Four additional novel coronavirus cases were reported by the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) on Saturday, one day after 13 new cases were announced.
There are now a total of 793 COVID-19 cases in London and Middlesex, with 680 recoveries, one more than the day before.
It’s unclear how many of Saturday’s new cases are Western University students. They account for some 39 cases after 11 out of 13 of Friday’s cases were confirmed to be Western students.
There are at least 56 known active cases in the region, according to the health unit.
The death toll in the region remains unchanged at 57.
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IMPORTANT UPDATE: @ONgov has reduced the limits on the number of people permitted to attend unmonitored and private social gatherings across the entire province. The new limits are effective immediately.
Read more: https://t.co/WVgGdHNi7e#LdnOnt #Middlesex /1 https://t.co/3XXF4lDgrM
— MLHealthUnit (@MLHealthUnit) September 19, 2020
The individuals involved in Saturday’s four new cases are all male, two of which are under the age of 19, one is in their 20s, and one is in their 40s. None of them are health-care workers.
Dr. Chris Mackie, the medical officer of health for London and Middlesex said the spread of COVID-19 in Western students is virtually all linked to partying in bars and restaurants, or in private homes.
“From our community’s perspective, this is a second wave. It’s in a new population at a new time where, even looking across the general community, there isn’t a lot of activity. It’s very unfortunate that this has happened.”
Of the 11 cases from Friday that involve Western students, nine have been tied to a large house party that occurred over the weekend.
It has since been deemed an outbreak, and at least 16 cases have been reported as a result of the house party, according to the health unit.
A gathering at a downtown nightclub, Lost Love Social Club, on Sept. 9 served as a notable infection point, as did gatherings at student homes in the following days.
The nightclub announced over the weekend that it would temporarily shut down to allow staff to self-quarantine.
According to Mackie, the other non-Western case reported Friday is tied to an outbreak at a local Walmart — the city’s third community outbreak of the week.
The outbreak was declared on Friday at the Walmart located at Fanshawe Park and Hyde Park roads, after three staff members tested positive.
Due to the spike in cases and the health unit’s declaration of a community outbreak over the weekend, the city’s two main COVID-19 assessment centres had experienced a surge in turnout.
Combined, the two facilities saw 732 clients on Thursday, compared to 829 the day before — the highest single-day number of visitations since the assessment centres opened in April.
At least 736 of the region’s cases have been reported in London, while 27 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc and 12 in Middlesex Centre. Seven cases have been in Thames Centre, six in North Middlesex, four in Lucan Biddulph and one in Southwest Middlesex.
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The region’s cases per 100,000 rate stood at 156.2 as of Saturday, while Ontario’s stood at 310.0.
People in their 20s make up the region’s largest age group of cases, accounting for 182, or 23 per cent of the region’s case total. People in their 50s make up 114 cases, while people in their 30s and those 80 and above make up 108 each.
The city’s lone institutional outbreak, located on the fourth floor of Chelsey Park Retirement Community, remained active as of Saturday. The outbreak was declared on Sept. 9.
Ontario
Ontario reported 407 new cases of the coronavirus Saturday, which brings the total number of cases in the province to 46,484.
In response to the increase in cases, Premier Doug Ford announced that social gathering sizes are now lowered to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors in all Ontario regions.
The change is effective immediately and will be in place for at least the next 28 days.
One new death was confirmed Saturday, bringing the death toll to 2,826.
The total number of cases in Ontario now stands at 46,484, with just under 88 per cent of all cases classified as resolved.
The province says it processed nearly 39,000 tests over the previous day.
Elgin and Oxford
No new cases, deaths, or recoveries were reported by Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) for another day on Saturday.
The region’s total case count remains unchanged at 263, of which 248 people have recovered. Five have died, most recently in early July.
There are at least 10 known active cases in the region — eight are in Woodstock, one is in Bayham and one is in Central Elgin.
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According to the health unit, of the region’s 10 active cases, five are in their 20s, two are in their 50s, two are in their 60s and one is in their 80s. Seven are men and three are women.
One was listed as being in hospital as of Friday.
Total testing numbers weren’t immediately available, but the health unit says its test per cent positivity rate for the week of Sept. 6, the most recent that is available, was 0.1 per cent.
Huron and Perth
Huron Perth Public Health does not provide updates on weekends.
As of Friday, the total number of cases in the region stood at 127, of which 119 have recovered and five have died.
At least three cases remained active in the region.
At least 45 cases were reported in Perth County, with North Perth and Perth East reporting 16 and 15 cases, respectively.
Forty-five cases had also been reported in Huron County, including 14 in Central Huron, 12 in Bluewater and 10 in South Huron.
Thirty-one cases have been reported in Stratford along with four deaths that were linked to an outbreak at Greenwood Court early in the pandemic.
In St. Marys, six cases and one death have been reported.
The region’s test positivity rate was 0.2 per cent as of the week of Sept. 6.
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Sarnia and Lambton
Officials with Lambton Public Health reported no new cases, deaths or recoveries late Friday.
The region’s total case count remains unchanged at 343, with 317 recoveries and 25 deaths. The latest death was reported in early June.
There is one known active case in the region. It’s not clear where in the county the case is located as the health unit has refrained from releasing location information on cases.
The total number of hospitalizations and outbreaks seen in the county during the pandemic remains unchanged at 58 and 10, respectively. The last COVID-19 patient to be discharged from Bluewater Health was in mid-June.
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The last outbreak to be reported was on Aug. 10 at an unspecified workplace where four people tested positive. It was declared over Aug. 15.
In total, outbreaks are linked to 109 cases and 16 deaths, in large part due to outbreaks at Landmark Village from March to May, and Vision Nursing Home from April to June.
The health unit says at least 25,758 tests have been received as of late Friday. At least 1.3 per cent of tests are coming back positive.
–With files from Global News’ Matthew Trevithick and Ryan Rocca