No new people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in London and Middlesex and two people have recovered, local health officials reported on Friday.
The region’s total case count is still at 719, of which 628 have recovered, a figure unchanged from the day before. The death toll, 57, has remained the same since June 12.
There are at least 34 known active cases in the region.
Both of Thursday’s cases involve people from London, Ont. One is a person in their 30s who became infected through travel, while the other is a person in their 50s whose acquisition source is listed as ‘no known link.’
Health unit data lists the person in their 50s as being a staff member at a local retirement home, however, no outbreak declarations have been made.
Health officials reported six new cases and one recovery on Wednesday, two new cases on Tuesday, two on Monday, and 12 on Saturday.
Four of the cases reported Wednesday and seven on Saturday involved people aged 19 or under who acquired the virus through close contact with a confirmed case.
During Wednesday’s COVID-19 media briefing, the region’s medical officer of health, Dr. Chris Mackie, attributed the spike in cases to household exposure.
“The ages are distributed. We’ve got teenagers down to, you know, under five. And they really are household contacts situations,” he said.
“All of those cases are cases where there are others in the household, adults who are most likely to have been the ones that brought the illness into the family. Once the adult tests positive, then we offer testing to the whole family. And that’s why we’re picking up these young children.”
As of Friday, the region’s cases per 100,000 rate stands at 141.7, while Ontario’s is 275.6.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 0.5 per cent as of the week of Aug. 9, the most recent figures available. Ontario’s was 0.4 per cent. The health unit tested 4,643 people that week.
London has reported a vast majority of the region’s cases — at least 666.
Elsewhere, 26 cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, 12 in Middlesex Centre, seven in Thames Centre, six in North Middlesex and one each in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
By age, people in their 20s account for the most cases at 151, or about 21 per cent. People in their 50s account for 108 cases, while people 80 and above account for 107.
At least 58 per cent of cases involve women, while 22 per cent involve health-care workers — of which 83 per cent are listed as women.
No COVID-19 patients are currently in hospital, according to health unit data. All cases listed as needing hospitalization during the pandemic have since been marked as resolved.
At least 114 people have had to be hospitalized due to the coronavirus, including 32 who have needed to be admitted to intensive care.
While no outbreaks are currently active, at least 27 have been declared, with 21 at local seniors’ facilities.
Five cases this month have been linked to seniors’ homes, but none have resulted in an outbreak being declared.
Ontario
Ontario reported 131 new cases of COVID-19 due to missing data from the previous day and three deaths on Friday.
Resolved cases increased by 106 from Thursday’s numbers.
The total number of cases in Ontario now stands at 41,176, which includes 2,796 deaths and 37,397 cases marked as resolved.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says that due to an issue with the province’s reporting system, data was not available Thursday from 11 of Ontario’s 34 public health units.
“Because of the data gap yesterday, today’s number is an overestimation of daily counts,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said.
The majority of new cases came from Ottawa with 37 cases, Toronto with 25 new cases and Peel Region added 21 more cases. All other public health units across Ontario reported zero or fewer than 10 new cases.
Elliott says hospitalizations and patients on ventilators both declined as intensive care admissions remained stable.
The province completed over 28,000 tests the previous day.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government extended its emergency orders on Thursday, saying it continues to need the tools to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said that while virus cases continue to go down, the province will extend most orders until Sept. 22.
Elgin and Oxford
Two more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Thursday.
It brings the region’s total case count to 241.
Health officials reported four new cases and two recoveries on Wednesday, seven new cases on Tuesday, and no new cases Monday.
Further details about the region’s case situation are limited as the health unit is in the midst of transitioning to a new reporting database.
On Wednesday, the health unit had reported at least 197 of the region’s cases had recovered, and five have died — a tally unchanged since early July.
At the time, at least 16 active cases were in Aylmer, seven each were in Bayham and St. Thomas, five were in Tillsonburg and two were in Woodstock.
The region has reported 158 cases since the beginning of July, with 89 of those just this month. In comparison, March, April and May altogether saw 83 cases reported.
Aylmer has been hardest-hit by the increase, reporting a total of at least 74 cases overall since the beginning of the pandemic as of Wednesday — a case rate of about 987.7 per 100,000 people.
St. Thomas, which has reported at least 36 cases, had a case rate of 92.5 per 100,000 people.
SWPH had received 20,649 tests as of Wednesday. The region’s test-positivity rate was 1.2 per cent.
Huron and Perth
No new cases of novel coronavirus and three new recoveries were reported by, officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported Friday.
The region’s total case count is at 110. There are at least 26 known active cases in the region, the health unit says.
Further details were unavailable as the health unit is continuing to move over to the province’s new case and contact management system. It says it’ll be Friday or later before more detailed information is available again.
Health officials reported two new cases on Thursday and Wednesday, 13 new cases on Tuesday, and six on Monday.
In a release issued early this week, the health unit attributed the spike to a workplace outbreak in Bluewater/South Huron, with many cases linked to clusters within the same households.
“These cases are also connected to a larger spread of cases across southwestern Ontario,” the health unit said.
It’s not clear if the health unit was referring to the spike in cases seen in Low German-speaking communities in the region.
There are no active long-term care home outbreaks.
Sarnia and Lambton
One new recovery and no new cases or deaths were reported late Thursday by officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH).
It leaves the region’s total case count unchanged at 336, of which 299 have recovered. The death toll has remained unchanged at 25 since early June.
There are at least 11 known active cases in the county as of Thursday, according to the health unit. It’s not known where the cases are located as health officials have refused to release that information.
Health officials reported one recovery late Tuesday, three recoveries late Monday, and four cases late Sunday.
Starting Monday, masks will be mandatory in enclosed, public spaces in the Municipality of Lambton Shores, which includes Grand Bend, Ipperwash, and Port Franks.
The municipal council there voted 7-2 on Tuesday to implement the bylaw, which mandates face coverings in any type of enclosed space where the public is permitted.
It’s one of three municipalities in Lambton County to enact its own mask bylaw. The others are Petrolia and Sarnia.
The region’s health unit has refrained from implementing a county-wide mask order, and has instead left the matter up to each of Lambton’s 11 municipalities.
— With files from Matthew Trevithick Global News
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