One person has tested positive for novel coronavirus while two people have recovered, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported Wednesday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 568, of which 428 people have recovered and 56 have died.
Health unit figures show the case was reported in London, Ont., and is not linked to the two outbreaks that are currently active at seniors’ homes.
Of the 29 cases that have been reported in the region since last Monday, 28 have been community-sourced.
The new case comes a day after the health unit reported eight cases and four recoveries on Wednesday. One case and six recoveries were reported on Tuesday, and five cases were reported on Monday.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health for London and Middlesex, said the region was averaging about four new cases a day for close to a month.
A vast majority of the region’s cases have been in London — 529. Twenty cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, while seven have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, five cases have been reported in North Middlesex, four in Thames Centre, and one each in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
The number of people visiting the city’s two assessment centres has remained steady, with more than 2,600 people turning out to Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre and Oakridge Arena since last Thursday.
Overall, both centres have seen more than 19,500 people and have swabbed more than 14,500 as of Wednesday.
The number of hospitalizations is unknown, but is less than five, according to London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).
LHSC announced Thursday it would no longer publish an updated tally of COVID-19 patients unless it rose above five. It includes both University and Victoria Hospitals.
The organization had previously stopped sharing the number of intensive care patients and the number of staff infections, citing patient and staff privacy.
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LHSC said it would only release a tally of staff infections unless there was “a rise of five or more.” The last figure released said at least 42 staff had tested positive during the pandemic.
Hospitalizations account for about 19 per cent of all cases in London and Middlesex, with about a quarter of those needing intensive care.
No COVID-19 cases were being treated by St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHC).
SJHC said earlier this week that at least 18 staff members had tested positive, a tally that has not changed in several weeks.
Health-care workers account for about 24 per cent of the region’s cases.
Two active outbreaks remain in place in London and Middlesex — one at Kensington Village, the other at Chelsey Park Retirement Community, reported April 2 and May 30, respectively.
The last outbreak to be declared over was on June 6 at Sisters of St. Joseph.
A majority of outbreaks, at least 19 out of 24, have been reported at long-term care and retirement homes in the city. The facilities account for nearly 30 per cent of cases and 64 per cent of deaths.
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Long-term care homes have seen 102 cases involving 60 residents and 42 staff, as well as 24 deaths, while retirement homes have seen 67 cases involving 44 residents and 23 staff, and 12 deaths.
Provincially, 465 outbreaks have been reported at seniors’ homes, according to Public Health Ontario. At least 106 remained active as of Wednesday.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 203 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, and 11 new deaths.
It brings the provincial total to 31,544, an increase of 0.6 per cent over the previous day — the lowest growth rate in new cases since early March.
It coincides with a record number of tests completed — 24,341.
The number of deaths stands at 2,487.
There are 25,885 resolved cases — 505 more than the previous day.
Doug Ford’s office announced Thursday that the premier had tested negative for COVID-19.
Ford got tested after learning that Education Minister Stephen Lecce had come into contact with someone who was infected.
Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott held a joint news conference the day before with Lecce to announce a child-care reopening plan.
Lecce’s test also came back negative, as did Elliott’s.
Elgin and Oxford
No new cases, deaths, or recoveries were reported Thursday by officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH).
The total number of cases remains unchanged at 77, of which 69 people have recovered and four have died. No new deaths have been reported since late April.
Two new cases were reported by health officials on Wednesday, along with one recovery.
Four cases remain active in the region.
Two are in Elgin County in St. Thomas, while two are in Oxford County, one in East Zorra-Tavistock, the other in Tillsonburg.
The number of active outbreaks remains at zero after SWPH reported Wednesday that an outbreak at Secord Trails in Ingersoll that sickened eight staff members had been declared over.
The number of tests conducted by the health unit stood at 6,358 as of Tuesday, with 453 tests awaiting results.
The test per cent positivity rate for Elgin and Oxford stands at 1.3 per cent.
Huron and Perth
No new cases, deaths or recoveries have been reported by officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH).
The total number of cases remains unchanged at 55, of which 47 have recovered and five have died.
Health officials reported one recovery on Wednesday in Stratford, and no new cases, deaths or recoveries on Tuesday.
Three cases remain active in the region, including two in St. Marys and one in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh in Huron County.
In total, 26 cases have been reported in Stratford, while 13 cases have been reported in Huron County and 11 in Perth County. St. Mary’s has seen four cases and one death.
Four deaths have also been reported in Stratford, linked to an outbreak that occurred at Greenwood Court.
The outbreak, which was declared more than a month ago, saw six residents and 10 staff test positive and four people die.
A total of seven outbreaks have been declared, all of which have been resolved.
The health unit said 4,246 tests had been administered in Huron and Perth as of Thursday. Of those, 93 were awaiting test results.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported late Wednesday.
It brings the total number of cases in the region to 271. The number of recoveries and deaths remained unchanged at 233 and 25, respectively.
Twelve cases remain active in Lambton.
Health unit figures show the new case involves a staff member at Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia.
The facility has seen 28 staff and 26 residents test positive for the coronavirus since an outbreak was declared on April 23. Ten residents have since died.
Two new cases were also reported at the home on Sunday. It’s currently the county’s only active outbreak.
Bluewater Health reported Thursday that it was treating 11 COVID-19 patients, with another 28 who were suspected positive or who had tests pending.
LPH says the county’s recent hospitalized case count has averaged around 12. The number spiked after the hospital announced late last month that it would be taking in positive resident cases from Vision Nursing Home to stop the spread of the outbreak.
Nearly all of the cases linked to long-term care and retirement homes, 93 of 99, are linked to Vision Nursing Home, and to an outbreak at Landmark Village.
Thirty residents tested positive, six later died, and 10 staff members contracted the virus during the outbreak which lasted from March 26 to May 6.
As of late Wednesday, LPH said 8,811 test results had been received by health officials so far.
The health unit says a majority of tests, 63 per cent, see their results come back within two days or less.
The percentage of tests that come back positive stands at 3.1 per cent.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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