No new coronavirus cases in London-Middlesex, Sarnia-Lambton for second day in a row

Three new recoveries and zero new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in London-Middlesex Saturday.

Officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) say this keeps the total number of COVID-19 cases in the region at 719.

The number of recoveries rose to 631, and the death toll remains the same at 57. It hasn’t changed since June 12.

There are at least 31 known active cases in the region.

At least 666 cases have been reported in London, Ont., 26 in Strathroy-Caradoc, 12 in Middlesex Centre, seven in Thames Centre, six in North Centre, and one each in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.

People in their 20s make up the largest population of positive cases in terms of age group, with 151 cases or 21 per cent.

The second-largest age population is people in their 50s with 108 cases, or 15 per cent. People in their 80s follow closely behind with 107 cases.

Health-care workers account for 22.1 per cent of the region’s cases with 159.

As of Saturday, the region’s cases per 100,000 rate stands at 141.7, while Ontario’s is 277.

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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.

No outbreaks are currently active, but at least 27 had 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.

Both of London’s COVID-19 assessment centres are keeping busy, each seeing at least 270 clients per day.

Ontario

Ontario reported 108 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the provincial total to 41,287.

The death toll in the province has risen to 2,797 as one new death was reported.

Meanwhile, 37,487 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, which is 90 per cent of known cases.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said 27 of Ontario’s 34 public health units reported five or fewer cases, with 16 of them reporting no new cases at all.

The Ontario government extended its emergency orders last week, 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 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the region by officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) Saturday.

It brings the region’s total case count to 244.

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.

It’s unclear how many cases are considered resolved.

On Wednesday, the health unit had reported at least 197 of the region’s cases as 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 161 cases since the beginning of July, with 92 of those just this month. In comparison, March, April and May altogether saw 83 cases reported.

Aylmer has been hardest-hit by the recent spike and has reported 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.

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Huron and Perth

Officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) do not issue updates on the weekends.

As of Friday, the region’s total case count stood at 110. There were at least 26 known active cases.

Further details were unavailable as the health unit is continuing to move over to the province’s new case and contact management system.

In a release issued early last week, the health unit attributed a spike of cases 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 were no active outbreaks in long-term care homes.

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Sarnia and Lambton

Two new recoveries of COVID-19 and no new cases or deaths were reported late Friday, according to officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH).

The number of cases in the region remained unchanged at 336, with 301 recoveries and 25 deaths.

The latest death was reported more than two months ago in early June.

There are at least 10 known active cases in the county. It’s not known where the cases are located as health officials have refused to release that information.

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 last week 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.

At least 21,495 tests have been received as of late Friday, and at least 1.6 per cent of tests are coming back positive.

— With files from Global News