Five more people have recovered from the novel coronavirus in London-Middlesex and there are no new cases or deaths as of Sunday, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the region remains unchanged at 555, the death count stands at 56 and the number of recoveries has risen to 413 — about 74.5 per cent of cases.
The city of London is where 518 of the region’s cases have been reported — about 93 per cent — while 20 cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc and seven 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.
The health unit says the COVID-19 assessment centre at Oakridge Arena in London is changing its hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday starting Monday, June 8.
Three outbreaks remain active — at Kensington Village, Sisters of St. Joseph and Chelsey Park Retirement Community. They were declared April 3, April 17 and May 30, respectively.
At least 19 of the 24 outbreaks that have been declared locally during the pandemic have involved seniors’ facilities.
Local seniors’ homes, which includes both long-term care and retirement homes, have seen 169 cases of COVID-19. This includes 104 residents and 65 staff members. Additionally, 36 people have died.
In terms of total case count, the most severe of the three outbreaks has been at Sisters of St. Joseph, where at least 25 cases have been reported, involving 13 residents and 12 staff members.
Of those, three residents and one staff member have died.
At least 457 outbreaks have been reported at seniors’ homes across the province since mid-January, according to Public Health Ontario.
The number of hospitalized patients in the city declined by one to eight as of midnight Friday, according to the most recent update from London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).
The figure is a combination of cases at University and Victoria hospitals. It’s not clear whether any patients are in intensive care.
LHSC announced last week that it would stop releasing an updated number of positive cases among staff members unless the tally increased by five or greater. The organization said it was to protect staff privacy.
In its update on Wednesday, LHSC said there had been at least 42 staff cases reported during the pandemic.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 415 cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday morning, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 30,617.
Of the 415 cases, 223 were impacted by a reporting delay, meaning 192 cases have been confirmed since Saturday’s report.
The death count rose by 19 to 2,426, and 24,252 cases are considered resolved, which makes up 79.2 per cent of all confirmed cases.
Nationally, Canada has reported 95,457 cases of COVID-19, 7,792 deaths and 53,269 recoveries.
Elgin and Oxford
No new cases, recoveries or deaths were reported Sunday in the region.
Officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) say there are still 68 recoveries, the total number of confirmed cases remains at 75 and no new deaths have been reported since April 22.
Officials say an outbreak at Secord Trails that has left at least eight staff sickened remains active as of Saturday. The long-term care facility in Ingersoll has seen an active outbreak since May 18.
Of the three cases that remain active in the region, one is in Oxford County in Tillsonburg, while two remain active in Elgin County, both in St. Thomas.
As of Sunday, 5,870 tests had been conducted in Elgin and Oxford counties, of which 650 remained pending results.
Huron and Perth
Health officials reported one new case of COVID-19 on Sunday.
There are now 55 reported cases in the region, of which 46 people have recovered and five have died. No new deaths have been reported in the region since April 29.
The newest case was reported in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh.
The number of active outbreaks remains at zero. A total of seven have been declared, involving 27 cases.
All but seven of those cases were reported at Greenwood Court in Stratford. An outbreak there saw six residents and 10 staff members test positive, and four people die. It was declared over May 11.
Twenty-six cases have been reported in Stratford, while 13 have been reported in Huron County and 11 in Perth County.
Four cases have been in St. Marys, including the region’s first two.
The health unit said 3,919 tests had been administered in Huron and Perth as of Sunday. Of those, 109 were awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has died in the area due to COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to Lambton Public Health (LPH).
The deceased was a resident at Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia, where 26 residents and 25 staff members have tested positive for the virus. Ten residents have since died.
LPH says this is the only active outbreak in the area.
Still-positive residents from the home have been moved to Bluewater Health hospital to keep the outbreak from spreading.
Additionally, another person has tested positive for the virus, and there are no new recoveries.
This brings the area’s total number of coronavirus cases to 268, the death toll to 25 and the number of recoveries remains unchanged at 223.
Bluewater Health says it’s treating 11 COVID-19 patients as of Sunday, along with 19 who are suspected positive or are awaiting tests, two fewer than the day before.
According to the health unit, 40 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in the county have been outbreak-related and 35 per cent are related to close contact.
As of late Saturday, LPH said 8,106 test results had been received by health officials. It’s not clear how many cases are still pending.
— With files from Global News’ Ryan Rocca and Matthew Trevithick
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