Four new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed locally in London-Middlesex Saturday, one day after zero new cases were reported.
According to the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU), the new cases bring the region’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 495, which includes 48 deaths.
The death count has stayed the same compared to the day before, but the number of recoveries rose by six to 363.
As of Saturday, 458 of the region’s cases have been reported in London, where all four new cases were confirmed.
Elsewhere, there have been 20 cases in Strathroy-Caradoc, seven in Middlesex Centre, four in North Middlesex, four in Thames Centre and one each in Lucan-Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
It’s unclear how many cases remain active in each location.
Around 20 per cent of the region’s cases have involved hospitalizations, including 5.66 per cent who have been admitted to intensive care.
A total of 17 COVID-19 patients were being treated in University and Victoria hospitals as of midnight Friday, according to London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).
The number of active outbreaks remains unchanged at seven, all of which are at local long-term care and retirement homes.
The most recent outbreak was declared on Wednesday at Henley Place, a long-term care home in London. It’s the second outbreak to be declared at the home, after an outbreak that was active from March 28 until May 17.
Outbreaks remain active at Country Terrace, Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care (St. Mary’s 5th Floor), Waverly Mansion, Sisters of St. Joseph, Meadow Park Care Centre and Kensington Village (LTCH).
As of Saturday, 98 cases have been reported in long-term care homes involving 58 residents and 40 staff members, while 63 cases have been reported in retirement homes involving 43 residents and 20 staff members. Twenty-one deaths have been reported at long-term care homes, and seven at retirement homes. These numbers remain unchanged from Friday.
At least 41 staff members at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) have tested positive during the pandemic, a figure that remains unchanged from its previous update on Wednesday. It’s not clear how many cases have resolved and where the staff worked within LHSC.
Provincially, Ontario reported 412 new cases of the novel coronavirus Saturday morning, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 25,040.
The death toll increased by 27 to 2,048.
Over 19,100 cases are considered resolved, which makes up 76.5 per cent of all confirmed cases.
Just over 11,000 additional tests have been conducted, and around 5,900 cases are under investigation.
Nationally, Canada is seeing a total of 82,881 cases with 412 more Saturday, the death count rose by 27 to 6,277, and the number of recoveries increased by 379 to 42,986.
Elgin and Oxford
Numbers related to COVID-19 remain unchanged in the region compared to Friday, according to health officials.
The total number of COVID-19 cases sits at 71, with 57 recoveries — about 80 per cent — and four deaths.
Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) also announced an outbreak declared earlier this week at a long-term care facility in Ingersoll had worsened, with an additional six staff members having since tested positive.
In total, seven staff have been confirmed positive at Secord Trails Care Community as of Saturday morning. The outbreak was declared on May 18.
No residents have tested positive at the facility, according to SWPH.
The outbreak at Secord Trails is one of three to be declared in the region. The other two, at Beattie Manor and Caressant Care Bonnie Place, have since been resolved.
Ten cases remain active in SWPH jurisdiction, nine of them in Oxford County, including four in Ingersoll, two in Tillsonburg and Woodstock, and one in East Zorra-Tavistock.
One is located in Elgin County in Malahide, according to the health unit.
As of Saturday, 3,983 tests had been administered in Elgin and Oxford counties. Of those, 259 were awaiting results.
Huron and Perth
No new cases, recoveries or deaths have been reported in Huron and Perth counties, health officials said Saturday.
This keeps the total number of confirmed cases at 50, of which 44 have recovered and five have died.
The region’s lone active case was reported on Thursday. It was the first time a case had been reported by the health unit in nearly three weeks.
Health officials say the new case involves a resident of Maitland Manor, a long-term care home in Goderich, which has declared an outbreak — the region’s seventh and only active outbreak.
The resident is in stable condition and contract tracing is ongoing, the health unit said in a statement Friday.
Six other outbreaks have been declared over.
Nearly half of all cases reported in Huron and Perth, 23, are linked to the outbreaks, health unit figures show.
Of the region’s five deaths, four have been linked to the resolved outbreak at Greenwood Court in Stratford. The home saw 10 staff infections and six resident infections.
Stratford itself has seen 25 of the region’s reported cases.
As of Saturday, the health unit says 2,707 tests have been administered in Huron and Perth. Of those, 88 were awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
According to regional health officials, one more person has died due to COVID-19 and two more have tested positive. The number of recoveries remains unchanged.
As of late Friday night, the area is seeing 245 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 20 deaths and 173 recoveries — about 71 per cent of cases.
One of the cases is linked to Vision Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in Sarnia, which has had an active outbreak of COVID-19 since April 23.
It’s the fourth day in a row that cases have been confirmed at the facility, which has now seen a total of 20 residents and 19 staff test positive — one more from the day before.
Four residents of this facility have also died.
The facility is home to one of three active outbreaks.
The other two, at Marshall Gowland Manor and Village on the St. Clair, have seen one resident test positive and two residents test positive, respectively. Both outbreaks were declared active on May 15.
It’s unclear how many cases linked to the three outbreaks remain active.
Three other outbreaks at Landmark Village, Lambton Meadowview Villa and Sumac Lodge have since been declared over.
Landmark Village remains the worst outbreak to be seen in the county, with 30 resident and 10 staff cases, and six resident deaths. It was declared over May 6.
Health unit figures show long-term care and retirement home residents make up nearly a quarter of all cases, 22 per cent, while health-care workers make up 17 per cent.
Sarnia’s Bluewater Health was treating five confirmed COVID-19 patients as of Saturday morning, in addition to eight patients who were suspected positive or awaiting tests — eight less from Friday.
— With files from Global News’ Ryan Rocca and Matthew Trevithick
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