Two people have tested positive for the coronavirus while eight others have recovered, the Middlesex-London Health Unit reported Tuesday.
That brings the region’s total case count to 1,110, of which 990 people have recovered. Sixty people have died, most recently a 51-year-old woman, not linked to a seniors’ facility, who died on Saturday.
The death was the third in just over a week, following the deaths of a 71-year-old man on Oct. 21 and a 91-year-old man, a resident of a seniors’ home that had declared an outbreak, on Oct. 15. The deaths were the first in the region since June 12.
As of Tuesday, there are 60 known active cases in London and Middlesex.
Health officials reported 14 new cases and 10 recoveries on Monday and one death, 13 cases and 19 recoveries over the weekend.
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Of the two new cases reported Tuesday, one individual is from London and is in their 20s, while the other is from Middlesex Centre and is 80 years old or older.
The exposure source of one is listed as contact with a confirmed case, while the other has no known link.
The health unit’s hospitalization tallies remain unchanged from the day before. At least six people are currently in hospital, according to London Health Sciences Centre, which issued a tally of COVID-19 patients in its care on Monday for the first time in months.
LHSC says it will update the tally on Thursday.
No COVID-19 patients were in the care of St. Joseph’s Health Care London as of Tuesday.
A total of 128 people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 33 in intensive care.
According to health unit figures, the region has seen at least 230 cases since the start of October and 379 since the start of September.
A large number of the cases reported through September and early into October involved London residents aged 19 and younger and in their 20s.
While more cases in recent weeks have involved people in older age groups, people in their 20s still account for the most overall cases by age with 271. People in their 50s and 30s, meantime, make up 148 and 146 cases, respectively, while people 19 or under make up 142.
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One new institutional outbreak has been declared while one has been deemed over, according to the health unit.
The most recent outbreak was declared Monday at Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence and impacts the entire residence.
Few other details are known.
Meanwhile, the outbreak affecting the Harris area of Henley Place Long-Term Care Residence has been reported over. The outbreak was declared active on Oct. 11.
At least 45 institutional outbreaks have been declared since the pandemic began in March, with 39 occurring at seniors’ facilities.
Eight currently remain active:
- Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence (entire facility)
- Strathmere Lodge (Bear Creek, Arbor Glen, Parkview Place)
- Oakcrossing Retirement Living (first, third and fourth floors)
- Westmount Gardens (Lily)
- Chartwell London (entire long-term care facility)
- Chelsey Park Long-Term Care (fourth floor)
- Craigwiel Gardens (long-term care home only, not apartments)
- Extendicare (entire facility)
It’s not clear how many cases have been tied to all of the institutional outbreaks that have been declared in the region since March, as such information is not made public by the health unit.
Outbreaks at long-term care and retirement homes during the pandemic have been linked to at least 219 cases involving 110 residents and 109 staff members, and have also been tied to 38 deaths, including the one reported Oct. 15.
Across the province, more than 6,678 long-term care home residents and 2,822 staff members have tested positive for the virus, while around 2,000 residents have died, along with eight staff members.
Of the region’s overall caseload, 199, or about 18 per cent, have involved health-care workers.
According to St. Joseph’s Health Care, at least 23 of its staff have tested positive since March. An updated overall tally from LHSC was not immediately available, but officials said the current number infected was five or fewer.
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No new cases have been reported linked to local schools, and one involving a student at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School has been deemed resolved.
The case was reported Oct. 17 and is among at least 14 school-linked cases that have cropped up in London and Middlesex since Sept. 21, when the region’s first was reported at H.B. Beal Secondary School involving a student.
Over the weekend, four student cases were reported by the London District Catholic School Board involving three of its schools — two at St. Kateri Separate School and one each at Mother Teresa and St. Andre Bessette secondary schools.
Those four cases remain active, as does a student case at Lambeth Public School, reported on Oct. 21.
Since-resolved cases were recently reported on Oct. 13 at Northdale Central Public School in Dorchester, on Oct. 12 at Mary Wright Public School in Strathroy-Caradoc, and on Oct. 9 and Oct. 12 at Sir Arthur Currie Public School involving a staff member and student, respectively.
An outbreak declared at the school following the Oct. 12 case remained active as of Tuesday.
Since-resolved cases have also been reported at École élémentaire La Pommeraie on Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, both involving staff members, and at Saunders Secondary School on Oct. 7 involving a student.
Meantime, the health unit says an outbreak declared Oct. 11 at London Hall, a student residence at Western University, remains active as of Monday.
At least six people have tested positive as a result of the outbreak. They’re among at least 76 Western students who have tested positive since the school year began — a tally that is likely now much higher as the health unit has not issued a count in several weeks.
Students looking to get tested for the virus can still visit the university’s testing centre in the Student Recreation Centre in certain situations.
The centre is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Testing is now also available at more pharmacies in the city as of this week.
The news was announced Monday by Mayor Ed Holder and means that at least eight city pharmacies are now offering asymptomatic testing to certain individuals, such as those with loved ones in long-term care homes, close contacts of a known case or high-risk workers.
Pharmacies now offering testing in London include:
- London Medical Plex Pharmacy at 1807 Wonderland Rd. N.
- Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at 279 Wharncliffe Rd. N.
- Medpoint Pharmacy in Citi Plaza
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 3090 Colonel Talbot Rd.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 115 Commissioners Rd.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 603 Fanshawe Park Rd. W.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 395 Southdale Rd. E.
- TMC Pharmacy at 990 Gainsborough Rd.
Testing at the city’s two assessment centres is also still available — by phone or online appointment for Oakridge Arena and by time-card for Carling Heights — while the Middlesex-London Paramedic Service’s mobile testing bus is slated to roll into Kerwood on Tuesday and Parkhill on Thursday.
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The health unit’s Section 22 order covering personal care businesses will come into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
The order was slated to take effect on Saturday along with the health unit’s other two orders covering food and drink establishments and indoor fitness and sports facilities, however pushback prompted the health unit to delay its implementation until further consultations could be held.
The health unit last week revised its indoor fitness and sports facility order after criticism from the local sporting community, in particular about how it would impact indoor arenas and hockey.
The order comes as the region’s seven-day average for new cases stands at 8.14 as of Tuesday, while looking back to Oct. 13, the 14-day average is 7.42. The region’s incident rate stands at 218.7 per 100,000 people, while Ontario’s is 479.2
At least 1,020 cases have been reported in London, while 31 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc.
Elsewhere, Middlesex Centre and Thames Centre’s case counts both stand at 21 each, while North Middlesex is at eight, Lucan Biddulph seven and Southwest Middlesex one.
Ontario
Ontario reported 827 new cases of the virus on Tuesday and four new deaths.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 355 cases are in Toronto, 169 are in Peel Region, 89 in York Region and 58 in Ottawa.
The province has conducted 23,945 tests since the last daily report, with an additional 22,636 being processed.
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In total, 312 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 75 in intensive care.
The province also reported 144 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 82 among students.
Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 593 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools.
Elgin and Oxford
Two people have tested positive for the coronavirus while two others have recovered, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported on Tuesday.
The update brings the region’s total case count to 311, of which now 290 people have recovered. Five people have also died, a tally unchanged since early July.
Health unit figures show the new cases were reported in Woodstock, while the recoveries were reported in Ingersoll and Tillsonburg.
Health officials reported one new case and four recoveries on Monday, three cases and two recoveries on Sunday, and three cases and two recoveries on Saturday.
There remain at least 16 known active cases in the region, including 10 in Woodstock, four in Aylmer and one each in Blandford-Blenheim and Ingersoll.
Of those, three are aged 19 or younger, three are in their 20s, four are in their 30s, one is in their 40s and five are in their 50s.
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Neither one of Tuesday’s cases is linked to schools in the region or to two active institutional outbreaks at seniors’ facilities.
One outbreak was declared Oct. 17 at Chartwell Aylmer, while the other was declared Oct. 24 at Secord Trails in Ingersoll. Both outbreaks came after one staff member at each facility tested positive.
The outbreak at Secord Trails is the second this year, following an outbreak in May that came after eight staff infections.
They’re among seven outbreaks that have been declared since March, linked to 14 cases, of which only one involved a resident.
Meantime, two school cases have been reported so far, both since resolved: one at St. Thomas Community Christian School on Sept. 25 and another at Mitchell Hepburn Public School on Sept. 29.
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Overall, Aylmer has reported the most cases of any municipality with 88, followed by St. Thomas with 49, Woodstock with 43, Bayham with 38, Tillsonburg with 29 and Dutton/Dunwich, Ingersoll, and Norwich with 10 each.
A large number of Aylmer’s cases were reported over the summer in late July and early to mid-August.
The region’s test positivity rate was 0.5 per cent as of the week of Oct. 11. That week saw 2,600 people tested for the virus. The figures are the most recent available.
Huron and Perth
No new cases, deaths or recoveries were reported Tuesday by Huron Perth Public Health.
The region’s total case count stands at 143, of which 137 people have recovered. Five people have also died, most recently in late April.
There is one known active case of the virus in the region, located in Perth East. The case was reported on Monday. Health officials also reported one recovery.
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There has been no change to the number of outbreaks that have been seen in the region — nine — or the number of cases that have been linked to schools.
Outbreaks are tied to at least 24 cases and four deaths. The most recent, declared active and over on Oct. 16 and Oct. 19, respectively, came after a staff member at Hillside Manor tested positive.
At local schools, a probable case was reported on Oct. 16 involving a member of Stratford’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School, however no positive cases were later reported on the province’s school case database.
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At least 51 cases have been reported in Perth County since March, including 19 in North Perth and 17 in Perth East.
At least 48 cases have been reported in Huron County, with 14 in Central Huron, 13 in Bluewater and 10 in South Huron.
Elsewhere, Stratford has seen 38 cases and four deaths, while St. Marys has reported six cases and one death.
At least 32 cases in the region have involved people in their 20s, while 26 have been people in their 50s and 23 in their 60s.
Some 42,983 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Oct. 10, the most recent figures available. The week of Oct. 4 to 10 saw 2,614 people tested.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has recovered from the coronavirus, Lambton Public Health reported late Monday night.
At least 369 cases have been confirmed during the pandemic in the county, of which 338 people have recovered. Twenty-five people have also died, most recently in early June.
There are six known active cases of the virus in the county, the locations of which have not been released by the health unit.
One new case was reported late Sunday, one case and four recoveries were reported late Saturday, and one new case was reported late Friday.
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The new case is not linked to a school. At least four such cases have been reported at Lambton schools since the start of the school year.
One active school-linked case remains in the county, according to the Lambton Kent District School Board.
The case, located at Sarnia’s Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School, involves a student and is one of two cases that have been reported at the school. The other case also involved a student.
One since-resolved student case was also previously reported at Bright’s Grove Public School in Sarnia, as well as at Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna.
Meantime, two outbreaks remain active in the region, both declared Oct. 15. One at an unspecified workplace involving three people, while the other is at Twin Lakes Terrace, a Sarnia long-term care home, involving two staff members.
Twelve outbreaks have been declared during the pandemic, including nine at seniors’ facilities, two at workplaces and one at Bluewater Health hospital.
They’re linked to 114 cases and 16 deaths, however, a vast majority of those cases and all 16 deaths occurred at Landmark Village and Vision Nursing Home.
No people are currently in hospital, according to Bluewater Health. A total of at least 58 people have been admitted for the virus since the pandemic began. The most recent patient was discharged Oct. 20.
Nearly 44,600 people had been tested in the county as of Oct. 17, health unit figures show.
— With files from The Canadian Press