One person has died, five others have tested positive for novel coronavirus, and four people have recovered, health officials in London and Middlesex reported on Wednesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 546, the number of recoveries to 395, and the number of deaths to 55.
The death has been linked to an outbreak at a retirement home, and involved a man in his 80s, health officials said.
All five new cases were reported in London, which has now seen 509 cases in total.
None of the new cases are linked to long-term care or retirement homes or to an outbreak involving migrant farmworkers at Ontario Plants Propagation, a greenhouse operation near St. Thomas.
Of the 44 cases that have been reported in London and Middlesex since last Monday, only four have been tied to local seniors’ homes.
At least 20 have been linked to the Ontario Plants Propagation outbreak. One case has also been reported separately at the farm by Southwestern Public Health.
Elsewhere in the region, 20 cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, while seven cases have been in Middlesex Centre, four each have been in North Middlesex and Thames Centre, and one each has been in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
The number of hospitalized patients in the city has decreased, according to London Health Sciences Centre, who reported in an update Wednesday that nine patients were being treated at University and Victoria hospitals as of midnight, a decrease of two from its previous update on Monday.
It’s not clear how many people, if any, are in intensive care, as LHSC has stopped providing that information.
At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, one person is being treated in the main building of Parkwood Institute, the organization reported Tuesday.
According to health unit figures, nearly 20 per cent of the region’s cases, 103, have seen patients hospitalized, including 5.4 per cent who have had to be admitted to intensive care.
Nearly 90 per cent of all hospitalizations involve patients over 50, according to the health unit.
At the hospitals themselves, LHSC says at least 42 staff members have tested positive during the pandemic, while St. Joseph’s Health Care says 18 staff have tested positive.
It’s not clear how many cases are active or where within the organizations the staff worked.
Health care workers make up 23 per cent of cases in London and Middlesex, health unit data shows, with 85 per cent involving women. Only seven people have had to be hospitalized, and only one case remained active as of Wednesday.
At least 374 hospital workers across Ontario have tested positive for the virus since mid-January, while 360 residents/patients have also been infected, according to Public Health Ontario.
The number of active outbreaks remains unchanged at seven, with all of the outbreaks located at long-term care and retirement homes.
Outbreaks remain active at Chelsey Park (LTCH), Chelsey Park Retirement, Henley Place, Country Terrace, Waverley Mansion, Kensington Village (LTCH) and Sisters of St. Joseph, according to the health unit.
Seniors’ facilities have accounted for at least 19 of the 24 local outbreaks that have been declared during the pandemic.
They also account for 168 of the region’s cases, or about 31 per cent.
At long-term care homes, at least 101 cases have been reported involving 60 residents and 41 staff. Twenty-three deaths have also been reported.
At retirement homes, meantime, at least 67 cases have been reported involving 44 residents and 23 staff. Ten deaths have been reported.
Across Ontario, at least 5,172 long-term care home residents and 1,843 staff have tested positive, while 1,472 residents and five staff have died.
At retirement homes, at least 717 residents and 381 staff have tested positive and 150 residents have died.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 338 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and 19 more deaths.
That brings the total in the province to 29,047 — an increase of 1.2 per cent over the previous day.
It includes 2,312 deaths and 22,811 cases that have been resolved.
The number of people in hospital dropped, though the amount of people in intensive care and on ventilators rose slightly.
Ontario completed 17,537 tests in the previous day, more than the 16,000 the province has pledged — but often failed — to do since the beginning of May, but still short of the government’s goal of 20,000 a day.
Elgin and Oxford
One person has recovered from the novel coronavirus, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported on Wednesday.
The total number of cases in the region remains unchanged at 75, of which 62 have now recovered and four have died.
Health officials reported one new case and one recovery on Tuesday. It wasn’t linked to an active outbreak at Secord Trails in Ingersoll that has seen one staff member infected, or to an outbreak at Ontario Plants Propagation that has seen at least 21 migrant farmworkers test positive.
Nine cases remain active in the region, with six cases in Oxford County, including two each in Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and Woodstock.
In Elgin County, three active cases remain in St. Thomas.
As of Wednesday, 5,196 tests have been administered in Elgin and Oxford counties, with 374 still pending results.
The region’s test positive per cent rate remains at 1.6 per cent.
Huron and Perth
One person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus while one person has recovered, officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported Wednesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 54, of which 46 have recovered and five have died. No deaths have been reported since April 29.
Health unit figures show the new case was reported in St. Marys — the second case to be reported in the town in as many days.
Officials also reported a confirmed case in St. Marys on Monday.
Three active cases remain in the region, including two in St. Marys and one in Stratford, health unit figures show.
The number of active outbreaks remains at zero after health officials declared an outbreak at Maitland Manor in Goderich over on Monday. One resident case had been reported.
A total of seven outbreaks have been reported with 27 cases confirmed. All but seven of the cases were reported at Greenwood Court in Stratford, which had an outbreak active until May 11.
Six residents and 10 staff tested positive, and four people died.
By location, 26 cases have been reported in Stratford, along with four deaths that are linked to Greenwood Court.
Elsewhere, 13 cases have been reported in Huron County, 11 have been in Perth County, and four have been in St Marys, including the region’s first two cases.
The health unit said 3,629 tests had been administered in Huron and Perth as of Wednesday. Of those, 132 were awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has died, three people have tested positive, three have recovered, and an outbreak at a Petrolia long-term care home is over, officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported late Tuesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 266, of which now 210 have recovered — about 79 per cent of cases — and 24 have died.
Health unit figures show the death and two of the cases are linked to an ongoing outbreak at Vision Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in Sarnia that has been hit hard by COVID-19.
The death involved a resident of the facility, while the two cases involved one resident and one staff member.
At least 26 residents and 25 staff members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since an outbreak was declared at the home on April 23. At least nine residents have since died, the health unit says.
It’s the worst outbreak to be seen in the county so far, with 11 more cases and three more deaths than the outbreak that occurred at Landmark Village from March 26 until May 6.
The health unit reported one death, also involving Vision Nursing Home, and six recoveries late Monday, and reported no new cases and one recovery late Sunday.
Officials with Sarnia’s Bluewater Health announced last week that residents of the home who were still positive for the virus would be transferred temporarily into the hospital in a bid to quell the outbreak — an outbreak which continues to see new infections.
Officials also announced late Tuesday that an outbreak at Lambton Meadowview Villa, a long-term care home in Petrolia, had been declared over.
The outbreak, the second to be seen at the facility, was declared active on May 25 and saw one staff member test positive for the virus.
Seven outbreaks have been declared in Lambton during the pandemic. Only one, the outbreak at Vision Nursing Home, remains active.
Combined, 97 cases and 15 deaths have been connected to the outbreaks. Ninety-one of the cases alone, and all of the deaths, are associated with the Landmark Village and Vision Nursing Home outbreaks.
According to the health unit, 40 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in the county have been outbreak-related, followed by 35 per cent that are related to close contact.
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