Health officials in London and Middlesex reported Friday that three more people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and eight had recovered, while health officials in Huron and Perth reported an active case tally of zero.
The three new cases were all reported in London and involve residents of local retirement homes, health unit figures show. No further information has been released.
The update brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 466, of which 324 have now recovered — about 69.5 per cent — and 46 have died, with one death just this week.
London has seen at least 430 of the region’s cases. Nineteen cases have been confirmed in Strathroy-Caradoc, seven in Middlesex Centre, four each in North Middlesex and Thames Centre, and one each in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
The health unit does not release the locations where recoveries and deaths have been reported.
More than a quarter of cases in London and Middlesex — 145, or 31 per cent — have been associated with 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 56 cases have been reported at retirement homes, including 39 residents and 17 staff.
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Twenty-six of the region’s 46 deaths — 56.5 per cent — have been in seniors’ facilities, including 19 at long-term care homes and seven at retirement homes.
The facilities have also been home to a majority of the outbreaks that have been declared since the pandemic began.
Of the at least 18 outbreaks that have been declared in London and Middlesex, 12 have been at seniors’ homes. Ten outbreaks remain active, nine of them at long-term care and retirement homes.
They’re among at least 375 outbreaks that have been declared across Ontario at long-term care and retirement homes, according to Public Health Ontario.
Outbreaks remain active at Kensington Village Long-Term Care, Kensington Village Retirement, Peoplecare Oak Crossing, Elmwood Place, Sisters of St. Joseph, Horizon Place, Meadow Park Care Centre, Earls Court Village, Grand Wood Park and Henley Place.
The outbreaks at Grand Wood Park and Henley Place are the only ones dating from March that remain active.
The most recent outbreak to be declared was on May 3 at Peoplecare Oak Crossing, while the most recent resolved outbreak was on May 6 at Victoria Hospital’s geriatric behavioural unit.
According to the health unit, 120 cases in London and Middlesex, or about 26 per cent, involve health-care workers. Of those cases, 13 are listed as active, according to MLHU data. Eighty-five per cent of the cases involve women.
As of Friday, 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 Friday, including three in intensive care, one fewer than Thursday.
No patients are listed as being treated in the Children’s Hospital, a decline of one from the day before.
Provincially, Ontario reported 341 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 27 more deaths.
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The province also says that due to a glitch, Thursday’s numbers were under-reported, so there were actually 345 new cases that day, instead of the reported 258.
The new total of cases in the province is 21,922, including 1,825 deaths and 16,641 cases that have been resolved.
The adjusted numbers mean the growth rate of new cases has been a steady 1.6 per cent over the past three days.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontario’s new daily cases are still on a downward trend.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 dropped sharply, from 1,026 to 986, and the number of people in intensive care and on ventilators decreased, too.
Elgin and Oxford
Two more people have recovered from COVID-19 in the Elgin and Oxford region, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Friday.
For the third day in a row, no new cases were reported. It keeps the total number of confirmed cases at 63, of which now 55 have recovered — about 87 per cent. Four people have died of COVID-19, a figure that has remained unchanged since April 22.
The health unit reported one recovery on Thursday and five recoveries on Wednesday.
There are now only four active cases in the region, according to the health unit. Two are located in Elgin, including one each in Malahide and St. Thomas, while two are in Oxford, both in Woodstock.
As of Friday, 3,372 tests had been administered in Elgin and Oxford counties, an increase of 58 from Thursday. Of those, 250 are awaiting results.
The region’s test per cent positivity sits at two per cent, according to SWPH, down from 2.1 per cent the day before. The figure has steadily declined as the health unit has conducted more tests, data shows.
Two outbreaks have been declared in the region, both of which are resolved.
Huron and Perth
There are currently no active confirmed COVID-19 cases in Huron and Perth counties after health officials there reported Friday that the two remaining active cases had both recovered.
No new cases have been reported by Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) for the last 12 days, health unit figures show, keeping the total number at 49, of which 44 have now recovered and five have died.
One of the recovered cases was reported in Huron County, while the other was reported in Stratford, a city that has seen 25 cases confirmed, of which 21 recovered and four died.
The four deaths were linked to an outbreak at Greenwood Court, a long-term care facility. The outbreak was declared over on May 11, after six residents and 10 staff tested positive.
Three other outbreaks have also been declared over, but two are still listed as active despite there being no active cases in the region.
Two staff have tested positive at Braemar Retirement Centre in North Huron, while one staff member has tested positive at Exeter Villa in South Huron.
According to the health unit, staff members at seniors’ facilities may live in a different jurisdiction, and therefore wouldn’t be included in HPPH’s case tally.
Nearly half of the region’s cases, 23, have involved health-care workers, health unit figures show.
A total of 12 cases have been reported in Huron County, while 10 have been reported in Perth County.
In St. Marys, one of the city’s two reported cases died while one recovered.
As of Friday, the health unit says 2,265 tests have been administered in Huron and Perth, 60 more than the day before. Of those, 110 were awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has tested positive and three others have recovered from COVID-19, health officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported Friday.
It brings the total number of cases in the region to 213, of which now 150 have recovered, or about 70 per cent of cases. The number of deaths remains unchanged at 17.
Health unit figures show the new case involved a resident of Vision Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in Sarnia.
Thirteen residents have tested positive as a result of the outbreak, declared April 23. Three residents have since died, and five staff have also tested positive.
Seven of the eight cases reported by LPH on Thursday were linked to the facility, involving four residents and three staff.
It’s currently the only active outbreak in Lambton County. Three others have since been resolved.
Combined, the four outbreaks have resulted in 43 seniors’ home residents testing positive, of which nine have died, in addition to 17 staff infections.
Long-term care and retirement home residents now account for 20 per cent of the county’s cases, while health-care workers make up 15 per cent, according to health unit figures.
In addition to staff members at seniors’ facilities who have tested positive, 15 staff at Sarnia’s hospital have also contracted the virus over the course of the pandemic.
At least seven staff members at Bluewater Health have since recovered, a hospital spokesperson said Thursday. Bluewater Health was treating five COVID-19 patients on Thursday, in addition to nine patients who were suspected positive or who had tests pending.
As of late Thursday, 4,676 test results had been received by county health officials, an increase of 164 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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