Jump to: Hospitalizations – Schools – Outbreaks – Testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton
For the second day in a row, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 19 new coronavirus cases in the region on Sunday.
There are now a total of 1,583 COVID-19 cases and 1,368 recoveries after 15 new recoveries were reported. The death toll remains unchanged at 66.
Of Sunday’s 19 new cases, the MLHU says two are linked to an outbreak at University Hospital.
At least 149 cases remain active in the region.
At least 437 cases have been reported since the start of November, more than any other month since the pandemic began. The region is currently in the yellow-protect tier of the province’s restrictions framework.
One of Sunday’s new cases is from Strathroy-Caradoc and 18 are from London, according to MLHU data.
Two are aged 19 or younger, two are in their 20s, two are in their 30s, five are in their 40s, two are in their 50s, one is in their 60s, one is in their 70s and four are in their 80s.
According to the health unit, 1,462 cases have been reported in London since the pandemic began, while 37 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 35 in Middlesex Centre and 29 in Thames Centre. Lucan Biddulph has seen nine, North Middlesex eight, Southwest Middlesex two and Newbury one.
Hospitalizations
The number of inpatients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 at LHSC stands at 26 as of Friday.
At the same time, LHSC says the number of its staff who are currently positive with the virus stands at 28 as of Friday.
The increase in staff cases comes as LHSC continues to grapple with what the health unit considers to be several active outbreaks at University Hospital that have infected at least 68 people in total — two have died.
The largest number of concurrent inpatients with COVID-19 to be recorded at LHSC was 38 on April 26, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
According to St. Joseph’s Health Care London, three of its staff members have the virus.
As of Nov. 18, 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.”)
The number of people ever hospitalized in London and Middlesex stands at 176 as of Sunday. Of those, 39 needed intensive care.
Schools
A new case has been reported at John Paul II Catholic Secondary School.
At least 46 cases have been reported at local schools since the start of the school year.
Seven other cases remain active, located at Saunders Secondary School (one student), Providence Reformed Collegiate (one case), Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School (one student) Catholic Central High School (two students), Lord Dorchester Secondary School (one student) and St. Marguerite d’Youville School (one case).
- 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; at West Nissouri Public School involving one student; and at A.B. Lucas Secondary School involving one staff member.
- Oct. 31 at Eagle Heights Public School involving one staff member.
- Nov. 2 at Northbrae Public School involving one student.
- Nov. 3 at Wilton Grove Public School in its before/after school program.
- Nov. 4 at Lambeth Public School involving two students.
- Nov 5-8 at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School involving four students.
- Nov. 7 at Westminster Secondary School involving one student.
- Nov. 7 at St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School involving one student.
- Nov. 8 at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School involving one student, and at Oakridge Secondary School involving two students.
- Nov. 9 at Arthur Ford Public School in its before/after school program involving one staff member.
- Nov. 10 at Catholic Central High School involving a student, and at Eagle Heights Public School involving a student.
- Nov. 12 at Eagle Heights Public School involving a student, and at Westminster Secondary School involving a student.
- Nov. 13 at Sir Wilfred Laurier Secondary School involving one case.
- Nov. 14 at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School involving one student.
Meanwhile, two post-secondary outbreaks remain active as of Friday, the health unit says.
An outbreak, declared Nov. 19 at Saugeen-Maitland Hall, has been linked to at least nine infections, while an outbreak declared Nov. 21 at Perth Hall has been tied to three cases.
Previously, an outbreak at London Hall was tied to six cases.
Institutional outbreaks
No new institutional outbreaks have been declared, according to the health unit, however, an outbreak declared Nov. 10 at University Hospital has now spread to two additional units.
The outbreak, which originated in 4IP General Medicine, was later expanded to encompass 6IP Acute/Decant Medicine, 9IP Sub-Acute Medicine and 10IP Palliative Care/Sub-Acute Medicine.
As of Friday, the outbreak now also impacts 4TU Multi-Organ Transplant Unit and 6IP Cardiovascular Surgery, for a total of six impacted units.
University Hospital was also the scene of a separate outbreak, declared Nov. 11 in 9IP Orthopedics, that has since been declared over. That outbreak was linked to six cases.
In total, the University Hospital outbreaks have been tied to 68 cases and two deaths, and have impacted seven units.
Since March, the region has seen at least 54 institutional outbreaks in London and Middlesex, including at least 40 at local seniors’ facilities. Seniors’ facility outbreaks alone have been tied to 112 resident cases, 111 staff cases and 39 deaths.
Testing
No new testing figures have been released.
The most recent, from the week of Nov. 15, found that 7,427 people were tested, up 730 from the week before.
The test per cent positivity rate for that week was 1.4 per cent, up from 1.2 the week prior.
Both of the city’s assessment centres, Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, are continuing to operate by appointment only. Appointment testing for certain asymptomatic people is also continuing at eight local pharmacies.
Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena have recorded steady visitation recently.
This week, Carling Heights has seen between 335 and 405 visits per day, while Oakridge Arena has seen between 301 and 332.
Previously, 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.
Ontario
Ontario reported 1,708 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 114,746.
It marks the third-largest single-day increase in cases to date in Ontario, behind Friday’s total of 1,855 and Saturday’s 1,822.
Twenty-four more deaths were also announced, bringing the provincial death toll to 3,648.
Meanwhile, 97,319 cases are considered resolved, which is 84.8 per cent of all confirmed cases.
Nearly 54,000 additional tests were completed. Ontario has now completed a total of 6,235,510 tests, while 38,724 remain under investigation.
Elgin and Oxford
Southwestern Public Health reported 12 new COVID-19 cases along with four more recoveries on Sunday.
The update brings the region’s total case count to 549, of which 478 people have recovered and six have died. The most recent death involved a man in his 70s who had been hospitalized, according to the health unit. It was reported Wednesday.
Saturday’s update leaves at least 65 active cases in the region. Of those, 51 are in Oxford County while 14 are in Elgin County.
Twenty-nine cases are in Woodstock alone, while Ingersoll has eight active cases and St. Thomas seven. Ten other municipalities have active case counts under five.
SWPH is currently in the orange-restrict tier of the province’s colour-coded restrictions framework.
The most recent school case was reported late Wednesday at Forest Park Public School in St. Thomas involving one student.
At least 12 cases have been reported at schools in the region since March.
In addition to the Forest Park case, at least four other cases remain active as of Friday at Laurie Hawkins Public School in Ingersoll (one staff case), Assumption Catholic Secondary school in Aylmer (two student cases) and Northdale Public School in Woodstock (one student case).
Since-resolved student cases have been reported at St. Thomas Community Christian School, Mitchell Hepburn Public School (one student), South Ridge Public School (one student), Straffordville Public School (one student), Assumption Catholic Secondary (one student) and Northdale Public School (two students).
One institutional outbreak remains active in the region as of Sunday. It was reported on Nov. 24 at Woodingford Lodge in Woodstock and involves one staff case.
At least 10 outbreaks have been declared since March at nine facilities, linked to at least 20 cases, of which four have involved residents.
Woodstock has seen the largest number of cases during the pandemic, 121, followed closely behind by Aylmer with 110.
Due to their population differences, however, Aylmer’s incident rate is equivalent to 1,454.9 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 264 per 100,000 in Woodstock.
Elsewhere, Bayham has seen 78 cases, St. Thomas 63, Tillsonburg 43, Norwich Township 41, Ingersoll 23, East Zorra-Tavistock 13, Blandford-Blenheim 12 and Dutton/Dunwhich 11. Six other municipalities have case tallies below 10.
As of the week of Nov. 15, the most recent figures available, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.1 per cent, down from 2.0 the week before. At least 3,882 people were tested for the virus that week.
Huron and Perth
Huron Perth Public Health’s COVID-19 numbers remained the same on Sunday.
The region’s total case count stands at 318, of which 257 people have recovered and 17 have died.
Three outbreaks remain active. One is at Spruce Lodge Long Term Care Home in Stratford and involves one staff member. Another other is at Knollcrest Lodge in Perth East and also involves one staff member.
The third outbreak is in Stratford at Cedarcroft Place. The outbreak, declared Oct. 27, is linked to 45 resident cases and 22 staff cases — or about one-half of all residents and one-third of all staff.
Of those, 11 residents have died, 31 have recovered and two were still infected as of Thursday. For staff cases, two remain active, while all others have recovered.
Health officials say at least 22 residents from the home remained in area hospitals as of Thursday. The residents were temporarily transferred to get a hold of the outbreak and help staffing levels.
At least 13 outbreaks have been declared at 11 facilities in the region since March. They’re linked to at least 96 cases and at least 12 deaths — including the 11 at Cedarcroft and four at Greenwood Court in the spring.
At least 11 cases related to schools have been reported, including one presumptive, since the start of the school year.
Multiple cases were reported on Thursday, including at least one staff case at Northside Christian School, a small private religious school in Listowel. The case prompted an outbreak declaration, which has resulted in the school’s closure.
The health unit says it considers an outbreak to be when there are two or more cases within a 14-day period, where at least one could have contracted the virus at the school.
Since-resolved school cases have been reported at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School (one student), Milverton Public School (two students) and Shakespeare Public School (one student).
Sarnia and Lambton
No changes were reported by Lambton Public Health on Sunday.
There are a total of 407 cases, 368 have resolved while 25 people have died. The most recent death was reported in early June.
The region will shift from green-prevent to yellow-protect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, according to Lambton Public Health.
Local health officials say the move will generally mean more restrictions for bars, sports and recreational facilities, retail spaces, malls, and other businesses.
It also includes the potential for enhanced targeted enforcement, fines, and enhanced education, officials said.
Full details on what will come with a move to yellow-protect can be found on the province’s website.
As of Sunday, 14 cases are known to be active in the county.
The Health Unit has not updated its detailed report on case numbers since Friday, so all of the information below is from then.
Two people were in hospital, according to Bluewater Health, and a total of 62 people in the county had been admitted to hospital.
At least three school cases remained active at St. Patrick’s Catholic High School in Sarnia, according to the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
All three cases involve students, according to the province. They are currently the only active school cases in Lambton.
Since-resolved cases include two student cases at Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School in Sarnia, and one student case each at Bright’s Grove Public School in Sarnia, Colonel Cameron Public School in Corunna and Riverview Central School in Port Lambton.
No outbreaks were active, but a total of 13 have been declared since March, linked to 115 cases and 16 deaths. Two outbreaks earlier in the pandemic, located at Landmark Village and Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia, are linked to a vast majority of those cases, and all 16 deaths.
The health unit says 10 of the region’s 13 outbreaks have involved seniors’ facilities, while two have involved workplaces and one has been at Bluewater Health.
At least 56,140 people had been tested in the county as of Nov. 21, the most recent figures available. About 2,600 people were tested from Nov. 15 to Nov. 21, with a weekly per cent positivity rate of 0.56 per cent.
–With files from Matthew Trevithick, Ryan Rocca and Sawyer Bogdan of Global News, and Colin Perkel of The Canadian Press
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