Four more people have died, including three at local seniors homes, while nine others have tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported Wednesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in London and Middlesex to 393 and the number of deaths to 36. Health officials reported 11 people had also recovered, bringing that total to 212 — about 59 per cent of all cases.
The health unit said one of the cases and two of the deaths, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 90s, were associated with long-term care homes, while one death, involving a man in his 70s, was associated with a retirement home. The health unit does not say at which facilities the deaths occurred.
A fourth death involving a man in his 80s was not associated with long-term care or retirement homes, the health unit said.
The MLHU figures show eight of the new cases were confirmed in London, where 364 cases have been reported, while one was reported in Middlesex Centre, home to seven cases.
Elsewhere, 15 cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, while four have been reported in Thames Centre and three in North Middlesex.
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Seniors facilities now account for at least 109 of the region’s cases and 20 of its deaths.
Sixty-eight cases have been reported at long-term care homes, involving 47 residents and 21 staff, while 41 cases have been reported at retirement homes, involving 29 residents and 12 staff.
The number of outbreaks that have been declared in London and Middlesex remained unchanged from Tuesday at 16.
Of those, 10 remain active, including seven at seniors facilities. They’re among at least 11 outbreaks that have been declared at local long-term care and retirement homes since the start of the pandemic.
Provincially, at least 181 outbreaks have been declared at long-term care homes across Ontario, according to Public Health Ontario.
The most recent local outbreak was declared Saturday at Elmwood Place Long-Term Care Home, where a resident has tested positive.
Outbreaks also remain active at Earls Court Village, Grand Wood Park, Henley Place, Horizon Place, Kensington Village, Meadow Park Care Centre, Sisters of St. Joseph and Victoria Hospital, which has seen cases in its oncology unit (C7-400) and geriatric behavioural unit (C6-100).
As of Wednesday, at least 38 London Health Sciences staff had tested positive for novel coronavirus, the organization said, unchanged from the day before. Few other details have been released, including how many are front-line medical staff, how many, if any, have been hospitalized and how many have recovered.
Both University and Victoria hospitals were treating a total of 32 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, a decrease of four from Tuesday, with 12 in intensive care.
Six local outbreaks have been declared over, the most recent on Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Hospice, where 13 staff and five patients had tested positive.
Outbreaks have also been declared at Chelsey Park, Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care, Seasons Strathroy, Sprucedale Care Centre and University Hospital’s inpatient cardiology unit.
Provincially, Ontario reported 347 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and 45 more deaths, bringing the province’s caseload to 15,728, a 2.3 per cent increase over the previous day, which is the lowest growth rate in weeks.
More than 60 per cent of the total cases, 9,612, are ones that have been resolved, and there have been a total of 996 deaths.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 rose, though the number of people in intensive care and on ventilators decreased slightly.
Under the province’s reopening framework, the chief medical officer is looking for a consistent two- to four-week decrease in the number of new cases as well as declining hospitalizations before advising moving to the first stage.
Ontario has reported doing 11,554 tests in the previous 24 hours and has said it will do 14,000 tests daily by Wednesday, a number that would be reflected in Thursday’s data.
Elgin and Oxford
One more person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, while four people have recovered, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported on Wednesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in Elgin and Oxford counties to 60 and the number of recoveries to 32 — about 53 per cent of cases. The number of deaths remains unchanged at four.
SWPH said the region was seeing cases double every 10 days, with the percentage of positive cases falling around 3.5 per cent.
No new outbreaks have been declared as of Wednesday, SWPH said. The region has seen two outbreaks declared since the start of the pandemic.
One of those outbreaks — at Caressant Care on Bonnie Place in St. Thomas, Ont. — remains active. The outbreak was declared on April 21 after a health-care worker tested positive. No additional cases have been reported there.
The other, at Beattie Manor, was declared on March 27 and was resolved on April 22.
Of the region’s 24 active cases, at least seven are in Elgin County, including four in St. Thomas, while 16 are in Oxford, including five in Woodstock. Details about one case were not available.
As of Wednesday, 2,355 COVID-19 tests had been administered in Elgin and Oxford, an increase of 122 from Tuesday, with 631 awaiting results, a decrease of 37 from the day before.
Huron and Perth
One person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and two more people have recovered, officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported Wednesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in Huron and Perth counties to 45 and the number of recoveries to 33 — about 73 per cent of all cases. The number of deaths remains unchanged at four.
The new case involves a staff member at Huronview Home for the Aged, a Huron County-run long-term care home south of Clinton, where an outbreak has now been declared, the health unit said.
In a statement Tuesday, county officials said the facility was working with the health unit to identify who the staff member had come in contact with before their symptoms started. It’s not clear when the staff member began exhibiting symptoms or when they stopped working at the home.
“Rigorous COVID-19 testing will begin this evening for all staff and residents within Huronview,” Tuesday’s statement read. “Using proper personal protective equipment (PPE), Huron County health-care providers are being brought on site to assist with the swabbing.”
It’s the fourth outbreak declared at a seniors facility in Huron and Perth since the beginning of the pandemic and the second this week.
On Monday, an outbreak was declared at Blue Water Rest Home, a long-term care facility in Zurich, Ont., where a resident has tested positive.
The hardest-hit facility in the region has been Greenwood Court in Stratford, where six residents and nine staff members have tested positive and three people have died.
The home accounts for 15 of the 24 cases that have been confirmed in Stratford. Of the city’s cases, 17 have recovered, though it’s unclear how many involve Greenwood Court. One of the two recovered cases reported on Wednesday was in Stratford, while the other was in Perth County.
The region’s only resolved outbreak has been at Hillside Manor in Sebringville, Ont., where a resident had tested positive. The outbreak was declared over on April 14.
Eleven cases have been confirmed in Huron County, including three in South Huron and Bluewater, two in Central Huron and one each in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, Goderich and Huron East.
Eight of Huron’s cases have been marked as recovered, but officials did not say where in the county those cases were.
In Perth, eight cases have been confirmed, including two each in Perth East, North Perth, Perth South and West Perth. Seven cases have since been marked as recovered.
Two cases, including one death, have been reported in St. Marys. The other case has since recovered.
As of Wednesday, 1,483 COVID-19 tests had been administered in Huron and Perth counties, an increase of 80 from the day before, with 325 awaiting results.
Sarnia and Lambton
Three more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and three people have recovered, officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported late Tuesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 181 and the number of recoveries to 87 — about 48 per cent of cases. The number of deaths remains unchanged at 14.
Location details for the new cases were not immediately available. LPH figures show 76 per cent of cases have been confirmed in urban areas, including Sarnia, Bright’s Grove and Point Edward, while 24 per cent have been confirmed elsewhere in Lambton.
None of the new cases were linked to the three active outbreaks at seniors facilities in Sarnia.
The Landmark Village retirement home has been hardest hit, with 30 residents and 10 staff members testing positive since the start of the outbreak there in late March. Six residents have also died. It’s not clear how many of the home’s cases remain active.
Two other outbreaks remain active at Sumac Lodge, where one staff member tested positive on Monday, and at Vision Nursing Home, where three residents and two staff members tested positive late last week.
According to LPH figures, 18 per cent of cases confirmed since the start of the pandemic have been among long-term care residents, while 14 per cent have been among health-care workers.
Among those who have tested positive have been 14 staff members at Sarnia’s Bluewater Hospital.
Officials said they determined four of the cases were work-acquired and traced them back to patients the staff members had been treating. The remaining 11 were acquired through the community, a hospital spokesperson said Monday.
None of the staff members who became infected through work were staff in the COVID-19 or intensive care units or in the emergency department, the spokesperson said.
The hospital reported on Wednesday that it was treating 11 COVID-19 patients, one fewer than Tuesday, in addition to 13 who were either suspected positive or had tests pending, down from 17 the day before.
As of Wednesday, 1,968 COVID-19 tests had been administered in Lambton County, an increase of 73 from Tuesday. The number of cases pending results was not available.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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