One person has died, two people have tested positive for novel coronavirus, while two others have recovered, health officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported on Thursday.
Health officials also announced an outbreak at Henley Place had been declared over.
The update brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 548, of which now 397 have recovered, or about 72 per cent of cases. A total of 56 people have died.
The health unit says the newly reported death was associated with a long-term care home and involved a man in his 80s.
It’s the third day in a row that the health unit has reported a COVID-19-related death. All three have involved local seniors’ facilities.
According to the health unit, the two new cases are both community-sourced and are from London.
Of the 12 confirmed cases that have been reported in London and Middlesex since Monday, none have been associated with seniors’ home outbreaks, or to an outbreak at Ontario Plants Propagation involving migrant farmworkers.
Of the 46 cases confirmed since Monday, May 25, only four have been linked to seniors’ homes, while 20 have been linked by MLHU to the farmworker outbreak.
Southwestern Public Health has also confirmed a case linked to the greenhouse operation, meaning the number of positive cases is actually 21.
- Invasive strep: ‘Don’t wait’ to seek care, N.S. woman warns on long road to recovery
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- ‘Super lice’ are becoming more resistant to chemical shampoos. What to use instead
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
At least 511 of the region’s cases have been reported in London — about 93 per cent.
The last case to be reported outside of London was in Strathroy-Caradoc on May 15, according to health unit data. That case has since resolved.
Twenty cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, while seven cases have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, four cases each have been reported in North Middlesex and Thames Centre, and one each has been reported in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
There is currently only one active case outside of London, according to health unit data.
The number of active outbreaks in London and Middlesex has dropped by one after the health unit declared an outbreak at Henley Place, a long-term care facility, over on Wednesday.
The outbreak declared on May 20 in the facility’s Medway unit, was the second outbreak to take place at the facility during the pandemic.
A facility-wide outbreak was declared on March 28 and lasted until May 17.
At least 17 cases had been reported at the home as a result of both outbreaks involving 14 residents — six of whom later died — and three staff members, according to health unit data.
Six outbreaks remain active in London and Middlesex, all at long-term care and retirement homes, including Chelsey Park (LTCH), Chelsey Park Retirement, Country Terrace, Waverley Mansion, Kensington Village (LTCH) and Sisters of St. Joseph.
At least 19 of the 24 outbreaks that have been declared locally during the pandemic have involved seniors’ facilities.
Long-term care and retirement homes also account for about 31 per cent of the region’s cases — 168.
At least 101 cases have been reported at long-term care homes involving 60 residents and 41 staff, while at least 67 cases have been reported at retirement homes involving 44 residents and 23 staff.
Twenty-four deaths have been reported at long-term care homes, while 12 have been reported at retirement homes — about 64 per cent of all deaths.
The local outbreaks are among at least 455 that have been reported at seniors’ facilities across Ontario since mid-January. At least 249 remain active, according to Public Health Ontario.
The number of hospitalized patients in the city stands at nine as of midnight Wednesday, according to the most recent update from London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).
The figure is a combination of cases at University and Victoria Hospitals. The number of patients in intensive care is not known as LHSC has stopped releasing that information.
At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, one person was being treated in the main building of Parkwood Institute as of Tuesday.
Hospitalizations account for about 19 per cent of all cases in London and Middlesex, including 5.3 per cent who have had to be admitted to intensive care.
Of those, patients over 50 make up the bulk of cases — nearly 90 per cent, health unit figures show. Only 11 cases involving patients under 50 have had to be hospitalized.
Seven hospitalized cases, including one ICU case, have involved health-care workers.
Health-care workers, overall, account for 126 cases, or about 23 per cent. The tally includes workers at long-term care and retirement homes.
LHSC says at least 42 of its staff have tested positive during the pandemic, while 18 staff at St. Joseph’s Health Care London have also contracted the virus.
It’s not clear how many cases remain active or where the staff worked.
Eighty-five per cent of cases among health-care workers have involved women, and only one case remained active as of Thursday.
At least 409 hospital workers across Ontario have tested positive for the virus since mid-January, while 395 residents/patients have also been infected, according to Public Health Ontario.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 356 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, and 45 more deaths, bringing the total to 29,403, an increase of 1.2 per cent over Wednesday.
It includes 2,357 deaths and 23,208 cases that have been resolved.
Ontario completed 20,822 tests in the previous day, more than the 20,000-per-day goal the province has pledged earlier in the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government made former federal health minister Jane Philpott an adviser.
Philpott, a physician, will help with the design and implementation of a new health-data platform.
The government says the platform will assist researchers and health-system workers as they access anonymized data.
The information will be used to help research and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elgin and Oxford
Three people have recovered from the novel coronavirus, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported on Thursday.
The number of cases remains unchanged at 75, of which now 65 have recovered. Four people have also died, a tally that has remained the same since April 22.
The health unit reported one recovery on Wednesday, and one new case and recovery on Tuesday.
An outbreak at Secord Trails in Ingersoll remains active as of Thursday, according to SWPH. At least eight staff have tested positive for the virus since an outbreak was declared there on May 18.
Six cases remain active in the region, including four in Oxford County, with two in Tillsonburg, and one each in Ingersoll and Woodstock. Two cases also remain in St. Thomas.
As of Thursday, 5,354 tests had been conducted in Elgin and Oxford counties, of which 448 remained pending results.
According to SWPH, 1.5 per cent of tests in the region come back positive, down from 1.6 on Wednesday.
Huron and Perth
No new cases, deaths, or recoveries have been reported by Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH).
The total number of cases remains at 54, of which 46 have recovered and five have died.
No new deaths have been reported in the region since April 29.
Health officials reported one new case and one recovery on Wednesday, and one new case on Monday.
Three active cases remain in the region, including two in St. Marys — both reported since the start of the workweek — and one in Stratford.
No outbreaks are currently active in the region.
Health officials declared an outbreak at Maitland Manor in Goderich over on Monday.
A total of seven outbreaks have been reported with 27 linked cases.
All but seven of them were reported at Greenwood Court in Stratford. An outbreak there, declared over on May 11, saw six residents and 10 staff test positive, and four people die.
Across the region, 26 cases have been reported in Stratford, along with the four deaths 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 3,713 tests had been administered in Huron and Perth as of Thursday. Of those, 120 were awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has recovered from novel coronavirus, officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported late Wednesday.
The number of confirmed cases remains unchanged at 266, of which now 210 have recovered. Twenty-four people have also died — a tally that has remained unchanged since late April.
Health officials reported one death, three new cases, and three recoveries late Tuesday, and reported one death and six recoveries late Monday.
Both deaths and two of the cases were linked to an active outbreak at Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia that began April 23.
The long-term care facility has been hard hit by the pandemic, reporting 26 cases involving residents, nine of whom have since died, and 25 cases involving staff members.
Residents of the home who are still positive have been moved to Bluewater Health for treatment and to keep the outbreak from worsening.
The hospital says it’s treating 12 COVID-19 patients as of Thursday, along with 26 who are suspected positive or are awaiting tests.
The outbreak at Vision Nursing Home is the lone active outbreak in the county, after officials declared Lambton Meadowview Villa free of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
That outbreak, which began May 25, saw one staff member test positive. It was the second outbreak at the Petrolia home, following an outbreak from April 15 to April 23.
In total, seven outbreaks have been declared in Lambton.
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.
As of late Wednesday, LPH said 7,372 test results had been received by health officials. It’s not clear how many cases are still pending.
–With files from The Canadian Press
Comments