climbs out of the third wave. The provincial total now stands at 532,158.
Tuesday’s case count is the lowest daily increase since October 2020 (when 658 new cases were logged on Oct. 18).
This is also the second day in a row case counts are below 1,000. On Monday, 916 new cases were recorded and 1,033 on Sunday as cases continue to trend downwards.
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As of 8 p.m. on Monday, more than 9.2 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered. That marked an increase of over 120,195 vaccines in the last day. There are more than 739,000 people fully vaccinated with two doses.
Meanwhile, 511,703 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 96 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 1,568 from the previous day.
The B.1.1.7 VOC: 126,707 variant cases, which is up by 762 since the previous day,
The B.1.351 VOC: 949 variant cases which is up by 1 since the previous day.
The P.1 VOC: 2,867 variant cases which is up by 45 since the previous day.
Elgin and Oxford
Southwestern Public Health reported four new COVID-19 cases and seven recoveries Tuesday.
As of Monday, the region’s pandemic case total stands at 3,794, of which 3,666 have resolved.
Eighty deaths have been reported, most recently on May 25.
At least 39 cases are active in the region. At least three people are hospitalized, with none in the ICU.
The number of variant cases, and cases that have screened positive for a mutation consistent with a variant, is up by four to a total of 792.
At least 708 have been the B.1.1.7 variant, and four have involved the P.1 variant. One case has been confirmed to involve the B.1.351 variant.
At least 44 cases have tested positive for the E484K mutation and 35 have tested postive for both the E484K and N501Y mutation.
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People aged 80 and older are not yet eligible to book a second shot, said officials with Southwestern Public Health on Monday.
They say a process is set to be announced by June 7.
People aged 12 and older are eligible to get the vaccine. Youth are only able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, however, meaning they are unable to get vaccinated at the Tillsonburg clinic as it only offers Moderna.
Eligible residents are asked to visit the area’s vaccine booking site and are being encouraged to add their names to a same-day vaccination list.
Several pharmacies in the region are also offering Pfizer and Moderna shots. Bookings must be made directly with the pharmacies.
No new outbreaks have been reported.
An outbreak at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital has now been considered resolved. Declared on May 5, it’s been tied to 14 resident cases, five staff cases and three deaths.
Meanwhile, no new school-linked cases have been reported and none are active, according to the local school boards.
Per-municipality case counts can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 2.9 per cent the week of May 16.
Numbers for Elgin Oxford and Lambton Public Health will be updated shortly.
With files from Matthew Trevithick, Kelly Wang, Gabby Rodrigues, and The Canadian Press
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