The Middlesex-London Health Unit is reporting 3 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 12 recoveries on Saturday.
The update brings the region’s total case count to 954, of which 831 people have recovered. Fifty-seven people have died, a tally unchanged since June 12.
There are now at least 66 known active cases in London and Middlesex region.
Saturday is the first day since Monday that the health unit has not reported double-digit case numbers.
MLHU reported 19 cases on Friday, the largest single-day increase in cases since mid-April, as well as eight recoveries.
Health officials reported 10 cases and 10 recoveries on Thursday, 11 cases and three recoveries on Wednesday, 10 cases and seven recoveries Tuesday, seven cases and nine recoveries on Monday, and 12 cases and 18 recoveries over the previous weekend.
According to the health unit, at least 219 cases have been reported in London and Middlesex since Sept. 1, 71 of which have occurred just this month.
Health unit figures show people in their 20s remain the largest group of cases in the region by age, with 225 cases, or nearly a quarter of all infections.
People in their 50s make up 129 cases, while people in their 30s make up 124 cases. People 19 and under make up 113 cases and people 80 and older account for 112 cases.
People in their 40s make up 96 cases, people in their 60s make up 92 cases, and people in their 70s represent 63 cases.
At least 70 reported cases have been linked to Western University students. That tally, issued a week ago, is likely higher now, however, the health unit says it will not be issuing an updated figure for now.
Looking back, the weekly incident rate as of Sept. 27 was 10.2 per cent. The region’s incident rate is at 188 per 100,000 people, while Ontario’s is 388.
Overall, 880 cases have been reported in London. Elsewhere, Strathroy-Caradoc’s case count has been 29, while Middlesex Centre has seen 17, Thames Centre 14, North Middlesex seven, Lucan Biddulph six and Southwest Middlesex one.
The number of school-linked cases in the city rose again on Friday after the Thames Valley District School Board confirmed a positive diagnosis involving a member of Sir Arthur Currie Public School, located along Buroak Drive.
Health officials say the individual was at the school during the time that they were infectious, adding that close contacts were being notified and told to stay home from school in quarantine.
In a statement, Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said with four school-linked cases reported just this week, more positive infections are expected to emerge in the coming days.
“These cases underscore the importance of following the public health guidelines that we have been recommending for months,” Mackie said.
“Wear a mask, keep your physical distance, wash your hands and please, stay home when you develop symptoms that are consistent with COVID-19.”
The Sir Arthur Currie case follows the confirmation of two separate staff cases, one on Monday and one on Thursday, at École élémentaire La Pommeraie, in addition to a student case at Saunders Secondary School reported Wednesday.
Prior to that, a positive case involving a student was reported at H.B. Beal Secondary School on Sept. 21. It has since been deemed resolved.
Including the two school cases that have been reported in St. Thomas — one on Sept. 25, the other Sept. 29 — the number of school-linked cases reported in London and the immediate region stands at seven.
Heading into the Thanksgiving long weekend, local health officials and politicians have one message for Londoners: stay home.
“Please, don’t travel out of town. Please, stick to members of your household only. The stakes this coming weekend have never been greater, and we absolutely cannot afford to get this wrong,” London Mayor Ed Holder said Thursday.
“Numbers are creeping up again here in London, while case counts across the province are setting new records. This is serious.”
The MLHU is asking that residents avoid close contact with anyone outside of their household, and to avoid non-essential travel to coronavirus hotspots like the GTA, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.
The city’s two assessment centres will be up and operational on the holiday Monday, according to officials with Thames Valley Family Health Team, who operates the centres alongside the London Health Sciences Centre.
As of this week, Oakridge Arena is operating on a phone-ahead appointment system, while Carling Heights continues to operate with a time card system that allows people to attend the centre and come back at a later time to get tested.
Both centres are prioritizing certain individuals.
At Carling Heights, patients who are symptomatic, have been notified of being exposed to the virus, live or work in a setting with an outbreak, or those eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative will be prioritized.
At Oakridge Arena, symptomatic children under 12 and symptomatic essential health-care workers will be prioritized, as will asymptomatic individuals in particular situations, such as seniors’ home residents and staff, farmworkers, and those in Indigenous communities.
Elsewhere, certain asymptomatic people are still able to get tested at three Shoppers Drug Mart locations in the city, while students and faculty at Western University can attend a testing clinic located in the on-campus Western Student Recreation Centre.
The Middlesex-London Paramedic Service’s mobile testing bus is also still operational and will be in Ilderton on Friday.
The number of active institutional outbreaks in the city is at six.
The most recent outbreak was declared Thursday in the Extendicare Facility. It came a day after an outbreak in the Juniper and Norway Spruce areas of PeopleCare Oak Crossing. This comes days after a separate outbreak, in the facility’s Red Oak area, was declared over.
Outbreaks also remain active at Country Terrace (facility-wide), Earls Court Village (fourth floor), Meadow Park Care Centre (blue and yellow units) and Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care (MV3).
Eight institutional outbreaks have been reported in the region since mid-September. At least 36 have been declared since the pandemic began, including 30 at seniors’ facilities.
They’re tied to at least 204 cases — 108 residents and 96 staff members — and 37 deaths.
Two more people have been hospitalized in the region for an overall total of 119 people who have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 33 who have needed intensive care.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 809 new cases of the novel coronavirus as the total number of deaths surpassed 3,000 on Saturday.
This comes a day after Ontario reported a new daily record of 939 cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 358 cases are in Toronto, 123 in Peel Region and 94 in Ottawa, and 76 in York Region.
The province is also reporting seven new deaths due to the virus on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 3,004.
The latest figures bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 58,490, with 49,732 cases resolved.
The government says it has a backlog of 56,100 tests and has conducted 44,300 tests since the last daily report.
The total number of people in hospital has dropped by 12 to 213, with 48 intensive care and 29 on ventilators.
To try and curb the spread of COVID-19, Ontario is imposing new restrictions on Toronto, Peel Region, and Ottawa, which have consistently reported the majority of new cases in recent weeks.
Indoor dining at restaurants and bars will be prohibited, while gyms, movie theatres and casinos will be closed. The measures go into effect Saturday and will be in place for at least 28 days.
The government is also asking people in those areas to leave their homes only for essential purposes. Schools and places of worship remain open.
The government said if current trends continue, the province could experience “worst-case scenarios” seen in northern Italy and New York City earlier in the pandemic.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said the sharp increase in daily case numbers was very concerning and action was required, particularly in settings where mask-wearing and physical distancing is more difficult.
Last week, health officials warned that Ontario could see 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day by mid-October, and that rising infections among young people were driving the spread of the virus among all demographics.
Groups like the Ontario Hospital Association and Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario have been calling for targeted restrictions in hot spot regions.
Toronto’s medical officer of health has also recommended more stringent measures and last week urged the province to take action in that city.
Elgin and Oxford
No new cases, recoveries, or deaths were reported by officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) on Saturday.
It leaves one active case in the region.
A total of 273 cases have been reported during the pandemic, of which 267 people have recovered. Five people have died due to the virus, a tally unchanged since early July.
On Friday one recovery was reported in St. Thomas. The lone active case in the region is located in Central Elgin and involves a female who is 19 or younger, health unit figures show.
Two recoveries were reported on Thursday and one new case was reported on Wednesday, one recovery on Tuesday, and one case and one recovery on Monday.
The outbreak at Caressant Care on Mary Bucke, a seniors’ facility in St. Thomas, remains active as of Saturday with one staff case reported. The outbreak was reported Monday.
A total of five institutional outbreaks have been reported during the pandemic, linked to 111 staff cases and one resident case. No deaths are linked to the outbreaks.
The confirmed case involving a student at Mitchell Hepburn Public School in St. Thomas also remains active, according to the Thames Valley District School Board website.
Reported last Tuesday, the case is the second to be seen in St. Thomas following a separate probable case at St. Thomas Community Christian School days earlier.
By age, people in their 50s make up the largest number of cases with 51. People in their 20s, meanwhile, account for 50 cases, while people in their 40s make up 39 cases.
The five municipalities with the highest overall case counts are Aylmer with 82, St. Thomas with 45, Bayham with 38, Woodstock with 30 and Tillsonburg with 25.
The region’s per cent positivity rate was 0.2 per cent for the week of Sept. 27, the most recent data available. Nearly 3,000 tests were conducted that week.
Huron and Perth
Huron Perth Public Health does not update its case count over the weekend.
No new cases, deaths or recoveries were reported on Friday by officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH).
The region’s total case count remains unchanged at 136, of which 126 people have recovered. Five have died, a tally that has not changed since April 29.
As of Friday, five active cases remain in the region. One case is listed as a health-care worker.
Health officials reported one new case and two recoveries Thursday, one case each on Wednesday and Tuesday, and four cases and two recoveries on Monday.
By location, Huron and Perth counties have reported a total of 48 cases each during the pandemic, while Stratford has seen 34 cases, and St. Marys six.
Four outbreak-related deaths have been reported in Stratford, while one death has occurred in St. Marys. All five deaths took place in March and April.
At least 31 cases have involved people in their 20s, while 25 have been people in their 50s and 22 in their 60s. Sixteen cases each have involved people 19 and under and people in their 30s.
Fifty-four percent of cases involve women and girls, while at least 38 of the region’s cases have involved health-care workers.
No hospitalized cases have been reported since late April. Five people have needed to be admitted to hospital during the pandemic, health unit figures show.
Some 40,061 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Sept. 27, the most recent figures available. The week of Sept. 20-26 saw 2,726 tests conducted.
Sarnia and Lambton
The number of active coronavirus cases in Lambton county remains at zero for another day after no new cases were reported Friday by Lambton Public Health (LPH).
A total of 347 cases have been reported during the pandemic. Of those, 322 people have recovered and 25 have died. The death toll has not changed since early June.
No change was reported late Thursday and Wednesday, while one recovery was reported late Tuesday.
It’s not clear which municipalities in the county have been hit hardest by the virus over the last several months, as the health unit has refused to release location information, instead providing a “rural/urban” pie graph — 69 per cent of cases have been in urban areas, while 31 per cent have been in rural areas.
Cases have been highest among people aged 80 and older with 76 overall since March, followed by people in their 50s with 52 cases. People in their 20s make up 50 cases.
At least 197 cases, or 57 per cent, have involved women and girls, and at least 18 per cent of all cases have been health-care workers.
Hospitalizations have remained flat since mid-June when the last COVID-19 patient was discharged from Bluewater Health in Sarnia. A total of 58 people have been admitted to hospital.
Outbreaks have also remained flat since mid-August, when the most recent outbreak, reported at an unspecified workplace, was declared over. A total of 10 outbreaks have been declared.
According to health officials, 27,811 tests have been received as of Sept. 27, the latest figures available. Only six per cent of the 1,181 cases done the previous week had a turnaround time of within two days.
–With files from Matthew Trevithick and Ryan Rocco Global News, and the Canadian Press