Twenty more people have tested positive for the coronavirus while nine people have recovered, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported Monday.
That brings the region’s total case count to 1,268, of which 1,082 people have recovered. Sixty-three people have died, most recently on Saturday involving a 69-year-old man not linked to a seniors’ facility. It was the second death reported in as many days, and the sixth reported in the last four weeks.
Of the 20 new cases, 18 are from London while two are from Middlesex Centre, health unit figures show.
Those infected span nearly every age bracket tracked by the health unit, with half under the age of 30.
Three are aged 19 or younger, while seven are in their 20s, two are in their 30s, three are in their 40s, one is in their 50s, three are in their 60s and one is 80 or older.
Of the 20, 14 have their exposure source listed as contact with a confirmed case. Four cases are pending or undetermined and two have no known link.
No increase was reported in local hospitalizations, according to the health unit. At least 133 people have been hospitalized, with 33 in intensive care.
London Health Sciences Centre reported Monday that inpatients with the virus in its care numbered five or fewer, while St. Joseph’s Health Care London said no patients or residents at its facilities had the virus.
Monday’s update comes on the heels of a weekend that saw one death, 50 new cases — 37 just on Sunday, a record that broke one set two days earlier — and 11 recoveries.
Health officials also reported at least seven school-linked coronavirus cases Saturday and Sunday, and declared a workplace outbreak in the London Fire Department after three firefighters tested positive.
“We’re deep in the second wave and… there’s no indication that (things will) be abating in the short term,” Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said Monday.
“Nobody wants to get back into a lockdown situation. That’s what we all need to work to try and avoid. At the current trajectory, that seems like it is possible.”
Given the recent spike in cases, Mackie said it was possible that the province may make a decision to move the Middlesex-London region to a stricter level sometime soon. The region is currently in the least restrictive of the colour-coded levels recently implemented by the province.
“It’s hard to see how the case counts that we have would not qualify for the Protect level, but again, that’s a decision that happens on a weekly basis at this point, not daily,” he said.
“Probably something would go into effect either later this week or maybe on the weekend. But also, we don’t know for sure. There are five different criteria that the province is using to enter into the “Protect” level,” he continued.
“But from our view, we do meet the criteria and we would expect the province to make that move later.”
With Monday’s update, the region’s seven-day average for new cases stands at 17.4 as of Thursday, while looking back to Oct. 26, the 14-day average is 11.4. The cumulative incident rate for London and Middlesex is 249.8 per 100,000 people, while Ontario’s is 566.1.
Those looking to get tested are now able to book appointments online or by phone at Carling Heights Optimist Centre. The change was announced last week and took effect Sunday, with the first block of appointments being set for Nov. 10. The previous ticketing system has been phased out.
Appointment testing is also still available at Oakridge Arena, and for certain asymptomatic people at eight local pharmacies.
Earlier last week, officials urged symptomatic residents to get tested following a slump in visits to the assessment centres. People are urged to get tested within 24 to 48 hours of showing symptoms.
The number of school-linked cases in London and Middlesex rose substantially over the weekend after health and school board officials reported seven new cases at five schools.
Two cases were reported at Oakridge Secondary School, while one each was reported at St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School, Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School and Westminster Secondary School.
Two cases were also reported at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School, bringing the total number of active cases at the school to four. Two cases were reported there late last week.
Mackie said a vast majority of positive school-linked cases have come from those infected contracting the virus from a family member, or being exposed “in some other setting where we know that there are positives there.”
“There are a very small number, really only one or two situations, where we’ve seen transmission that is likely to be attributed to the school environment,” he said.
“So it’s not that students are getting COVID in schools and then testing positive, it’s that children are testing positive because there’s a virus in the community and they happen to be children that attend schools.”
There are at least 15 school-linked cases that are currently active in the region. At least 31 have been reported since the start of the school year.
Other active cases remain at A.B. Lucas Secondary School (one staff member), Eagle Heights Public School (one staff member), Northbrae Public School (one student), Wilton Grove Public School (in before- and after-school program) and at Lambeth Public School (two students).
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Since-resolved cases were reported on:
- Sept. 21 at H.B. Beal Secondary School involving a student.
- Oct. 5 and Oct. 8 at École élémentaire La Pommeraie, both involving staff members.
- Oct. 7 at Saunders Secondary School involving a student.
- Oct. 9 and Oct. 12 at Sir Arthur Currie Public School, one involving a staff member, the other involving a student. The cases resulted in an outbreak declaration, which resolved on Oct. 30.
- Oct. 12 at Mary Wright Public School in Strathroy involving a student.
- Oct. 13 at Northdale Central Public School in Dorchester involving a student.
- Oct. 17 at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School involving a student.
- Oct. 21 at Lambeth Public School involving a student.
- Oct. 25 at Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School involving a student, at St. Andre Bessette Secondary School involving a student and at St. Kateri Separate School involving two students.
- Oct. 29 at École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc involving one staff member and at West Nissouri Public School involving one student.
In the post-secondary setting, an outbreak declared nearly a month ago at a Western University residence building is still considered active by the health unit.
The outbreak was declared on Oct. 11 at London Hall and has been linked to at least six cases as of late last week.
In addition, Mackie said Monday that at least three recent cases had been linked back to a large house party at a Beaufort Street townhouse on Halloween.
“They weren’t Western students, they were post-secondary. Other than that, we haven’t seen any… new outbreaks in the student population in some time,” he said.
The total number of Fanshawe College and Western University students who have contracted the virus is unclear.
A tally, issued by the health unit at the start of October, pegged the number of Western students who had tested positive since the start of the school year at 70, not including the London Hall cases.
People aged 19 or younger have accounted for at least 75 cases since the start of October, while people in their 20s have accounted for at least 108.
There has been no change relating to institutional outbreaks at local long-term care and retirement homes.
Three active institutional outbreaks remain in place in London and Middlesex 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)
They’re among at least 46 that have been declared in the region since March, including 40 at seniors’ facilities.
Health unit figures show the seniors’ facility outbreaks have been linked to at least 222 cases in the region — around 19 per cent of all cases reported — involving 111 residents and 111 staff members.
The outbreaks are also linked to at least 39 deaths, most recently on Nov. 2.
Ontario
Provincially, Ontario reported 1,242 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 12 deaths.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 483 new cases in Toronto, 279 in Peel Region, 107 in York Region, 74 in Ottawa and 57 in Hamilton.
The province says there are 84 people in intensive care, with 54 on ventilators.
More than 28,400 tests have been completed since the last daily update.
The latest figures come as the province says it is increasing testing, contact tracing and hospital resources in Peel Region as COVID-19 rates surge in the area.
Elliott says three new testing centres and a mobile testing unit will be established in Brampton, Ont., to address increasing virus numbers in that city.
Elliott said the province is also providing 70 more contact tracers to Peel Region’s health unit, and funding for 234 additional hospital beds.
Elgin and Oxford
Six people have tested positive for the coronavirus, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported on Monday.
The new cases bring the region’s total case count to 380, of which 322 people have recovered and five have died — a tally unchanged since early July.
Two cases and five recoveries were reported Sunday.
There are at least 53 known active cases in the region, a majority of which — 32 — are located in Bayham, which last week became the site of a large farm outbreak. The outbreak involving local and migrant farm workers had sickened at least 40 as of late last week.
Elsewhere, eight active cases are in Woodstock, five are in Norwich, two are in Aylmer and one each is in Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock, Ingersoll, South-West Oxford, Tillsonburg and Zorra.
Of those active cases, health officials say one person is currently in hospital in intensive care. They’re among 25 people who have been hospitalized, with 13 in intensive care.
None of the new cases are tied to schools, however, one school-linked case remains active at South Ridge Public School in Tillsonburg involving a student, the Thames Valley District School Board says.
It’s the third school-linked case in the region after a case was reported Sept. 25 at St. Thomas Community Christian School and another on Sept. 29 at Mitchell Hepburn Public School.
Two cases also remain active in Woodstock that are linked to Oxford Community Child Care. The cases involve one child and one staff member.
An outbreak at Secord Trails in Ingersoll is also still active involving one staff case. The outbreak was declared Oct. 24 and is the second to be seen at the facility.
Seven outbreaks have been declared in the region since March, linked to 14 cases, of which all but one have involved staff members.
It remains to be seen what kind of impact Saturday’s anti-mask demonstrations in Aylmer will have on the local caseload.
Hundreds of maskless participants, including people from London and the Greater Toronto Area, descended on Aylmer to protest face coverings and restrictions implemented due to the pandemic.
Local police said as many as 2,000 people paraded through the centre of town, chanting and holding signs reading “freedom is risky, have some courage,” “standing together against government overreach,” and “I’d rather die of COVID-19 than of loneliness” — in reference to the apparent words of an unnamed resident at an unnamed retirement home, the location of which was also unnamed.
While the town of Aylmer currently has only two active coronavirus cases, it has reported the most of any municipality of the region during the pandemic — 91. Many of those cases came in a major surge reported in late July and early August.
As a result, its incident rate stands at 1,214 cases per 100,000 people, higher than that reported by both Peel Public Health and Toronto Public Health, according to Public Health Ontario.
Elsewhere, Bayham has reported a total of 74 cases, while Woodstock has seen 57, St. Thomas 50, Tillsonburg 33 and Norwich 15.
Ingersoll has reported 11 cases, while Dutton/Dunwich and East-Zorra Tavistock have reported 10 each. Seven other municipalities have reported case totals under 10.
As of the week of Oct. 25, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.0 per cent. At least 2,654 people were tested for the virus that week.
Huron and Perth
One person has died, 34 others have tested positive, and six people have recovered, Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported Monday..
The region’s total case count now stands at 203, of which 148 have recovered. At least eight people have died, health officials say.
The jump is the largest single-day increase reported in the region so far, and is among the largest seen in the entire London area. It should be noted, however, that the health unit does not issue updates over the weekend, meaning this jump is in comparison to Friday’s tally.
It leaves at least 48 known active cases in the region, the most HPPH has reported at one time. Fourty-three are in Stratford, four are in Perth East, and one is in Huron East.
At least 32 of the 34 new cases were reported in Stratford, where an outbreak at a local retirement home has grown exponentially since the health unit’s last update on Friday.
As of Monday, at least 46 cases have been reported at Cedarcroft Place, of which 34 are residents and 12 are staff members. On Friday, 18 cases had been reported involving 12 residents and six staff.
The outbreak, declared Oct. 27, has also seen at least three residents of the home die, the health unit says.
“We continue to look for reasons as to why the spread does continue. We have not determined how COVID was introduced into the facility in the first place,” said the region’s medical officer of health. Dr. Miriam Klassen, on Monday.
“One thing we have learned about COVID… is that sometimes people have such mild symptoms that… they discount them or think that they may be due to something else, or even people that never develop symptoms are capable of transmitting the virus. So it’s possible that it was first introduced that way.”
In addition to that outbreak, two other outbreaks were declared over the weekend at Knollcrest Lodge in Perth East and at Mitchell Nursing Home in West Perth.
One staff case each has been reported at each facility, the health unit says.
At least 12 institutional outbreaks have been declared since March, linked to 73 cases and seven deaths.
The Cedarcroft Place outbreak now stands as the worst seen in the region. An outbreak at Greenwood Court, also in Stratford, earlier in the year saw 16 cases — six residents and 10 staff — and four deaths.
Meantime, a new case has been reported at a local school, according to the Avon-Maitland District School Board.
The case is linked to Milverton Public School, and has resulted in one class closure, the school board says. It’s unclear if the case involves a staff member or student.
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 in the province’s database.
By location, Stratford has reported a total of 91 cases and seven deaths, while North Perth has seen 55 cases, including 21 in Perth East and 19 in North Perth.
Huron County, meantime, has seen 50 cases, including 14 in Central Huron and 13 in Bluewater, while St. Marys has reported seven cases and one death.
Some 47,737 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Oct. 25, the most recent figures available. The test per cent positivity rate that week was 0.5 per cent. Just over 2,100 people were tested.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has recovered from the coronavirus, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported Monday.
The region’s total case count stands at 380, of which 346 people have recovered. Twenty-five have died, a tally unchanged since early June.
There are nine known active cases in the county, the health unit says. Three people are currently in hospital, according to Bluewater Health.
Three cases were reported on Sunday.
No change was reported to the number of cases at local schools. Four have been reported, all since resolved and all involving students.
Two cases have been reported at Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School in Sarnia, while one each has been at Bright’s Grove Public School in Sarnia and Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna.
No change was reported involving local seniors’ facilities, where one outbreak remains active. The outbreak, declared Oct. 30 at Petrolia’s Fiddick’s Retirement Home, is tied to one resident case.
At least 13 outbreaks have been declared in the region since March, tied to 115 cases. Two have been at unnamed workplaces while one has been at Bluewater Health.
Ten outbreaks have been at seniors’ facilities and have been associated with 60 residents’ and 48 staff members’ cases. Sixteen deaths have been reported.
At least 49,140 people had been tested in the county as of Oct. 31.
— With files from The Canadian Press
— The Huron-Perth region will be added once updated numbers are available.
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