The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported five new cases of the novel coronavirus along with eight recoveries on Halloween.
The MLHU also announced a new institutional outbreak and a new case linked to a local school.
There are now 1,137 COVID-19 cases and 1,020 recoveries. Sixty people have also died, most recently on Oct. 24.
At least 57 cases remain active in the region, according to health unit figures, which also showed that one new case from Saturday had to be hospitalized.
A total of 130 people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 33 who have needed intensive care.
The MLHU announced a new institutional outbreak on Saturday that was declared last Sunday at Country Terrace and impacts its Nottinghill area. It’s unclear how many staff or residents have tested positive.
The health unit also reported a COVID-19 case at Eagle Heights Public School in London.
It’s unclear whether it involves a staff member or a student. The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) says no classes have been closed as a result.
Other active cases linked to schools include one case each at Lambton Public School, A. B. Lucas Secondary School, École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc, West Nissouri Public School, Mother Teresa Secondary School and St. Andre Bessette Secondary School. Two cases were also confirmed at St. Kateri Separate School.
Meanwhile, the outbreak at Sir Arthur Currie Public School has been declared over. It involved two cases.
At least 18 school cases have been reported in the region since the first was seen at H.B. Secondary School on Sept. 21 involving a student.
In the post-secondary setting, an outbreak at London Hall, a student residence on Western University’s campus, remained active as of Saturday.
At least six people have become infected due to the outbreak, declared Oct. 11. They’re among at least 76 students at the school who have tested positive since early September, however that number is outdated by several weeks. The health unit has stopped issuing an updated tally.
Five institutional outbreaks remain active in London and Middlesex, according to the health unit:
- Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence (entire facility)
- Strathmere Lodge (Bear Creek, Arbor Glen, Parkview Place)
- Oakcrossing Retirement Living (first, third and fourth floors)
- Chartwell London (entire long-term care facility)
- Country Terrace (Nottinghill area)
Institutional outbreaks account for a total of 220 COVID-19 cases in the region. This includes 110 cases among residents and 110 cases among staff as well as 38 deaths.
Testing remains available at the city’s two assessment centres and at eight London, Ont., pharmacies this weekend.
The city’s assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, are prioritizing those with symptoms, school children, those exposed to a confirmed case and notified by the health unit or the COVID Alert app, and those who are part of an outbreak investigation.
Carling Heights is continuing to operate with a time-card system while Oakridge Arena is taking phone and online appointments.
The two centres have been averaging between 200 and 300 client visits a day, down from peak numbers seen in September and early October.
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Meantime, five additional pharmacies began offering testing for certain asymptomatic people this week, such as those with loved ones in long-term care homes, close contacts of a known case and workers at high risk.
Pharmacies offering testing are:
- London Medical Plex Pharmacy at 1807 Wonderland Rd. N.
- Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at 279 Wharncliffe Rd. N.
- Medpoint Pharmacy in Citi Plaza
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 3090 Colonel Talbot Rd.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 1155 Commissioners Rd E.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 603 Fanshawe Park Rd. W.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 395 Southdale Rd. E.
- TMC Pharmacy at 990 Gainsborough Rd.
The region’s incident rate stands at 224.0 per 100,000 people, while Ontario’s is 502.6.
At least 1,044 cases have been reported in London, while 32 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc.
Elsewhere, Middlesex Centre has seen 24 cases, while Thames Centre has reported 21. North Middlesex is at eight, Lucan Biddulph seven and Southwest Middlesex one.
The London Health Sciences Centre said Thursday that there are five or fewer COVID-19 patients in their care.
No patients are in the care of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the organization reported.
Ontario
Ontario reported 1,015 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the provincial total to 75,730.
It marks the second-highest single-day increase in cases to date in the province, behind last Sunday’s report of 1,042.
Nine new deaths were also reported, bringing the provincial death toll to 3,136.
Meanwhile, 64,717 cases are considered resolved, which is 85.5 per cent of all confirmed cases.
Ontario has completed a total of 5,109,927 tests.
Elgin and Oxford
Two new cases and two new recoveries of COVID-19 were reported Saturday by officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH).
It brings the region’s total case count to 322, of which 301 have recovered and five have died. The death toll has not risen since early July.
One new case is from Woodstock and one is from Bayham.
There are at least 16 active cases in the region. Woodstock has 13, and Aylmer, Bayham and Tillsonburg each have one.
In terms of age, health officials say the ages of those currently infected span several groups, with three cases aged 0-19, one in their 20s, seven in their 30s, three in their 40s and two in their 60s.
No active cases are in hospital. A total of 24 people have been admitted during the pandemic, including 12 who have needed intensive care.
There is one active institutional outbreak in the Elgin-Oxford region, located in Ingersoll at Secord Trails.
The outbreak, the second to be seen at the facility, was declared Oct. 24 and is tied to one staff case. The first outbreak in May saw eight staff cases.
Overall, seven such outbreaks have been declared in the region since March. They’re linked to 14 cases, of which all but one have involved staff members.
Aylmer has reported a total of 89 cases since March, driven largely by a spike seen in late July and early August. Woodstock has 50 cases, St. Thomas has 49, while Bayham and Tillsonburg have seen 39 and 31, respectively.
Dutton/Dunwich, Ingersoll, and Norwich have all seen 10 cases each.
As of the week of Oct. 18, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 0.4 per cent. At least 3,379 people were tested that week.
Huron and Perth
Officials with Huron Perth Public Health do not provide COVID-19 updates on the weekends.
As of Friday, the region’s total case count stood at 151 with 137 recoveries. Five people have also died, most recently in late April.
At least nine cases were active in the region, the health unit says.
Six active cases involve residents at Cedarcroft Place, a retirement home in Stratford, which declared an outbreak on Tuesday.
The number of cases at the facility has grown by three since health officials first announced it on Wednesday.
The outbreak is among 10 institutional outbreaks that have been declared since March.
At least 31 cases have been reported as a result of the outbreaks, as well as four deaths that occurred at Greenwood Court, a long-term care home in Stratford, which saw an outbreak from late March to mid-May.
No active cases have been reported at local schools.
A probable case was reported on Oct. 16 involving a member of Stratford’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School, however, no positive cases were later reported on the province’s school case database.
At least 51 cases have been reported in Perth County since March, including 19 in North Perth and 17 in Perth East, while at least 49 cases have been reported in Huron County, including 14 in Central Huron, 13 in Bluewater, and 10 in South Huron. At least 44 cases and four deaths have been reported in Stratford, while seven cases and one death have been reported in St. Marys.
Some 47,632 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Oct. 18, the most recent figure available.
Sarnia and Lambton
Officials with Lambton Public Health reported one new COVID-19 case late Friday.
This brings the total number of cases to 370, with 344 recoveries and 25 deaths. The latest death was reported in early June.
Health officials say there is one active case in the region.
One outbreak remains active; at Fiddick’s Retirement Home in Petrolia. It was declared on Thursday and involves one case — a resident.
At least 13 outbreaks have been declared in the region since March. Eleven have been institutional outbreaks while two have been workplace outbreaks.
Overall, the outbreaks are linked to 115 cases and 16 deaths.
Bluewater Health data shows that one patient remains in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Saturday.
In total, four school-linked cases have been reported in Lambton, including two involving students at Northern Collegiate Institute & Vocational School in Sarnia.
The other two, which also involved students, were reported at Bright’s Grove Public School in Sarnia and Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna in St. Clair Township.
Nearly 47,367 people had been tested in the county as of Oct. 24, health unit figures show.
— With files from Global News’ Matthew Trevithick and Ryan Rocca
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