COVID-19: Middlesex-London Health Unit reports 23 cases, SWPH adds 11 cases

Jump to: Hospitalizations – Outbreaks – Schools – Vaccinations and testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton

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The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 23 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, though the total case count climbed by 26 to 14,157 cases.

In total, there have been 13,746 recoveries (an increase of 24), 171 active cases (an increase of two) and 240 deaths.

The most recent death was reported on Oct. 5 and involved a man in his 70s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home. Based on the updates to the MLHU’s vaccination status of recent deaths graph, the latest death involved someone who was partially vaccinated.

The number of cases involving a variant of concern remains at 4,259. The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:

• 3,384 cases of the Alpha variant
• 745 cases of the Delta variant
• 124 cases of the Gamma variant
• two cases of the Beta variant
• one case of the Kappa variant
• one case of the Zeta variant

There are also two cases listed using the old code numbers, one described as B.1.617 and another listed as B.1.617.3.

Further information can be found on the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London.

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre is caring for 10 inpatients with COVID-19 as of Thursday.

Five or fewer patients are in adult critical care/the intensive care unit.

There are zero COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital and zero inpatients in pediatric critical care.

The number of staff cases remains at five or fewer.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) is reporting two non-outbreak cases involving health-care workers.

Outbreaks

The MLHU is reporting an outbreak at Dearness Home in 5E, declared Oct. 6.

There are also outbreaks reported at the following schools:

• Lord Elgin Public School, declared Sept. 26
• St. Catherine of Siena Elementary School, declared Oct. 1
• London Christian High, declared Oct. 1

There are currently no active outbreaks at child-care or early-years centres. However, there is one case each reported at Kidlogic London and at Maitland Early Childhood Learning Centre.

Schools

The following schools have cases associated with them, according to the MLHU:

• B. Davison Secondary School Secondary School (one case)
• Banting Annex Adult ESL (one case)
• Eagle Heights Public School (one case)
• Glen Cairn Public School (one case)
• Glencoe District High School (one case)
• London Christian High (four cases)
• Lord Elgin Public School (four cases, the TVDSB is reporting five active cases and 14 recoveries)
• Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School (one case)
• St. Anthony Catholic French Immersion School (one case)
• St. Catherine of Siena Elementary School (one case)
• St. Kateri Catholic School (one case)
• St. Theresa Catholic School (two cases)

The health unit said at least 98 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, and child-care/early-years centres.

Vaccinations and testing

On Wednesday, in conjunction with Southwestern Public Health and Huron Perth Public Health, the MLHU announced that proof of vaccination will be required for everyone 12 and up participating in organized sports.

As of the end of day Oct. 2, 82.1 per cent of residents aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 87.2 per cent have had at least one dose.

Since Aug. 26, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 66.25 per cent of all cases (or 526 of 794 cases) and 69.7 per cent of all hospitalizations (or 23 of 33 hospitalizations).

Meanwhile, 22.29 per cent of all cases (or 177 of 794 cases) involved those who were fully vaccinated while 24.24 per cent of all hospitalizations (eight of 33) involved individuals who were fully vaccinated.

The rest of the cases involved individuals who were partially vaccinated or not yet protected by vaccination.

Of the seven COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, three involved people who were unvaccinated, two involved individuals who were fully vaccinated, one involved someone who was partially vaccinated and one involved someone who was not yet protected by vaccination.

On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies; guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country; transportation support for those in need; and more.

Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about the locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.

The latest COVID-19 test positivity rate in the region was 1.8 per cent for the week of Sept. 26, unchanged from the week of Sept. 19.

Ontario

Ontario reported 587 cases Thursday, with 349 of those among unvaccinated people, 27 partially vaccined, 164 fully vaccinated and for 47 people the status was unknown.

According to Thursday’s report, 119 cases were recorded in Toronto, 55 in Peel Region, 45 in Windsor-Essex, 42 in York Region, 32 in Ottawa, 28 in Durham Region, and 29 in Niagara Region. All other health units reported fewer than 25 cases.

Five more deaths were reported.

Among those eligible (12 and older), 81.8 per cent are fully immunized against COVID-19.

Elgin and Oxford

On Thursday, Southwestern Public Health reported 11 new cases though the total case count increased by 10 due to a previous case being removed from the tally as a result of data cleaning.

In total, SWPH is reporting:

• 4,366 total cases
• 79 active cases (an increase of two)
• 4,200 resolved cases (an increase of eight)
• 87 deaths
• 1,241 variant of concern cases (an increase of nine), with 770 Alpha (a decrease of one), 417 Delta (an increase of 10) and 54 Beta or Gamma

The most recent death was reported on Oct. 5 and involved a 75-year-old Aylmer man.

Of the 79 active cases in the region, 48 are in Elgin County (including 20 in Aylmer and 10 in Bayham) and 31 are in Oxford County (including eight each in Tillsonbug and Woodstock).

Four people with COVID-19 are hospitalized, the health unit said, with one case in the ICU.

SWPH is reporting an active long-term care home outbreak declared Oct. 3 at Elgin Manor in St. Thomas, involving two resident cases and one staff case.

Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.

As of Sept. 26, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 2.5 per cent, up from 1.2 per cent a week earlier.

As of Oct. 5, 81.2 per cent of those aged 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 86.0 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on where to get vaccinated, vaccine eligibility and booking and cancelling appointments can be found on the health unit’s website.

People can add their names on a weekly basis to the health unit’s same-day vaccination list, also known as the Cancellation List. Select pharmacies in the region are also continuing to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Huron and Perth

Global News is awaiting Huron Perth Public Health’s data for Thursday.

On Wednesday, Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported:

• 2,222 cases (an increase of 12 from Tuesday)
• 50 active cases (an increase of seven)
• 2,107 recoveries (an increase of five)
• 65 deaths (unchanged)

Among the 50 active cases, 10 are in Perth South and eight are in West Perth. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

Two people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. There is one active COVID-19 case involving a health-care worker.

HPPH is not reporting any active long-term care home, retirement home, hospital or school outbreaks. However, one community outbreak is currently active.

Data on school cases can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 2.0 per cent as of the week of Sept. 19, up from 1.8 per cent the week before.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Oct. 4, 78.7 per cent of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 83.7 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website. Information on pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the province’s website.

Sarnia and Lambton

On Thursday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:

• 3,963 cases (an increase of 23 from Wednesday)
• 98 active cases (a decrease of 11)
• 3,795 resolved cases (an increase of 12)
• 70 deaths (unchanged)

As of Thursday, 565 variant of concern cases had been recorded in the region, unchanged from Monday.

Of those, 439 have been Alpha, 108 have been Delta (an increase of four) and 18 have been Gamma.

Two COVID-19 patients are in the care of Bluewater Health on Thursday, down from four on Wednesday.

LPH is reporting active outbreaks at:

• Generations Day Care – Queen Elizabeth Site, declared Sept. 28 and involving fewer than five cases.
• An unidentified workplace outbreak, declared Oct. 3.

An outbreak at Bkejwanong Kinomaagewgamig Elementary School, declared Sept. 24 and involving five cases, was declared over on Oct. 6.

All active cases at schools within the Lambton Kent District School Board can be found online, as can cases at schools within the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

Among those aged 12 and older, 77.3 per cent are fully vaccinated and 82.0 per cent have had at least one dose.

Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.

Information on pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the province’s website.

Those who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.

— With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues