Six people have tested positive for the coronavirus and eight others have recovered, officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported on Tuesday.
The region’s total case tally stands at 1,051, of which 928 people have recovered. Fifty-eight people have died, with the most recent death reported on Oct. 15.
There are at least 65 known active cases of the virus in London and Middlesex.
Of the six new cases on Tuesday, all are from London, health unit figures show. Three individuals are in their 30s, two are in their 50s and one is aged 80 or older.
Four have their exposure source listed as contact with a confirmed case, while one has their source listed as travel. The exposure source of one case is pending or undetermined.
Health officials reported 11 cases and 12 recoveries on Monday, four cases and seven recoveries on Sunday, and nine cases and 24 recoveries on Saturday.
Several cases in the last week have been reported at local retail and food service locations.
The health unit declared an outbreak at a northeast London Starbucks over the weekend after three staff members later tested positive. The three had worked while they were infectious.
Cases have also been reported at two Loblaws locations in the city and at one Walmart store, the two companies have confirmed.
One staff member at Loblaws’ 1740 Richmond St. N. location tested positive on Oct. 16, the company said. The worker was last in store on Oct. 11.
A second London staff member at the chain’s 3040 Wonderland Rd. S. location was confirmed positive on Tuesday and last worked Oct. 17.
Walmart confirmed to 980 CFPL on Tuesday that a test had come back positive involving a staff member at its Argyle store at 330 Clarke Rd. E.
The individual last worked at the location Oct. 16, a company spokesperson told 980 CFPL.
“Out of an abundance of caution, associates identified as being in close prolonged contact have been directed to self-isolate. We conducted a deep cleaning. We are in contact with local public health,” Felicia Fefer, Walmart Canada’s manager of corporate affairs, said in an email.
The region has seen a surge in cases since the start of September as health officials continue to grapple with the second wave of the virus.
At least 171 cases have been reported in London and Middlesex just since the start of October. There have been at least 319 since Sept. 1.
Cases reported over the last week or two have involved people from various age groups, in contrast to the spike in cases seen through September that involved people under 30.
The region’s non-ICU hospitalized tally rose by one compared to Monday, though it’s not clear if the increase is due to one of the six new people infected.
It’s not clear how many people are currently hospitalized as such real-time data isn’t issued by the health unit. London Health Sciences Centre says it will only issue a tally of COVID-19 inpatients in its care if the number rises above five, which it has not.
No patients were in the care of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the organization reported.
A total of 125 people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 33 in intensive care.
The mobile testing bus operated by Middlesex-London Paramedic Service in areas outside of London is back up and running this week after a week-long hiatus.
The testing bus, which saw high turnout when it first launched about two weeks ago, will be in Glencoe on Tuesday, Ailsa Craig on Thursday, Kerwood on Oct. 27 and Parkhill on Oct. 29.
The initiative is first come, first served, meaning no appointment is necessary. Officials ask that those attending bring their health cards.
The testing bus is operating under provincial guidelines, which call for the swabbing of particular people, including those symptomatic, those exposed to a positive case, those requiring a test for surgery or to visit a loved one in a long-term care setting, or those needing a test to return to school, daycare or work.
Inside the city, people can still get tested at the city’s two assessment centres. Both are continuing to prioritize certain individuals.
The centre at Oakridge Arena is now utilizing an online and phone appointment booking system, while Carling Heights is still using time-cards for those who arrive at the facility.
Testing is also still available for certain asymptomatic people at three Shoppers Drug Mart stores in the city.
No new cases were reported Tuesday involving local elementary or secondary schools.
At least nine cases have been reported in schools in London and Middlesex since Sept. 21 when the region’s first school-linked case was reported at H.B. Beal Secondary School involving a student.
All but one case has been reported just in the last two weeks.
The most recent case was reported over the weekend at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School involving a student.
Last week a student case was reported at Northdale Central Public School in Dorchester involving a student.
Days prior, cases were reported involving students at Mary Wright Public School in Strathroy and at Sir Arthur Currie Public School in London, which had already seen one staff case beforehand. The second case prompted an outbreak declaration at the school on Oct. 12 which remained active as of Tuesday.
Cases have also been reported at École élémentaire La Pommeraie on Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, both involving staff members, and at Saunders Secondary School on Oct. 7 involving a student. All three are now resolved.
Meantime, an outbreak involving the London Hall residence building at Western University remained active as of Tuesday.
The outbreak was declared Oct. 11 after four students at the residence tested positive for the virus. One additional case has since been reported, bringing the outbreak’s total case tally to five.
It’s unclear how many students at Western have tested positive for the virus. The last updated tally issued by health officials, 70, came nearly two weeks ago. With the outbreak cases factored in, at least 75 have tested positive.
Staff and students on campus can still get tested at the university’s testing centre.
No new outbreaks were declared at local long-term care or retirement homes, the health unit said. No outbreaks were declared over, either.
At least 43 institutional outbreaks have been declared since the pandemic began, including 37 at seniors’ facilities. They’re linked to at least 218 cases involving 110 residents and 108 staff members.
They’re also tied to 38 deaths in the region, the most recent on Thursday of last week involving a 91-year-old resident of Extendicare.
Outbreaks remain active at:
- Oakcrossing Retirement Living (first, third and fourth floors)
- Westmount Gardens (Lily)
- Chartwell London (facility)
- Chelsey Park Long-Term Care (fourth floor)
- Henley Place LTC Residence (Harris)
- Craigwiel Gardens (facility)
- McGarrell Place (Ivey Lane, Harris House, Windermere Way)
- Extendicare (facility)
- Peoplecare Oak Crossing (Juniper, Norway Spruce)
At least 15 outbreaks have been declared at seniors’ facilities in the region since mid-September.
The region’s seven-day average for new cases stood at 6.71 on Tuesday. Looking back to Oct. 6, the 14-day average is 10.0. The region’s incident rate stands at 207.1 per 100,000 people, while Ontario’s is 437.8.
At least 963 cases have been reported in London, while 31 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc.
Elsewhere, Thames Centre’s case count stands at 21, while Middlesex Centre’s is 20, North Middlesex is at eight, Lucan Biddulph seven and Southwest Middlesex one.
People in their 20s remain the largest group of cases by age, making up 24 per cent of all cases with 256.
People in their 30s and 50s each account for 13 per cent of cases with 140 and 139 cases, respectively, while those aged 19 and under account for 130 cases, or 12 per cent.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 821 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and three new deaths due to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 327 cases are in Toronto, 136 in Peel Region, 79 in Ottawa and 64 in York Region.
The province says it has a backlog of 24,129 tests and has conducted 24,049 tests since the last daily report.
In total, 274 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19.
The province also reported 121 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 75 among students.
Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 508 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools.
Elgin and Oxford
Five people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus while five have recovered, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Tuesday.
That brings the region’s total case count to 298, of which 275 people have recovered and five have died. The death toll has remained unchanged since early July.
With the update, there remain 18 known active cases in the region.
Of those, three each are in Aylmer, Ingersoll, St. Thomas and Woodstock, and two each are in Norwich and Tillsonburg. South-West Oxford and West Elgin have one active case each.
By age, the active cases are varied, health unit figures show.
Four cases involve people aged 19 or younger, three involve people in their 20s, two involve people in their 30s, one is in their 40s, five are in their 50s, one is in their 60s and two are in their 70s. Nine are female and nine are male.
Health officials reported two new cases on Monday.
None of the five new cases reported Monday are linked to either of the two active outbreaks at seniors’ facilities in SWPH’s jurisdiction.
The outbreaks, declared Oct. 5 at Caressant Care on Mary Bucke in St. Thomas and Oct. 17 at Chartwell Aylmer, have seen one staff member at each facility infected.
They’re among six outbreaks overall that have been declared during the pandemic. None of the outbreaks are tied to any deaths. Only one, the region’s first outbreak in late March, involved a resident.
Health officials say none of those currently infected have been admitted to hospital. Twenty-three people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 11 in intensive care.
No new cases have been reported involving local schools. Two have been reported so far, including one at St. Thomas Community Christian School on Sept. 25, and the other at Mitchell Hepburn Public School on Sept. 29. Both are resolved.
The five municipalities that have seen the largest case numbers have been Aylmer with 85, St. Thomas with 49, Bayham with 38, Woodstock with 34 and Tillsonburg with 29.
The region’s test positivity rate was 0.2 per cent as of the week of Oct. 4. That week saw 4,100 people tested for the virus.
Huron and Perth
The region’s total case tally stood at 140 as of Monday, with 134 recoveries and five deaths.
An update is expected Tuesday afternoon.
Health officials reported three recoveries on Monday and reported a new outbreak at Hillside Manor in Perth East.
It’s unclear how many cases are tied to the outbreak. The facility has seen one outbreak previously from March 30 to April 14 after one resident tested positive.
A total of nine outbreaks have been reported, linked to 24 cases and four deaths.
No new cases have been reported at local schools.
Last week, the health unit determined there had been a probable case of the virus involving a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School in Stratford.
The school remained open and the case was not considered an outbreak, the health unit said.
At least 32 cases in the region have involved people in their 20s, while 25 have been people in their 50s and 22 in their 60s.
The total number of hospitalizations has not changed since late April. A total of five people have needed to be hospitalized.
Some 42,983 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Oct. 10, the most recent figures available. The week of Oct. 4 to 10 saw 2,614 people tested.
Sarnia and Lambton
Two people have tested positive for the coronavirus while one person has recovered, officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported late Monday night.
The region’s total case count now stands at 365, of which 329 people have recovered and 25 have died. The death toll has remained unchanged since early June.
As of Tuesday, there are currently 11 known active cases of the virus in the county.
Health officials reported one new case and four recoveries late Sunday.
Health unit figures show neither of the two new cases is linked to two active outbreaks in the region that were both declared Thursday of last week.
One, located at Twin Lakes Terrace, a long-term care home in Sarnia has seen two staff infections. The other, at an unspecified workplace, is tied to three cases.
Twelve outbreaks have been declared during the pandemic, with nine at seniors’ facilities, two at workplaces and one at Bluewater Health hospital.
They’re linked to 114 cases and 16 deaths, however a vast majority of cases, and all 16 deaths, occurred at two long-term care homes in Sarnia.
A total of three cases have been reported involving schools in the county, according to the province.
The cases, all involving students, have been reported at Bright’s Grove Public School and Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School in Sarnia, and at Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna.
All three cases were reported last week, and all three schools remain open, according to the Lambton Kent District School Board.
The case at Colonel Cameron prompted at least 45 people to quarantine as a result.
On Monday, health officials said they were expanding their school and child-care testing, noting they were now able to offer testing to child care-aged children at most locations.
Health officials encourage all symptomatic children to get tested.
For the first time since the pandemic began, Lambton residents can now find out where the virus is spreading most within the county.
The health unit on Tuesday unveiled a new online COVID-19 case map that breaks the county down into five areas and displays how many cases have been reported in each.
Up until now, Lambton residents have been largely in the dark as to where cases have been occurring, with the health unit only providing a simple ‘rural/urban’ pie graph. LPH has refused to release more specific detail, citing privacy.
Health officials say the new tool, which now breaks down the county into two rural and three urban regions, will allow the public to access information about cases in their region while keeping the personal health information of those individuals private.
According to the tool, South Sarnia and Point Edward have collectively reported the largest number of cases during the pandemic with 98, including eight in the last month. That’s followed by South Sarnia and Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which have reported a combined 94, including five in the last month.
The region with the fewest total cases, covering Lambton Shores, Plympton-Wyoming, Warwick, and Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation, has seen a total of 37 — none within the last month.
While the tool is a notable improvement, the amount of detail that can be gleaned is still minimal compared to neighbouring health units, including SWPH, HPPH and MLHU, which have been posting case data about each municipality in their respective regions.
No changes were reported to the region’s hospitalization tally. A total of at least 58 people have been hospitalized during the pandemic.
Bluewater Health reported Tuesday that a patient admitted to the hospital earlier this month has since been discharged. The patient was the first to be admitted to Bluewater Health since June.
LPH officials say nearly 43,000 people had been tested in the county as of Oct. 10.
— With files from The Canadian Press