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Twenty-one people have tested positive for the coronavirus while 10 others have recovered, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported Wednesday.

The update brings the region’s total case tally to 1,391, of which 1,209 people have recovered. Sixty-three people have also died, most recently on Nov. 7.

As of Wednesday, the region has 119 active cases, the health unit says.

Wednesday’s update also brings to an end a two-day run of single-digit case increases, something not seen since Nov. 1 and 2. Three cases and 19 recoveries were reported Tuesday and five cases and 27 recoveries on Monday.

As of this week, the region is in the yellow-protect tier of the province’s colour-coded framework. The health unit has since released more information about what the change will mean locally, considering some of the new restrictions were already in place in the region.

Of Wednesday’s cases, 19 are from London while two are from Thames Centre, health unit data shows.

Those infected span nearly all age groups the health unit monitors, with just over half under the age of 40.

Seven are aged 19 or younger, one is in their 20s, three each are in their 30s, 50s and 60s, and two each are in their 40s and 70s.

Eleven of those infected contracted the virus through close contact with a confirmed case, while two did through travel. Four cases each either have no known link, or have their source listed as pending or undetermined.

The region has recorded at least 242 cases since the start of the month, and has a seven-day case average as of Wednesday of 14.28. The 14-day case average is 15.92.

People under 30 have made up 51 per cent of all cases reported this month: 48 involving people 19 and younger, and 77 in their 20s.

Health unit data shows people in their 20s have accounted for the largest percentage of cases by age during the pandemic with 355, or about a quarter of the region’s caseload.

The tally is nearly twice that of the second-largest age group: people aged 19 and younger, who account for 187 cases.

Two recent large house parties in the city netted charges against five men aged 18, 19, 23 and 24, according to police. A third large gathering this past weekend is still being investigated.

Hospitalizations

For the third day in a row, the health unit’s non-intensive care hospitalized tally has increased, this time by two. Tuesday and Monday recorded increases of one each.

However, it still isn’t clear how many people are currently hospitalized as of Wednesday as such real-time data isn’t available.

It’s also hard to compare current data to previous time periods, as the health unit does not provide date information alongside its hospitalized tallies.

The most recent update from London Health Sciences Centre, released Monday, said eight positive COVID-19 patients were in its care. An update is expected Thursday.

In addition, as many as 14 staff members within LHSC were reportedly infected. On Nov. 12, the tally was “five or less.” University Hospital is continuing to deal with two outbreaks.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the number of coronavirus patients in its care numbered zero as of Wednesday, while at least five health-care workers with the organization (staff, physicians, volunteers and students) have tested positive since Nov. 4.

As of Wednesday, at least 141 people had been hospitalized since March due to the coronavirus, of which 34 have required intensive care.

Schools

There were no new school cases reported Wednesday in London and Middlesex.

There have been at least 39 cases linked to schools in London and Middlesex, with 23 at local elementary schools and 13 at secondary schools.

One recent case, previously unreported, involves a staff member at Académie de la Tamise, an elementary school in London run by Conseil scolaire Viamonde, the public French-language secular school board.

The case was confirmed on Nov. 13, according to a school board spokesperson. The individual was not in the school when their first symptoms occurred, they said.

The case does not appear on the health unit’s website, but does on a school case dashboard managed by the province.

Elsewhere, active cases remain at Oakridge Secondary School (two students), Arthur Ford Public School (one staff member in before/after school program), Catholic Central High School (one student), Eagle Heights Public School (two students), Westminster Secondary School (one student), Sir Wilfred Laurier Secondary School and Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School (one student.)

There have been no further outbreaks reported at post-secondary institutions since an outbreak at London Hall, a Western University student residence, from Oct. 11 to Nov. 10 that infected six people.

Institutional outbreaks

There has been no change when it comes to institutional outbreaks in the region.

As of Wednesday, two outbreaks are active in the region, both at University Hospital.

One, declared Nov. 10, is located in 4IP general medicine, while the other, declared Nov. 11, is in 9IP orthopedics.

LHSC has not said how many people have tested positive in the outbreaks. The organization reported Monday that eight patients were in its care with COVID-19, while 14 staff members were currently positive.

Since the pandemic began, at least 48 institutional outbreaks have been declared in London and Middlesex, of which 40 have been at seniors’ facilities. Most recently, an outbreak at Henley Place Long-Term Care ended on Sunday.

While it isn’t an institutional outbreak, a workplace outbreak declared Monday at a new Richmond Row eatery remains active, linked to at least three staff cases.

Testing

Health unit figures show that at least 6,523 people got tested during the week of Nov. 8, about the same as seen the week before.

The test per cent positivity rate for that week was 1.3 per cent, down from 1.6 the week before.

Since the pandemic began, at least 160,800 tests have been recorded, according to health unit numbers.

Both of the city’s assessment centres, Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena are operating appointment-only, and have seen a notable increase in visits since the health unit issued a plea to the public earlier this month for symptomatic people to get tested.

Carling Heights recorded a five-day average of 346 visits per day between Nov. 9 and 13, while Oakridge Arena saw 342 per day, according to health unit figures.

Visitation numbers have remained steady so far this week, with Carling Heights recording 365 on Monday and 359 on Tuesday. Oakridge Arena recorded 301 on Monday and 329 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, appointment testing for certain asymptomatic people continues at eight local pharmacies.

The cumulative incident rate for London and Middlesex stands at 274.1 per 100,000 people, compared to Ontario’s 650.8.

Ontario

Ontario reported 1,417 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and 32 new deaths due to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 463 cases are in Peel Region, 410 cases are in Toronto and 178 are in York Region.

The province says it has conducted 33,440 tests since the last daily report.

In total, 535 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 127 in intensive care.

The province says there are 78 people on ventilators in hospital.

The latest figures bring the total of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 98,162, with 3,415 deaths and 81,925 cases resolved.

Elgin and Oxford

Eleven people have tested positive for the coronavirus while eight people have recovered, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Wednesday.

That brings the region’s total case count to 466, of which 395 people have recovered and five have died. The death toll has not risen since early July.

SWPH data shows nine cases were reported in Woodstock, while two were in St. Thomas.

The update leaves at least 66 known active cases in the region, according to the health unit. Of those, 49 are in Oxford County and 17 are in Elgin County.

Health unit figures show at least 22 active cases are in Woodstock, while 17 are in Norwich, 11 are in Aylmer, five each are in St. Thomas and Tillsonburg, two are in Ingersoll, and one each is in Bayham, Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock and Zorra.

SWPH has reported at least 141 cases since the start of November. The region is currently in the yellow-protect tier of the province’s colour-coded framework.

It’s unclear if any people are hospitalized. The health unit hasn’t issued an updated tally since Nov. 12, at which point the number of people hospitalized was zero. An update is expected Thursday.

There has been no change to the number of cases linked to schools and to the number of institutional outbreaks currently active in the region.

Six cases remain active in SWPH’s jurisdiction, all involving students. Three are at Northdale Public School in Woodstock, two are at Assumption Catholic Secondary School in Aylmer and one is at Straffordville Public School in Bayham.

At least nine school-linked cases have been reported in the region since the start of the school year, including since-resolved cases at St. Thomas Community Christian School, Mitchell Hepburn Public School (one student) and South Ridge Public School (one student.)

Meanwhile, two outbreaks remain active in the region, located at Bethany Care Home in Norwich and in the Arches Transitional Bed Program.

The health unit says four people have tested positive as a result of the Bethany outbreak, one more than the day before. One staff member has since tested positive.

In the Arches outbreak, the health unit says one staff member has tested positive.

Nine outbreaks in total have been declared since March, linked to 18 cases, of which four have involved residents.

By location, 103 cases have been reported in Aylmer, while 86 have been in Woodstock and 77 in Bayham.

Elsewhere, 56 cases have been in St. Thomas, 38 in Tillsonburg, 36 in Norwich, 14 in Ingersoll, 12 in East Zorra-Tavistock and 10 in Dutton/Dunwich. Seven other locations have case counts under 10.

Aylmer remains the hardest-hit when comparing individual incidence rates. The town has recorded an incidence rate of 1,374.8 per 100,000 people.

As of the week of Nov. 8, the most recent figures available, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 2.0 per cent, up from 0.9 the week before. At least 3,082 people were tested for the virus that week.

Huron and Perth

One person has died, one has tested positive, and eight others have recovered from the coronavirus, Huron Perth Public Health reported Wednesday.

The region has reported 248 cases since the start of the pandemic, the same as the day before. The health unit notes that one new case, located in Howick, was added, while one case was found to be a duplicate.

The health unit says 179 people have recovered since March, while 14 have died.

The update leaves at least 54 known active cases in the region.

Health officials say the death reported on Wednesday involves a resident of Cedarcroft Place, a retirement home in Stratford that has seen nine residents die since Oct. 27.

Four deaths were reported just on Monday involving residents of the facility who had been hospitalized due to the virus.

The outbreak has sickened 43 residents and 18 staff — roughly half of Cedarcroft’s resident population and about one-third of its staff. (The health unit had said previously that a total of 62 people had been sickened, but said Wednesday that the tally had been confirmed to be 61.)

Since the weekend, at least 10 infected residents have been transferred temporarily to local hospitals in the region to help staffing capacity at the facility. It’s not clear how the virus entered Cedarcroft Place.

A fourth round of prevalence testing for residents and staff at the facility is planned.

Elsewhere, a separate outbreak at Knollcrest Lodge in Perth East that had seen one staff member test positive has been resolved, the health unit says.

At least 12 outbreaks have been declared at 10 facilities in the province since March. They’re linked to 89 cases and at least 12 deaths — eight at Cedarcroft and four at Greenwood Court in the spring.

As of Tuesday, three school cases are active and all involve students. Two are at Milverton Public School in Perth East and one is at Shakespeare Public School in Stratford.

Prior to that, one presumptive case was reported Oct. 16 at Stratford’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School.

By location, Stratford has seen 113 cases reported since March, while Perth County has seen 73 and Huron County 54.

St. Marys has seen eight cases and one death.

Some 51,884 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Nov. 1, the most recent figures available. The test per cent positivity rate that week was 1.3 per cent. Just over 2,100 people were tested.

Sarnia and Lambton

Five people have tested positive for the coronavirus, while one has recovered, Lambton Public Health reported Wednesday.

At least 392 cases have been reported since the start of the pandemic, of which 355 have recovered and 25 have died. No deaths have been reported since early June.

There are 12 known active cases in the region, according to the health unit. Their exact locations are unclear as the health unit does not issue that information.

Health officials reported one recovery Tuesday, and one new case and one recovery on Monday. As of this week, the region remains in the green tier of the province’s restrictions framework.

According to Bluewater Health, one person remains in hospital. They’re one of three people who have been admitted to hospital since the end of October. A total of 61 people have been hospitalized since March.

Meantime, no new school-linked cases have been reported, however one remains active at Riverview Central School in Port Lambton. The case involves one student.

It’s among at least five school cases that have been reported in Lambton since the new school year began. All five cases have involved students.

In Sarnia, Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School reported two cases, while Bright’s Grove Public School reported one. In Corunna, one case was reported at Colonel Cameron Public School.

There has been no change when it comes to outbreaks. A total of 13 have been declared since the pandemic began, linked to 115 cases and 16 deaths. No outbreaks are currently active.

At least 53,211 people had been tested in the county as of Nov. 14, the most recent figures available. About 2,600 people were tested from Nov. 1 to 7.

— With files from The Canadian Press