Two people have died, two more have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and four people have recovered, health officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit reported on Tuesday.
The update brings the total number of confirmed cases to 458, of which 303 have recovered — about 66 per cent — and 45 have died.
It comes after health officials reported 13 new cases and four recoveries on Monday, and five new cases and three recoveries on Sunday.
Both deaths and both new cases are linked to local seniors’ homes, health unit figures show.
Long-term care and retirement homes reported one death each, while two cases were reported at long-term care homes, one involving a resident, the other involving a staff member. The health unit does not release per-facility information.
Both new cases were reported in London. The city has seen at least 422 of the region’s cases, while Strathroy-Caradoc has seen 19 and Middlesex Centre seven.
Elsewhere, four cases each have been reported in North Middlesex and Thames Centre, while one each has been reported in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
The health unit says at least 140 confirmed cases involve local seniors’ facilities, including 88 at long-term care homes involving 54 residents and 34 staff members, and 52 at retirement homes involving 37 residents and 15 staff.
Eighteen of the region’s deaths have been linked to long-term care homes, while seven have been linked to retirement homes.
The number of confirmed and active outbreaks remained unchanged at 18 as of the health unit’s latest outbreak report, released Monday afternoon. No outbreaks have been declared resolved since May 6, keeping the number of active outbreaks at 10.
Of those, all but one involve a long-term care or retirement home.
Outbreaks remain active at peopleCare Oakcrossing, Grand Wood Park, Horizon Place, Kensington Village Retirement, Kensington Village Long-Term Care Residence, Elmwood Place, Meadow Park Care Centre, Earls Court Village, Henley Place and Sisters of St. Joseph.
Seniors’ facilities have seen at least 12 outbreaks declared. They’re among some 347 outbreaks that have been reported at seniors’ homes across the province since mid-January, according to Public Health Ontario.
According to the health unit, at least 26 per cent of cases in London and Middlesex involve health-care workers.
At least 73 outbreaks have been reported at Ontario Hospitals, including three in London — two at Victoria Hospital and one at University Hospital. At least 304 patients and 308 staff at Ontario hospitals in total have tested positive, while 52 patients have died.
In London, at least 39 staff members with London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) have tested positive as of Tuesday. It’s not clear where in the hospital system the staff members worked or how many are still ill.
LHSC reported Tuesday that it was actively treating a total of 25 COVID-19 patients at University and Victoria hospitals as of midnight, including five in intensive care and one in Victoria’s Children’s Hospital.
Provincially, Ontario reported 361 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, and 56 more deaths.
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That brings the province to a total of 20,907 cases, including 1,725 deaths and 15,391 cases that have been resolved.
The new cases represent an increase of 1.8 per cent over the previous day.
Hospitalizations dropped slightly, along with the numbers of people in intensive care and on ventilators.
There were just under 12,000 tests completed in the previous day — the lowest total in a week.
The government has pledged to do 16,000 tests a day, moving toward 20,000 a day.
The government is set to extend the state of emergency in the province to June 2 during a vote Tuesday afternoon.
The Ontario New Democrats are calling on the government to hold a public inquiry into the province’s long-term care system.
Elgin and Oxford
One person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the first positive case in Elgin and Oxford counties since May 7, health officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Tuesday.
The new case brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 63, of which 47 — or about 75 per cent — have recovered, a figure that has remained unchanged since May 9.
The number of deaths remained at four, a figure that has not changed since April 22.
No new outbreaks have been reported, keeping that figure at two. Both have since been declared over.
Of the 12 active cases in the region, SWPH figures show eight are in Oxford County, including three each in Tillsonburg and three in Woodstock, while four are in Elgin, including two each in Malahide and St. Thomas.
As of Tuesday, 3,170 tests had been administered in Elgin and Oxford counties, according to SWPH. Of those, 233 are still awaiting tests.
Health unit figures peg the test positive percentage rate at 2.1 per cent as of Tuesday, down from 2.2 per cent the day before.
Huron and Perth
For at least the ninth day in a row, officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) have reported no new cases of COVID-19 in the region.
Two more people have recovered, the health unit said.
The total number of cases is unchanged at 49, of which now 41 have recovered, or about 83 per cent of cases, and five have died.
The health unit reported no new cases, deaths or recoveries on Monday, and reported four recoveries on Sunday.
Health unit figures show the two most recent recovered cases are from Perth County, bringing the number of active cases there to zero.
Of the three remaining active cases, two are in Huron County, while one is in Stratford.
Twenty-five of the 49 cases reported by HPPH since the beginning of the pandemic, and four of the five deaths, have been in Stratford.
The four deaths were linked to a since-resolved outbreak at Greenwood Court, a retirement home in Stratford, where at least 16 of the region’s cases have also been reported.
Officials declared the outbreak over on Tuesday, more than month after it was first reported in late March. In total, six residents and 10 staff tested positive.
Four outbreaks remain active in the region, including at Blue Water Rest Home, where one resident has tested positive, and at Huronview, Braemark Retirement Centre and Exeter Villa, where one staff member, two staff members, and one staff member have tested positive, respectively.
Nearly half of the region’s cases, 23, have involved health-care workers, health unit figures show. Of those, 20 have since recovered.
Elsewhere, in Huron County, 12 cases have been reported, of which 10 have recovered, while in Perth County, 10 cases have been reported, of which all have now recovered.
Two cases have been reported in St. Marys. One person died and one recovered.
As of Tuesday, the health unit says 2,063 tests have been administered in Huron and Perth, 43 more than the day before. Of those, 90 are still awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
Three people have tested positive while three others have recovered, officials with Lambton Public Health reported late Monday in its most recent update.
The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 203, of which 145 — or about 71 per cent — have recovered, and 17 have died.
The health unit reported six recoveries on Sunday, and one death, six new cases and three recoveries on Saturday.
Health unit figures show the death involved a resident at Vision Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in Sarnia, where an outbreak declared on April 23 has seen at least eight residents infected, three of whom have since died. Two staff members have also tested positive.
It’s the sole active outbreak in the region. Four have been declared since the start of the pandemic. Two were declared resolved last week.
Residents of long-term care and retirement homes account for at least 18 per cent of the county’s cases, with health-care workers accounting for 14 per cent.
At least 15 staff at Sarnia’s Bluewater Health have tested positive. Two cases were confirmed resolved as of Friday. It’s not clear how many cases remain active.
According to health unit figures, 73 per cent of cases have been reported in urban areas, including Sarnia, Bright’s Grove and Point Edward, with the rest of Lambton making up the remaining 27 per cent.
As of late Monday, 4,131 test results had been received in the county, with a positive rate of five per cent. It’s not clear how many tests are currently pending results.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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