Two people have tested positive for novel coronavirus in London, Ont., and 10 have recovered, while in Lambton County, the number of confirmed cases rose by eight after a spike in cases was reported at a Sarnia long-term care home Thursday.
The two new cases in London and Middlesex bring the total number of confirmed cases to 463, of which 316 have now recovered — about 68 per cent of cases, health officials reported.
One of the two new cases is linked to an outbreak at a local seniors’ facility and involves a resident of a long-term care home, figures from the Middlesex-London Health Unit show. No further information has been released.
Both of the new cases were reported in London, where 427 cases have been reported. Elsewhere, 19 cases have been confirmed in Strathroy-Caradoc, while Middlesex Centre has seen seven cases.
Four cases each have been reported in North Middlesex and Thames Centre, while one each has been reported in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
At least 46 people have died from COVID-19 in London and Middlesex, with the most recent death reported by the health unit on Wednesday involving a man in his 50s.
The health unit would not identify the deceased, but the news came a day after the Ontario Nurses’ Association announced the death of Brian Beattie, a registered nurse at Kensington Village, a long-term care home that has had an active outbreak since April 3.
The facility is home to one of 10 active COVID-19 outbreaks in the region, of which nine remain at long-term care and retirement homes. At least 18 have been declared since the start of the pandemic, 12 of them at seniors’ facilities.
At Kensington Village, at least 11 residents have tested positive, of which five have died and three have recovered, the home’s operator said Tuesday night. Eight staff have also tested positive, including one who has died — Brian Beattie.
Kensington Village’s separate retirement home has also had an active outbreak since April 30. It’s not clear how many cases have been reported.
An outbreak also remains active at Sisters of St. Joseph, where local media have reported a personal support worker has died after contracting COVID-19. The woman was a 16-year veteran of the facility, according to the London Free Press.
More than a quarter of cases in London and Middlesex — 141, or 30.4 per cent — have been reported in long-term care and retirement homes, health unit figures show.
Eighty-nine cases have been reported at long-term care homes involving 55 residents and 34 staff, while 52 cases have been reported at retirement homes including 36 residents and 16 staff.
More than half of the region’s deaths — 56.5 per cent — have been linked to outbreaks at seniors’ facilities, including 19 at long-term care homes and seven at retirement homes.
Elsewhere, outbreaks also remain active at Peoplecare Oak Crossing, Elmwood Place, Horizon Place, Meadow Park Care Centre, Earls Court Village, Grand Wood Park, and Henley Place.
According to the health unit, 120 cases in London and Middlesex, or about 26 per cent, involve health care workers. Of those cases, only 13 are listed as active, according to MLHU data. Eighty-five per cent involve women.
As of Thursday, at least 39 staff members with London Health Sciences Centre (LSHC) had tested positive, a figure that has remained unchanged since May 2. It’s unclear how many cases remain active and where within the hospital system the staff members worked.
LHSC says University and Victoria Hospitals were treating a total of 23 COVID-19 patients as of midnight Thursday, including four in intensive care, figures unchanged from the day before. One patient was also being treated in the Children’s Hospital, LHSC figures show.
Provincially, Ontario reported 258 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, and 33 more deaths, bringing the total to 21,494 cases, a 1.2 per cent increase over the previous day — the lowest growth rate since early March.
The number of new cases is also the lowest since late March.
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The total includes 1,798 deaths and 16,204 cases that have been resolved, which is now more than 75 per cent of the total.
Hospitalizations increased, though the numbers of people in intensive care and on ventilators decreased.
Ontario’s top doctor is set to release new COVID-19 testing guidelines Thursday, as the province releases details on its reopening plan.
The new guidelines from chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams will say anyone with symptoms can be tested.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says in a tweet that doing so “will help identify and contain new cases and monitor any shifts in community spread to keep Ontarians safe.”
She says nearly every long-term care home resident and worker has now been tested, so testing will expand to other vulnerable populations, including people in retirement homes, shelters and group homes.
Premier Doug Ford is also expected to provide more details Thursday on the first stage of Ontario’s reopening plan.
The province has extended its state of emergency to keep pandemic public health measures in place until June 2.
Elgin and Oxford
One person has recovered from novel coronavirus, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Thursday.
No new cases or deaths were reported.
It keeps the total number of confirmed cases in the region at 63, of which now 53 have recovered, or about 84 per cent of cases.
Four people have died, a figure that has remained unchanged since April 22, according to health unit figures.
SWPH reported five recoveries on Wednesday.
There are only six active cases in the region, with three each in Elgin and Oxford, according to the health unit.
In Elgin County, two cases are active in Malahide while one is active in St. Thomas, while in Oxford County, two cases are active in Woodstock, while one is active in South-West Oxford.
As of Thursday, 3,314 tests had been administered in Elgin and Oxford counties, an increase of 55 from Wednesday. Of those, 243 are awaiting results.
According to SWPH, the region’s test per cent positive rate remains at 2.1 per cent as of Thursday.
Two outbreaks have been declared in the region, both of which are resolved.
Huron and Perth
No new cases, deaths, or recoveries were reported by officials with Huron Perth Public Health on Thursday.
It’s the eleventh day in a row that the health unit has reported no new cases in the region.
It keeps the total number of confirmed cases at 49, of which 42 have recovered — about 83.6 per cent of cases — and five have died.
The health unit reported one recovery on Wednesday involving a case from Huron County.
Of the two remaining active cases in the region, one is Huron County while one is in Stratford.
The number of active outbreaks remains unchanged from the day before at two.
Two staff members have tested positive at Braemar Retirement Centre in North Huron, while one staff member has tested positive at Exeter Villa in South Huron.
The health unit reported Wednesday that an outbreak at Blue Water Rest Home, where one resident tested positive, had been resolved.
Earlier, outbreaks at Huronview and Greenwood Court were declared over on May 11, while an outbreak at Hillside Manor was resolved on April 14.
Twenty-five of the region’s cases and four of its deaths have been reported in Stratford.
The deaths were linked to the outbreak at Greenwood Court, where at least 16 of the region’s cases were also reported. In total, six residents and 10 staff tested positive.
Nearly half of the region’s cases, 23, have involved health-care workers, health unit figures show. All have since recovered.
In Huron County, 11 of the 12 cases reported there have since recovered, while all of the 10 cases reported in Perth County have recovered.
In St. Marys, one of the city’s two reported cases died while one recovered.
As of Wednesday, the health unit says 2,205 tests have been administered in Huron and Perth, 75 more than the day before. Of those, 97 were awaiting test results.
The health unit says it also conducted an additional 2,270 testing swabs at all of the region’s seniors’ homes, a process that was finished on May 8.
Sarnia and Lambton
The number of confirmed cases in Lambton County has risen by eight after health officials reported new cases late Wednesday night, including seven at a single long-term care home in Sarnia.
The update brings the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 212, of which 17 have died, a figure that remained unchanged. Health officials reported one new recovery, bringing that total to 147, or about 69 per cent of cases.
Health officials reported one new case and one more recovery on Wednesday.
Four more residents and three more staff have tested positive at Vision Nursing Home, where an outbreak has been ongoing since April 23, according to Lambton Public Health.
Including the new cases, 12 residents and five staff have tested positive at the facility since the start of the outbreak, and three of the infected residents have since died, health unit figures show.
It’s one of four outbreaks that have been declared in Lambton County over the course of the pandemic, and as of Thursday, is the only current active outbreak.
A more-than-month-long outbreak at Landmark Village in Sarnia was declared over on May 6. Thirty residents had tested positive, six of whom later died, while 10 staff were infected.
Health unit figures show long-term care and retirement home residents now account for 20 per cent of the county’s cases, up from 18 per cent on Wednesday.
Health-care workers, meantime, account for 15 per cent of cases, up from 14 per cent the day before.
At least 15 staff members at Sarnia’s Bluewater Health hospital have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic. At least seven have recovered, a hospital spokesperson said Thursday. None had been hospitalized.
The hospital was treating five COVID-19 patients on Wednesday along with an additional 12 who were suspected positive or who were awaiting tests.
As of late Wednesday, 4,512 test results had been received by county health officials, an increase of 103 from the day before. It’s unclear how many tests are pending. The positive test rate remains at five per cent.
— With files from Global’s Gabby Rodrigues and The Canadian Press
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