Jump to: Hospitalizations – Schools – Outbreaks – Testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton

One person has died, nine people have tested positive for the coronavirus and 16 others have recovered, the Middlesex-London Health Unit reported Monday.

The region’s total case count is now 1,477, of which 1,284 people have recovered and 64 have died. There are at least 129 active cases.

The death, the fourth to be recorded this month and the first since Nov. 7, involved a woman in her 70s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home, according to the health unit.

Few other details have been released.

As of Monday, the region has recorded at least 331 cases since the start of November, 10 cases shy of the 341 seen in April — the region’s worst month for cases.

As of this week, the region remains in the yellow-protect tier of the province’s restrictions framework.

All of the nine cases reported Monday are from London, according to the health unit, with a majority under the age of 50.

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

Three contracted the virus through an outbreak, while two became infected through close contact with a confirmed case and one through travel. Two cases have their sources listed as pending or undetermined, and one has no known link.

According to the health unit, 1,359 cases have been reported in London since the pandemic began, while Middlesex Centre and Strathroy-Caradoc have seen 35 each, and Thames Centre 28. Lucan Biddulph has seen nine, North Middlesex eight, Southwest Middlesex two and Newbury one.

According to health unit figures, 66 per cent of the 331 cases reported so far this month have involved people under the age of 40. Looking just at those under 30, the figure is 52 per cent.

At least 73 cases have involved people 19 or younger, while 101 have involved people in their 20s and 45 people in their 30s.

People in their 20s, in particular, have accounted for the largest percentage of cases by age during the pandemic with 380, or about a quarter of the region’s caseload. People 19 and under are the second-largest age group, accounting for 219 cases.

On Monday, police announced charges against a 20-year-old Toronto woman in connection with a large indoor party at a home on Ann Street, just southwest of Oxford and Richmond streets, that saw approximately 15 people in attendance, police said.

It’s the third time this month that charges have been laid under the Reopening Ontario Act in relation to large indoor gatherings. Charges were also laid in connection with a party on Mill Street on Nov. 14, and a party on Beaufort Street on Oct. 30. Both saw roughly 100 in attendance.

Two outbreaks have recently been declared at on-campus student residences at Western University. One, declared Thursday, involves Saugeen-Maitland Hall, which has seen at least 10 cases. The second, declared Saturday, involves Perth Hall and has been tied to three cases.

Hospitalizations

The number of people in hospital at London Health Sciences Centre who have tested positive for the virus now numbers 14, three more than the organization’s previous update Thursday.

In addition, staff cases at LHSC have also risen in that same period, up by four to 19.

The organization is continuing to deal with two ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks at University Hospital that were declared within a day of each other.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care, meantime, no infected patients were reported in its care, however the number of staff who have tested positive for the virus has risen by two to a total of seven since Nov. 4.

According to the health unit, 15.5 per cent of all cases reported during the pandemic, 229 cases, have involved health-care workers.

The health unit’s non-intensive care hospitalization tally also rose by two compared to the previous day, however it’s unclear if these are recent hospitalizations or past hospitalizations that are only now being reflected in the data.

Data showing daily hospital admissions for COVID-19 is not readily available and is not made public by the hospitals.

The Ministry of Health has figures that are submitted daily by the hospitals themselves, however they reflect the overall number of COVID-19 inpatients in the care of those hospitals on a given day, not how many people were admitted on a given day.

According to this data, the highest number of COVID-19 patients in the care of LHSC on any given day was 38 on April 26, or about 5.8 per cent of all inpatients that day.

The number of inpatients with COVID-19 in the care of LHSC hovered between 20 and 38 from early April until about mid-May.

Neither St. Joseph’s Health Care London nor Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital has seen more than four COVID-19 patients in their care at any given time. (This is reflected in the data as ‘<5’)

According to the health unit, 152 people have been admitted to the hospital since March, including 36 in intensive care.

Schools

The total number of school-linked cases in London and Middlesex stands at at least 43 after three new cases were recently reported by the London District Catholic School Board.

One new case was reported late Friday night at Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School, while two cases were reported, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, at Catholic Central High School.

It’s unclear whether the cases involve staff members or students.

They’re among at least seven cases linked to schools that are active as of Monday, according to the health unit and province.

Active cases also remain at Académie de la Tamise (one staff member), Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School (one student), Saunders Secondary School (one student) and Providence Reformed Collegiate (one case).

In the post-secondary setting, two outbreaks are active at Western University involving student residences.

One, declared Nov. 19, involves Saugeen-Maitland Hall and has been linked to at least 10 infections, according to the health unit.

The other, declared Nov. 21, involves Perth Hall and has been tied to at least three cases.

“We don’t have conclusive evidence about whether Perth and Saugeen were linked, and unfortunately we don’t have a source for either of those outbreaks,” said the region’s medical officer of health, Dr. Chris Mackie, on Monday.

Institutional outbreaks

Three active outbreaks remain in the region, according to the health unit.

The most recent outbreak was declared on Friday in Parkwood Institute’s Main Building (2 Perth), according to the health unit, which first reported the outbreak Saturday.

The two other outbreaks are located at University Hospital in the facility’s 4IP general medicine and 9IP orthopedics units, according to the health unit. The outbreaks were declared Nov. 10 and 11, respectively.

At least 23 cases have been linked to the outbreak in 4IP General Medicine, while six have been linked to the outbreak in 9IP orthopedics, according to Dr. Mackie.

The majority of cases involve hospital staff, he said.

LHSC reported Monday that 15 patients were in its care with COVID-19, while 19 staff members were currently positive.

Since March, the region has seen at least 49 institutional outbreaks in London and Middlesex, including 40 at local seniors’ facilities.

Seniors’ facility outbreaks alone have been tied to 112 resident cases, 111 staff cases and 39 deaths.

Meanwhile, although 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.

Aforementioned outbreaks are also active at Western University’s Perth and Saugeen-Maitland halls, linked to three and 10 cases, respectively.

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 numbers are the latest available from the health unit as of Monday.

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

Both of the city’s assessment centres, Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena are continuing to operate appointment-only. Appointment testing for certain asymptomatic people is also continuing at eight local pharmacies.

Carling Heights recorded a five-day average of 345 visits per day between Nov. 16 and 20, about the same as the week before.

Oakridge Arena’s average in that period was 304, down from 342 seen the previous workweek.

The cumulative incident rate for London and Middlesex stands at 291.0 per 100,000 people, compared to Ontario’s 699.1.

Ontario

Ontario reported a record 1,589 new cases of COVID-19 Monday and 19 new deaths due to the virus.

Elliott says 535 cases are in Peel Region, 336 cases are in Toronto and 205 cases are in York Region.

The province also reported 60 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 51 among students.

Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 676 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools.

In the province’s long-term care homes, 528 residents currently have COVID-19 and 11 new deaths have been reported today.

The province says 101 of its 626 long-term care homes are experiencing an outbreak.

The latest figures come as Toronto and Peel Region entered the lockdown stage of Ontario’s pandemic protection plan Monday. For at least the next 28 days, non-essential retailers can only offer curbside pickup, while restaurants are closed to all but takeout and delivery orders in the two COVID-19 hotspots.

Personal services have also been forced to close, but schools and child-care centres remain open.

Elgin and Oxford

Eleven people have tested positive for the coronavirus while nine have recovered, according to Southwestern Public Health (SWPH).

The update brings the region’s total case count to 496, of which 429 people have recovered and five have died. The most recent death was reported in early July.

The region has at least 62 known active cases as of Monday, with 22 located in Woodstock, 12 in Norwich and 10 in Aylmer.

Elsewhere, five cases each are in Ingersoll and St. Thomas, three are in Tilllsonburg, two are in Central Elgin and one each is in Bayham, Blandford-Blenheim and Zorra.

The region has reported at least 171 cases since Nov. 1. Three people were in hospital as of Thursday, the most recent update.

As of this week, the region is in the orange-restrict tier of the province’s colour-coded restrictions framework. More information on what a move to orange-restrict brings can be found on the province’s website.

“It is expected this stage will remain in effect for at least 28 days unless local risks increase and further restrictions are required,” the health unit said in a statement.

No new cases have been reported at local schools.

Overall, at least 10 cases have been reported at schools in the region.

Three student cases remain active at Assumption Catholic Elementary School in Aylmer, while one student case remains active at Northdale Public School in Woodstock as of Monday.

Two student cases had previously been active at Northdale but have since resolved.

Elsewhere, since-resolved cases have been reported at St. Thomas Community Christian School, Mitchell Hepburn Public School (one student) and South Ridge Public School (one student).

Two outbreaks remain active in the region, declared Nov. 12 at Bethany Care Home in Norwich (three resident cases and one staff case) and Nov. 16 in the Arches Transitional Bed Program (one staff case).

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

By location, 109 cases have been reported in Aylmer, which has an incident rate of 1,454.9 cases per 100,000 people.

Ninety-seven cases have been in Woodstock, 77 in Bayham, 58 in St. Thomas, 39 in Tillsonburg and 38 in Norwich.

Elsewhere, 17 cases have been in Ingersoll, 12 in East Zorra-Tavistock and 10 each in Blandford-Blenheim and Dutton/Dunwich. Six other locations have case counts under 10.

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

Two more residents of Stratford’s Cedarcroft Place have died, while 15 other Huron-Perth residents have tested positive and 20 recovered, Huron Perth Public Health reported Monday.

The update is the health unit’s first since Friday. It brings the region’s total case count to 278, of which 222 people have recovered and 16 have died. At least 40 cases remain active in the region.

Of the new cases, six are from North Perth, four are from Perth East, three are from Stratford and two are from Howick in Huron County.

As of this week, the region is in the orange-restrict tier of the province’s colour-coded restrictions framework. More information on what a move to orange-restrict brings can be found on the province’s website.

The two new deaths at Cedarcroft Place bring the total number of resident deaths at the facility to 11.

The retirement home has been slammed by an outbreak of the virus that was declared on Oct. 27, infecting half of its resident population and one-third of its staff.

As of Monday, 13 of the 43 resident cases and one of the 19 staff cases remained active, the health unit said.

None of the cases reported Monday were tied to the facility.

The outbreak is the only active institutional outbreak in the region.

At least 12 outbreaks have been declared at 10 facilities in the province since March. They’re linked to at least 89 cases and at least 12 deaths — including the 11 at Cedarcroft and four at Greenwood Court in the spring.

No new school cases were reported.

At least five remain active as of Monday. Two cases are active at St. Ambrose Catholic Elementary School and St. Michael Catholic Secondary School, both in Stratford, both involving students.

Two student cases also remain active at Milverton Public School in Perth East, while 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.

Stratford has seen 117 cases reported since March, while Perth County has seen 95 and Huron County 58.

St. Marys has seen eight cases and one death.

Some 54,162 tests had been conducted by the health unit as of Nov. 8, the most recent figures available. The test per cent positivity rate that week was 1.5 per cent. Just over 2,300 people were tested.

Sarnia and Lambton

One person has recovered from the coronavirus, Lambton Public Health reported on Monday.

The region’s total case tally remains at 401, of which now 359 people have recovered. Twenty-five people have died, most recently in early June.

The update leaves 17 active cases in the county, according to the health unit.

As of this week, the region remains in the least restrictive green-prevent tier of the province’s restrictions framework.

At least one person remains in hospital at Bluewater Health, according to the organization. Their condition is not known. Three people have been admitted since the end of October, and 61 since March, according to the health unit.

At least three school cases remain active, all located at St. Patrick’s Catholic High School in Sarnia.

According to the St. Clair Catholic District School Board, all three cases are related to contacts outside of the school. There was no evidence of viral transmission in the school, according to a letter sent home to parents Friday.

At least eight school cases have been reported since Sept. 1.

They include a student case at Riverview Central School in Port Lambton, two student cases at Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School in Sarnia, one student case at Bright’s Grove Public School in Sarni, and one student case at Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna.

No new outbreaks have been reported in the region and none are active. A total of 13 have been declared since the pandemic began, linked to 115 cases and 16 deaths. Ten outbreaks have involved seniors’ facilities, two have involved workplaces and one has been at Bluewater Health.

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