One person has died, one has tested positive for the coronavirus and eight others have recovered, the Middlesex-London Health Unit reported Monday.
The region’s total case count stands at 1,146, of which 1,037 people have recovered and 61 have died. There are at least 48 known active cases in the region.
Health officials say the death involved a 71-year-old man who was associated with a long-term care home.
It’s the fourth death to be confirmed in the region in less than three weeks after the health unit reported the deaths of a 91-year-old seniors’ facility resident on Oct. 15, a 71-year-old man on Oct. 21 and a 51-year-old woman on Oct. 24.
Meantime, the lone new case, health unit figures show, involves a person from London who is aged 19 or younger whose exposure source is listed as being contact with a confirmed case.
Health officials reported 13 new cases over the weekend along with 17 recoveries.
At least 1,053 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.
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The health unit’s pandemic hospitalization tallies remain unchanged from the day before.
The London Health Sciences Centre reported Monday that the number of inpatients in its care with COVID-19 stands at five or fewer.
No hospitalizations were reported at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
At least 130 people have been admitted to hospital due to the coronavirus, of which 33 have needed intensive care.
Of the at least 266 people who have become infected with the virus and confirmed positive since Oct. 1, at least 127, or nearly half, have involved people under the age of 30.
People aged 19 or younger have accounted for 54 cases, while people in their 20s have made up 73 cases. People in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s have been tied to 32, 27, 40 and 29 cases, respectively.
It remains to be seen whether the Halloween weekend will result in a bump in cases locally as police and officials from the city, health unit, and Western University investigate a house party over the weekend that saw some 150 people in attendance.
Police responded to the scene along Beaufort Street near Wharncliffe and Western Roads around 1:15 a.m. Saturday.
Security camera video from a nearby property shows a flood of people leaving the townhouse upon police arrival.
During Monday’s COVID-19 media briefing, Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health said such events — large indoor gatherings with people in close proximity who aren’t wearing masks — are exactly what leads to case spikes that ripple through the community.
“You don’t have to be a public health physician to know what a terrible idea this is — to have a large party with people that aren’t wearing masks in close proximity,” he said.
Western University officials say should they receive names of any students involved, they will review all cases under its Code of Student Conduct and apply sanctions where appropriate.
No school cases were reported Monday, however one was reported over the weekend.
At least 18 cases have been reported at schools in London and Middlesex since Sept. 21, when the region’s first was reported at H.B. Beal Secondary School involving a student.
The Thames Valley District School Board reported a case at Eagle Heights Public School on Saturday. It’s not clear if the case involves a staff member or student.
Elsewhere, three still-active cases were reported on Oct. 29 at A.B. Lucas Secondary School involving a staff member, at West Nissouri Public School involving a student and at École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc involving a staff member.
Confirmed cases have also been reported at Lambeth Public School on Oct. 21, Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School on Oct. 17, Dorchester’s Central Public School on Oct. 13 and Strathroy-Caradoc’s Mary Wright Public School on Oct. 12. All four cases involved students.
Sir Arthur Currie Public School reported two cases, one on Oct. 9 involving a staff member and one on Oct. 12 involving a student. The cases prompted an outbreak declaration, which was deemed over on Friday, the health unit said.
Confirmed 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.
The health unit says an outbreak declared Oct. 11 at Western University’s London Hall residence remains active as of Monday.
At least six positive cases have been linked to the outbreak.
The total number of student infections at the school since the start of September is not currently known, but the last tally the health unit released on Oct. 1 pegged the number at 70, not including the London Hall cases.
The total number of outbreaks linked to seniors’ facilities rose by one over the weekend.
An outbreak was declared at Henley Place Long-Term Care Residence in its Harris and Medway areas on Saturday.
It’s been less than a week since a separate outbreak at the same facility, also involving its Harris area, was declared over on Oct. 27. That outbreak had been declared active Oct. 11.
Saturday also saw an outbreak declared over at Chartwell London. That outbreak, declared Oct. 15, impacted the facility’s entire long-term care facility.
At least 46 institutional outbreaks have been declared in the region since March, of which 40 have been at seniors’ facilities.
The number of active outbreaks stands at four as of Monday:
- Henley Place Long-Term Care Residence (Harris, Medway)
- Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence (entire facility)
- Strathmere Lodge (Bear Creek, Arbor Glen, Parkview Place)
- Westmount Gardens (Lily)
Institutional outbreaks have been connected to 221 cases involving 111 staff members and 110 residents. The outbreaks are also linked to at least 39 deaths, most recently the one reported Nov. 2.
At least 22 cases reported since the start of October have involved long-term care or retirement homes, the health unit says.
There has been no change in testing in the city.
London’s two assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, continue to take patients, with Carling Heights operating with a time-card system and Oakridge Arena taking appointments online or by phone.
The centres 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 part of an outbreak investigation.
Testing for certain asymptomatic people, like those with loved ones in a seniors’ facility, close contacts of a known case and workers at high-risk, is still also available at the following eight pharmacies in the city:
- 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 115 Commissioners Rd.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 603 Fanshawe Park Rd. W.
- Shoppers Drug Mart at 395 Southdale Rd. E.
- TMC Pharmacy at 990 Gainsborough Rd.
According to the most recent figures available, the region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 0.9 per cent as of the week of Oct. 18, compared to Ontario’s 2.7. Around 6,400 people were tested that week.
The region’s seven-day average for new cases stands at 5.42 as of Monday, while looking back to Oct. 19, the 14-day average is 7.21.
The region’s incident rate stands at 225.8 per 100,000 people, while Ontario’s is 516.0.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 948 new cases and seven deaths on Monday.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 315 cases are in Toronto, 269 are in Peel Region, 81 in York Region and 64 in Ottawa.
The province says it has conducted 27,908 tests since the last daily report.
In total, 328 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 75 in intensive care.
The province also reported 71 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 41 among students.
Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 558 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government is promising to establish a new standard that would see long-term care residents receive an average of four hours of direct care every day.
The government says long-term care residents currently receive an average of 2.75 hours of direct care per day.
Health-care advocates and unions have long pressed for a minimum four-hour standard of care to improve conditions in Ontario’s long-term care homes.
Elgin and Oxford
Twelve people have tested positive for the coronavirus and one person has recovered, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Monday.
The leap in cases brings the region’s total case count to 337, of which 303 people have recovered. Five people have died, most recently in early July.
At least 11 of the cases were reported in Bayham alone, which now has 12 active cases. Elsewhere, 11 cases remain active in Woodstock, one fewer from Sunday, while two are active in Tillsonburg.
One case each is active in Aylmer, Ingersoll, South-West Oxford and St. Thomas.
The surge in cases in Bayham is being attributed to an outbreak at a congregate living setting there, namely bunkhouses at a single address involving people who live and work together, a health unit spokesperson says.
“We are not providing the address specifically because it is not a space that the general public accesses,” said Megan Cornwell in an email.
The outbreak has been linked to at least 31 positive cases. Eleven of the cases were added to the region’s tally on Monday, while the remainder will be added tomorrow.
The health unit says testing of all individuals residing at the address, along with their close contacts, resulted in 157 tests.
“One individual impacted by the outbreak was admitted to hospital on October 30 for COVID-19-related symptoms, tested positive, and remains in hospital,” the health unit says.
At least 25 people have been admitted to hospital during the pandemic due to the virus, of which half have needed intensive care.
The number of cases linked to schools in Elgin and Oxford counties rose by one over the weekend after the Thames Valley District School Board reported a confirmed case at South Ridge Public School in Tillsonburg.
The case was reported on Saturday. It’s not clear yet if it involves a staff member or a student.
It’s the third school case to be reported in the Elgin-Oxford region. Two cases were reported in September, with one at St. Thomas Community Christian School on Sept. 25 and another at Mitchell Hepburn Public School on Sept. 29.
Meantime, two cases remain active that have been linked to Oxford Community Child Care in Woodstock. It’s unclear when the cases, which involve one child and one staff member, were first confirmed.
An outbreak at Ingersoll’s Secord Trails remains active as of Monday. The outbreak, declared Oct. 24, has been linked to one staff infection.
It’s the second outbreak at the facility. An outbreak was declared May 18 that was tied to at least eight staff member infections.
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.
Bayham, St. Thomas and Woodstock, meantime, have each seen 50 cases, while Bayham and Tillsonburg has seen 32 and Ingersoll 11. Dutton/Dunwich, Ingersoll and Norwich have 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 for the virus that week.
Huron and Perth
Three people have tested positive for the virus and two have recovered, Huron Perth Public Health reported on Monday.
The health unit did not release an update over the weekend.
The update brings the region’s total case count to 154, of which 139 people have recovered and five have died — a tally that hasn’t risen since late April.
The three people who recently tested positive are all from Stratford.
There are at least 10 active cases in the region, the health unit says. Of those, at least two are health-care workers.
It appears that at least two of the three people who have recently tested positive are connected to an ongoing outbreak at Stratford’s Cedarcroft Place retirement home.
The facility declared an outbreak on Oct. 27 and initially saw just three cases. That had risen to six by Friday and now stands at eight as of Monday, involving six residents and two staff members.
The outbreak is among 10 institutional outbreaks that have been declared since March.
At least 33 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.
There are no active school cases.
One probable case was reported Oct. 16 at Stratford’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School. It was not officially confirmed and was not reported on the province’s database.
“Test results were not obtained and the case remained a probable; just a reminder that we manage both confirmed and probable cases the same way,” a health unit spokesperson said last week.
“Oct. 22 was the last day of isolation for the school contacts and there were no additional cases from the exposure.”
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 47 cases have been reported in Stratford, along with the four deaths linked to Greenwood Court.
St. Marys has reported seven cases and one death.
Some 47,632 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Oct. 18, the most recent figure available.
Sarnia and Lambton
No new cases, deaths or recoveries have been reported by Lambton Public Health.
The total number of cases reported in the region remains at 372, of which 344 people have recovered. Twenty-five people have died, a tally unchanged since early June.
Three known active cases remain in the region.
There are currently no active school-linked cases in Lambton.
Four have been reported, all involving students. Two have been at Northern Collegiate Institute & Vocational School in Sarnia, one has been at Bright’s Grove Public School in Sarnia, and one has been at Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna in St. Clair Township.
An outbreak at Fiddick’s Retirement Home in Petrolia remains active. The outbreak, declared late Friday, has been linked to one resident infection.
At least 13 outbreaks have been declared in the region since March, with 10 at seniors’ facilities, two at unnamed workplaces and one at Bluewater Health hospital in Sarnia.
The outbreaks are tied to 115 cases, of which 60 have involved residents and 48 staff members of seniors’ facilities. Sixteen deaths have been reported.
Nearly all of the outbreak-linked cases and all 16 deaths took place at Landmark Village and Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia.
Bluewater Health says two people are in hospital with COVID-19 as of Monday, up one from the day prior. A total of at least 60 people have been hospitalized for the virus during the pandemic.
Nearly 47,367 people had been tested in the county as of Oct. 24, health unit figures show.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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