3 new coronaviruses cases in London-Middlesex, 1 outbreak declared over

A day after seeing zero new cases of the novel coronavirus, London-Middlesex reported three new cases Sunday.

The number of recoveries rose by one, while the death count remained the same.

There are now 606 cases of COVID-19, 477 recoveries, and 57 deaths in the region, according to the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU).

Data shows the three new cases are all from London Ont., none are linked to seniors’ homes, and none are health-care workers.

The London area has seen 565 reported cases of COVID-19, while Strathroy-Caradoc has seen 21. Elsewhere, nine cases have been reported in Middlesex Centre, five in North Middlesex, four in Thames Centre and one each in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.

Two outbreaks remain active in the region, both at seniors’ homes. The most recent one was declared June 18 at Westmount Gardens, the same day three cases involving staff members were reported at the facility, according to the health unit.

An outbreak is also active at Peoplecare Oak Crossing, declared this past Tuesday in its Norway Spruce area. This is the facility’s second outbreak, following one that was active May 3 to May 18 after two staff members contracted the virus.

The latest outbreak to be declared resolved was Kensington Village, declared active on April 3 and over on June 19.

In total, seniors’ homes have accounted for 176 of the region’s cases and 37 deaths. This includes staff and residents in both long-term care homes and retirement homes.

As more of the province open up, more Londoners have been taking it upon themselves to get tested at the city’s two COVID-19 assessment centres.

The assessment centre at the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre saw 315 people on Friday, while the centre at the Oakridge Arena assessed 316. The MLHU did not issue an update for Saturday’s numbers.

Overall, the two facilities have seen more than 24,000 people, and have swabbed nearly 19,000 as of Friday.

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The number of hospitalized patients remains under five, according to London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). The organization announced earlier this month it would only issue an updated tally if it was five or more.

About 19 per cent of the region’s cases — 111 — have involved hospitalizations, with five per cent needing intensive care.

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Of those hospitalized, 36 have died.

A quarter of hospitalized cases are linked to outbreaks at seniors’ homes, health unit data shows.

It’s unclear how many LHSC staff have tested positive, as the organization has stopped releasing that number unless staff cases rise by five or more.

Health-care workers account for about 23 per cent of cases in London and Middlesex — 141 — and two of its deaths, according to the health unit.

Ontario

Provincially, Ontario reported 175 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total to 33,476.

There were 11 new deaths, bringing the number o fatalities attributed to the virus to 2,606.

A total of 28,719 cases are considered resolved, which makes up 85.8 per cent of all confirmed cases.

More than 23,400 additional tests have been conducted, bringing the total number completed in the province to 1,174,727. Around 15,400 cases are under investigation.

Nationally, Canada is seeing 101,177 confirmed cases, 8,421 deaths and 63,804 recoveries.

Elgin and Oxford

For the second day in a row, the numbers related to COVID-19 were unchanged in the region as of Sunday morning.

The total number of cases remains at 82, of which 71 have recovered. Four people have died, a tally that has not changed in nearly two months.

There are seven ongoing cases — one in St. Thomas, one in Dutton/Dunwich, three in East Zorra-Tavistock, and one each in Tillsonburg and Woodstock.

None of the active cases have been hospitalized.

The total number of outbreaks declared remains unchanged at three. All have since resolved with no deaths reported.

As of Sunday, 8,162 tests had been conducted in Elgin and Oxford counties, with 552 people still awaiting test results.

Huron and Perth

Health officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) say it will no longer update COVID-19 figures on weekends to focus resources on existing HPPH programs given the low number of new cases.

As of Friday, the number of cases confirmed in the region remains at 57, of which 49 people have recovered and five have died.

Three cases remain active in the region, including two in Perth County and one in Huron County.

Stratford has seen 26 cases and four deaths reported, while in Huron and Perth counties 14 cases and 13 cases have been reported, respectively.

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Four cases and one death have been reported in St. Marys, according to the health unit.

The four deaths in Stratford were linked to an outbreak at Greenwood Court, a long-term care facility that saw six residents and 10 staff members test positive. It was declared over last month.

Seven outbreaks have been declared in total. All have resolved.

The number of tests conducted in the region is not known as the health unit has stopped providing a figure.

Sarnia and Lambton

Health officials reported four new cases of COVID-19 plus two more recoveries late Saturday.

This brings the total number of cases to 285, and the number of recoveries to 243.

The number of deaths remain unchanged at 25. There are 16 active cases.

It’s not clear where in the region the new cases are, but they are not linked to any active outbreaks, according to the health unit’s data.

Two outbreaks remain active — one at Afton Park Place where one staff have tested positive, and the other at Bluewater Health Hospital where four staff have tested positive. Both outbreaks were declared last week.

Due to changes early this month in provincial outbreak criteria, the outbreak Wednesday was the first to be declared at the hospital despite the previous cases.

As of Sunday, Bluewater Health is treating zero patients with confirmed COVID-19, and 26 patients with suspected or with tests pending for COVID-19.

According to the health unit, 40 per cent of the county’s cases are associated with health facility outbreaks, followed by 35 per cent through close contact.

The percentage of tests that come back positive stands at 2.7 per cent.

At least 10,633 test results had been received by the health unit as of late Saturday.

— With files from Ryan Rocca and Matthew Trevithick