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Another 72 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in London-Middlesex, local health officials reported on Tuesday, 25 more than the day before.
This comes a day after the region reported 47 cases, the lowest in the region since March 29, which health officials said was likely due to an outage and that the real case count was actually more.
The region’s pandemic case total is now 10,695, of which 9,612 have resolved, an increase of 104 from Monday.
At least 202 local deaths have been reported to date, two since the month began.
The most recent death, reported May 3, involved a man in his 80s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home, the health unit said.
Officials reported one death on Sunday involving a man in his 60s.
At least 881 cases are active in the region as of Tuesday, a decrease of 32 from the day before.
At least 208 cases have been reported since the start of May. A total of 3,305 cases were reported in April, the most of any month so far since the pandemic began.
Of the 72 new cases reported Tuesday, 70 are from London while one each is from Middlesex Centre and Strathroy-Caradoc.
Those infected skew younger, with 52 per cent of cases involving people under the age of 40. At least 12 cases involve people 19 or younger, 15 are in their 20s, 10 are in their 30s, 12 are in their 40s, 10 are in their 50s, seven are in their 60s, and four are in their 70s. The age range for two cases is not known.
Close contact is linked to at least 38 cases, while 17 have no known link, and four are due to outbreaks. At least 14 are pending or have undetermined exposure source data.
Data as of April 3, 2021 via Middlesex-London Health Unit
Middlesex-London Health Unit
The number of variant cases seen in the region stands at 1,631, an increase of 12 from the day before, the health unit says. Of the 1,631, 1,622 are linked the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K. While 8 are linked to the P.1 variant, first detected in Brazil, and one linked to B.1.617 variant first identified in India.
The health unit notes that its overall variant tally includes cases presumed to be B.1.1.7, as well as cases that have undergone genomic analysis and confirmed to involve a variant of some kind.
A note on the process of confirming and presuming variant cases:
- Confirming a variant is a multi-step process. Positive COVID-19 cases undergo initial screening for spike protein mutations common to variants (N501Y, E484K and K417N), and if found to have one or more, undergo further genomic analysis to determine the specific variant involved (B.1.1.7, B.1.351 or P.1) — a process that can take up to two weeks.
- The province has stopped conducting genomic analysis on cases that screen positive for just the N501Y mutation. Now, those cases are presumed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, as that variant has only been associated with the N501Y mutation.
- Cases that screen positive for either the E484K or K417N mutation are still being sent for genomic analysis as they have been associated with the B.1.351 and P.1 variants, first detected in South Africa and Brazil, respectively.
The health unit says there are at least 122 additional cases that have screened positive for the E484K mutation, consistent with the B.1.351 and P.1 variants. The cases are currently undergoing genomic analysis.
Meanwhile, another 131 cases were initially found to have just the N501Y mutation, however, they have not been ruled out for E484K. As a result, they are not being presumed B.1.1.7 and added to the main variant tally. It’s unclear if or when these cases may be added.
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Local officials continue to urge residents to adhere to pandemic restrictions during the third wave.
It comes after several people were spotted golfing at the city-owned Fanshawe Golf Course over the weekend, despite it being closed due to the provincial stay-at-home order.
“Unfortunately, we can’t be everywhere at all times, but we do have security on-site and we are working with bylaw regarding enforcement,” said London Mayor Ed Holder during Monday’s briefing.
Later in the briefing, Holder called the scofflaw golfers “ignorant” and “disrespectful” for putting themselves above the law.
“I think of them [as] some of the most ignorant, inconsiderate people that London has,” he said, adding that bylaw enforcement was investigating.
“We will get them. And I don’t say that to be vengeful. I say that because no one is above the law, because as soon as we do that, it leads to anarchy and it leads to people just saying, ‘I can do whatever I choose.’ Well, they cannot. Not during a pandemic.”
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At least 9,590 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 332 have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, 310 cases have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 140 in Thames Centre, 68 in Lucan Biddulph, 56 in North Middlesex, 53 in Southwest Middlesex, 15 in Adelaide Metcalfe and two in Newbury.
At least 129 cases have pending location information.
Hospitalizations
At least 92 COVID-19 patients are in the care of London Health Sciences Centre as of Tuesday, with at least 37 in intensive care. There are two less people listed in hospital than the day before and two more patients in the ICU.
On Monday LHSC reported at least 32 patients in hospital are from out of the local area, including 23 who are in the ICU and nine in acute care.
Nine staff are currently positive with COVID-19, the organization reported.
Meanwhile, at St. Joseph’s Health Care London, no COVID-19 patients were listed as being in the care of St. Joseph’s Hospital as of April 26, the most recent update.
At least five staff cases are active within the overall organization, however, it’s not clear in which facility the impacted staff work.
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“While our numbers aren’t increasing at the same rate they were last week or the week before, capacity across the acute health-care system continues to be challenged, and the numbers don’t appear to be dropping the way we would really like to see them drop,” LHSC’s chief medical officer Dr. Adam Dukelow, said during Monday’s briefing.
LHSC has had to deal with record high COVID-19 patient rates in recent weeks, in part as a result of hard-hit Toronto-area hospitals transferring COVID-19 patients elsewhere to keep from running out of capacity.
Other local hospitals, including in Stratford and St. Thomas, have also taken in COVID-19 patients from elsewhere.
Dukelow said LHSC was anticipating receiving eight patients from out of the region this week.
LHSC has opened at least 25 new critical care beds over the last month, including at least three in the pediatric critical care unit of Children’s Hospital.
Dukelow said Monday that there were adult COVID-19 patients in the pediatric critical care unit, but he would not say exactly how many, citing patient privacy.
“We are actively working on plans that we could put in place if we needed to add capacity, but nothing is firm at this point in time,” he replied when asked if LHSC was expecting to add additional critical care capacity soon.
Like other hospitals across Ontario, LHSC has also ramped down non-urgent surgeries and procedures to free up staff and space to deal with the influx of COVID-19 patients.
Surgical volumes at LHSC remain around 50 per cent of normal capacity, Dukelow said.
Institutional outbreaks
Four new outbreaks have been declared Long Term Care homes, three of which are at Glendale Crossing.
These are the first outbreaks declared at seniors facilities in nearly a month and the only ones active in the region.
On Monday, three outbreaks were declared at Glendale Crossing in the Glanworth, Lambeth, and Westminster sections. Health officials also declared an outbreak on the first floor of Kensington Village.
There is no word on how many cases are associated with the outbreaks, however, the total case count associated with seniors facilities went up by 10 on Tuesday. At least 810 of all cases seen in London-Middlesex and 106 of all virus-related deaths have occurred at long-term care and retirement homes.
Elsewhere, non-institutional outbreaks remain active at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre and at the local Cargill plant.
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The EMDC outbreak, active since Jan. 18, has seen at least 59 inmate and 43 staff cases reported, however, no inmate cases were active as of late last week.
An outbreak was declared at the Walmart at Argyle Mall on Thuesday after Five associates recently tested positive for COVID-19. The store remains open.
At Cargill, an outbreak there left at least 122 infected, but few if any new cases have been reported recently.
Both outbreaks will be considered active for at least two weeks after their last reported case.
Meanwhile, outbreaks are still active at some schools and child-care centres and at one Western University residence.
Information on those can be found in the below section.
Schools and child care
No new school cases have been reported and none are currently active, the health unit says.
Two outbreak declarations remain active at St. Andre Bessette Secondary School and St. Francis School.
More cases are now being seen linked to local child care and early years settings.
At least 17 cases are currently active, according to the health unit. At least 12 alone are associated with London Bridge: Rowntree Park Early Childhood Learning Centre, which has been under an outbreak declaration since April 25.
An official with London Bridge told 980 CFPL last week that Rowntree Park would be closed until at least May 13 because of the high number of cases.
Elsewhere, at least one case is active at Angels Daycares Komoka, which has also been under an outbreak declaration since April 28.
One case is also active at Glen Cairn Child Care, the health unit says.
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It leaves one active outbreak at a Western residence.
The outbreak at Perth Hall, declared active on April 8, has been tied to at least 31 cases, the health unit said early last week.
Including the since-resolved Delaware Hall, Elgin Hall, Essex Hall, London Hall, Medway-Sydenham Hall, Ontario Hall, and Saugeen-Maitland Hall outbreaks, Western student residence outbreaks declared since late March have been linked to at least 196 cases.
Vaccinations and testing
Those currently eligible for the vaccine but who have not booked a vaccination slot yet are being asked to do so as soon as possible before eligibility expands once again later on this week.
Starting Thursday, all adults aged 50 and older will be eligible for the vaccine, along with people detailed in the first of two groups of front-line workers unable to work from home.
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During Monday’s media briefing, Dr. Chris Mackie said once that first worker group becomes eligible, the number of residents who can get a vaccine will increase significantly.
“That is a very large group that includes everyone from teachers to farmers and a number of additional groups in between,” Mackie said of the first front-line worker group.
“If people haven’t booked yet, they will still be eligible… it’s just that as of Thursday morning at about eight o’clock in the morning there will be a lot more competition for the spots that we currently have available.”
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 mass vaccination clinics. Online appointments are encouraged due to the high call volume.
Group 1 of 2: Essential front line workers who can’t work from home.
Government of Ontario
The expansion in eligibility comes as part of the province’s updated vaccination timeline.
Released last week, the timeline calls for all Ontarians aged 40 and older, and those with at-risk health conditions, to be eligible by sometime next week, and for all people 18 and older to be eligible by the week of May 24.
The timeline, described last week as ‘aggressive’ by Mackie, comes as the province is anticipating a boost in vaccine shipments through the months of May and June.
The province expects to receive weekly Pfizer vaccine shipments of more than 785,000 doses in May, and more than 938,000 doses next month.
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Locally, Mackie says this week alone the region is expecting about 17,500 Pfizer doses, several thousand higher than the usual amount, and roughly twice what was seen last week when the region’s vaccine shipments dipped slightly.
The boost in vaccines allowed the health unit to add additional slots this week, which have been snapped up quick, Mackie said.
More than 160,000 vaccine doses have been administered so far, with about 3,000 being administered per day, a figure expected to increase with increased shipments.
Three clinics are in operation locally, with a fourth set to come online this month at Earl Nichols Arena thanks to the increase in doses.
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With shipments of vaccine doses to Ontario expected to ramp up over the next month, Health Minister Christine Elliott said Monday that the additional supply may allow for the shortening of the four-month interval between first and second shots.
If that happens, Elliott said people will be contacted to arrange a new time for their second appointment, adding that the new interval would be closer to the original timeline for vaccinations.
During Monday’s briefing, Mackie was asked about the possibility, saying it may be shortened” at some point, (but) that point is not now.”
“The reason being: we still have over half of the population of adults to vaccinate. We also may see the vaccine start going towards children,” he said.
“We expect there will be some kind of announcement federally at some point in May around that question. So the provinces will have to make decisions about whether they move to second doses to adults or move to first doses for children.”
Pfizer recommends a 21-day interval between its two shots, while Moderna recommends four weeks and Oxford-AstraZeneca advises between four and twelve weeks.
Ontario extended the interval between doses in a period of slow vaccine supply to Canada, making some exceptions for certain at-risk individuals.
Mackie noted that more second dose appointments will begin appearing in the months of June and July.
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Elsewhere, vaccine doses are continuing to be administered through some primary care facilities and pharmacies.
The pharmacy program is being led by the province. Residents aged 40 and older are asked to book a spot with the pharmacies themselves.
Those looking to get tested for COVID-19 can still visit the region’s two main assessment centres, at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, which remain open and operating by appointment.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting 2,791 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The provincial total now stands at 476,692.
Tuesday’s case count is the lowest increase in daily cases since April 1 when 2,557 new cases were recorded.
According to Tuesday’s report, 931 cases were recorded in Toronto, 653 in Peel Region, 275 in York Region, 147 in Durham Region, and 128 in Hamilton.
All other local public health units reported fewer than 125 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,143 as 25 more deaths were recorded.
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Meanwhile, 432,109 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 90 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 3,323 from the previous day. There were more resolved cases than new cases on Tuesday.
Ontario reported 2,167 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (up by 242 from the previous day) with 886 patients in intensive care units (down by three) and 609 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (down by two).
As of 8 p.m. on Monday, a total of 5,467,120 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. That marks an increase of 88,871 vaccines in the last day. There are 378,085 people fully vaccinated with two doses.
Global News will give updated numbers for Southwestern Public Health, Huron Perth Public Health, and Lambton Public health shortly.
— With files from Matthew Trevithick, Gabby Rodrigues, and The Canadian Press