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The London and Middlesex region has recorded 53 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported, making December the worst month for cases so far during the pandemic.

December has already seen at least 526 cases reported in London and Middlesex, more cases than were reported in every other month of the pandemic.

And there’s still half a month left to go.

As of Tuesday, the region’s total case tally stands at 2,174, of which 1,776 people have recovered — 33 more than Monday.

At least 80 deaths have been reported, most recently on Sunday involving a woman in her 60s whose death was linked to outbreaks at University Hospital. At least 12 of the 14 deaths reported this month have been tied to the hospital.

There are at least 318 active cases — the most there have been at any time during the pandemic.

Tuesday’s case jump marks the third time this month that the region has recorded more than 50 cases in a single day. It ties with the record of 53 new cases set on Monday, which broke the previous record of 52 set on Thursday of last week.

Of the 53 new cases, 50 are from London, while three are from Middlesex Centre.

Those infected fall into nearly every age bracket tracked by the health unit, with people under 30 making up roughly half of all cases.

Ten are aged 19 or younger, 17 are in their 20s, seven are in their 30s, nine are in their 40s, three are in their 50s, four are in their 60s and three are 80 or older.

Nineteen cases have outbreak listed as their exposure source, while 18 people are listed as having contracted the virus through close contact. Nine have no known link, five are pending or undetermined, and two are due to travel, health unit figures show.

It’s not clear how many, if any, are the result of outbreaks at University Hospital. Some cases may not be officially linked to the hospital until days later.

As of this week, the region is in the red-control tier of the province’s COVID-19 Response Framework.

Full details on what comes with a move to red-control can be found in the framework document.

Hospitalizations

The number of COVID-19 inpatients at London Health Sciences Centre stands at 36 as of Tuesday, the organization said.

In comparison, the tally stood at 39 as of Friday.

LHSC says fewer than five people are in critical or intensive care.

Meanwhile, current staff infections number 47, down from 51 on Friday.

Most of those infections are likely linked to ongoing outbreaks at University Hospital.

No COVID-19 inpatients were reported at any facility operated by St. Joseph’s Health Care London.

The organization last issued an update on Dec. 6, saying updates would be posted if numbers changed. At least one staff case is still active, it says.

According to the MLHU, at least 228 people have been admitted to the hospital due to the coronavirus during the pandemic, including at least 43 who have needed intensive care.

Institutional outbreaks

A new outbreak has been declared at Victoria Hospital in London.

On Tuesday, the LHSC declared the outbreak in the C5-100 ENT/Burns/Plastics unit.

Meanwhile, several other outbreaks remain active, largely at University Hospital.

One new death has been reported as a result of the outbreaks, bringing the total to 16. The death wasn’t reported by the health unit on Tuesday, and will likely be posted to the health unit’s dashboard tomorrow.

In all, the organization says at least 77 patients and 82 staff cases — 159 in total — have been reported as a result of the hospital outbreaks.

According to London Health Sciences Centre, outbreaks remain active in at least eight areas of the hospital as of Tuesday:

• Nov. 10 in 4IP General Medicine. (This outbreak later spread to 6IP Acute/Decant Medicine, 9IP Sub-Acute Medicine, and 10IP Palliative Care/Sub-Acute Medicine, resulting in outbreaks being declared in those units on Nov. 24. It also spread to 4TU Multi-Organ Transplant Unit, which declared an outbreak on Nov. 27.)
• Dec. 5 in 5IP Cardiology and the sixth-floor cardiology offices.
• Dec. 9 in 8IP General Surgery.
• Dec. 11 in the 10th Floor Epilepsy Monitoring Unit.

In addition, LHSC says an outbreak declared Nov. 27 in 6IP Cardiovascular Surgery — which came as a result of the expansive Nov. 10 outbreak — was deemed resolved as of Friday.

It’s unclear how many cases and deaths are linked to each impacted unit.

Non-urgent and non-emergent surgeries remain postponed at the hospital, while ambulatory or outpatient activity remains reduced to only urgent matters.

LHSC has also instituted several other measures in a bid to curb the outbreaks, which its chief medical officer said Monday may be rounding the corner.

Previously, the hospital experienced a smaller outbreak in 9IP Orthopedics. That outbreak, declared Nov. 11, was tied to six cases and was later declared over.

Elsewhere, outbreaks also remain active at two other seniors’ facilities — Country Terrace (Woodcrest area) and McCormick Home (Evergreen Walk area).

Since March, the region has seen at least 61 institutional outbreaks in London and Middlesex, including at least 43 at local seniors’ facilities.

Seniors’ facility outbreaks alone have been tied to 122 resident cases, 117 staff cases and 40 deaths.

Schools

Several new school cases were reported Monday in the region.

They include one case each at Kensal Park French Immersion Public School, Masonville Public School, Rick Hansen Public School, Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School and Westminster Secondary School, according to the Thames Valley District School Board.

According to the health unit, at least 35 school cases were active in the region at 20 schools as of Tuesday. A full list can be found on the health unit’s website.

In addition, outbreak declarations remain in place at six schools: Ashley Oaks Public School, Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School, Sir Arthur Currie Public School, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School and Westminster Secondary School.

Meantime, in the post-secondary setting, two student residence outbreaks declared nearly a month ago at Western University remain active, according to the health unit.

The outbreaks are located at Perth Hall and Saugeen-Maitland Hall and were declared active on Nov. 21 and Nov. 19, respectively.

Testing

At least 10,010 people were tested for the coronavirus during the week of Nov. 29. The figures are the most recent available and were made public last week.

The tally was a notable increase from the 8,408 reported the week prior.

The region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 2.1 per cent as of the week of Nov. 28, up from 1.7 per cent the week before.

The city’s two dedicated assessment centres, Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, continue to operate normally, both by appointment only.

Carling Heights reported an average of 445 visits between Dec. 7 and 11, up from 428 the workweek prior.

At Oakridge Arena, an average of 329 visits were reported from Dec. 7 to 11, up from 319 visits from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.

Appointment testing for certain asymptomatic people is also continuing at eight local pharmacies.

Ontario

Ontario is reporting a new single-day record of 2,275 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and 20 new deaths.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 711 cases were in Toronto, 586 in Peel Region, 185 in Windsor-Essex and 154 in York Region.

In the province’s long-term care homes, 695 residents currently have COVID-19 and one new death has been reported.

The province says 134 of its 626 long-term care homes are experiencing an outbreak.

It also reported 319 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 270 among students.

Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 913 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools.

— With files from The Canadian Press

Elgin and Oxford

One person has died, 15 others have tested positive for the coronavirus and another 28 have recovered, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Tuesday.

The update brings the region’s total case tally to 781, of which 643 people have recovered and 10 have died.

Health officials say the death involved a man in his 70s from Elgin County.

The update comes a day after the region set a new single-day case jump record of 31, surpassing the previous record of 30 set on Dec. 11.

Elgin and Oxford remains in the orange-restrict tier of the province’s restrictions framework.

At least 14 school cases remain active in Elgin and Oxford:

• Four cases at East Elgin Secondary School in Aylmer.
• Two cases at Elgin Court Public School in St. Thomas.
• One case at Davenport Public School in Aylmer.
• One case at Huron Park Secondary School in Woodstock.
• One case at New Sarum Public School in St. Thomas.
• One case at Parkside Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas.
• One case at South Ridge Public School in Tillsonburg.
• One case at St. Mary’s Catholic High School in Woodstock.
• One case at Summers’ Corners Public School in Aylmer.
• One case at Westfield Public School in Tillsonburg.

The region has seen at least 33 school cases reported since the start of September.

At least 156 cases have been reported in Aylmer. The town’s incidence rate is 2,082 cases per 100,000 people.

Woodstock, which has seen the second-largest number of cases overall, 153, has an incidence rate of 374 per 100,000.

Elsewhere, 107 cases have been reported in St. Thomas, 97 in Bayham, 68 in Norwich, 62 in Tillsonburg, 37 in Ingersoll, 22 in Blandford-Blenheim, 19 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 15 in Zorra, 12 in South-West Oxford, 11 in Dutton/Dunwich and 10 in Central Elgin.

Three other municipalities have recorded case totals under 10.

The region had a test per cent positivity rate of 1.8 per cent as of the week of Nov. 29, up from 1.3 the week before.

Huron and Perth

Eleven people have tested positive for the coronavirus, while another 10 have recovered, Huron Perth Public Health reported.

The region’s total case count now stands at 470, of which 395 people have recovered and 20 have died, most recently on Thursday involving a resident of Cedarcroft Place, a retirement home in Stratford.

At least 55 cases remain active in the region. At least four are currently hospitalized out of a total 23 during the pandemic.

Of the 11 cases reported Tuesday, five are from North Huron, two are from North Perth, and one each is from Bluewater, Howick, Perth East and Stratford.

As of this week, the region remains in the orange-restrict tier of the province’s COVID-19 framework.

One recent school case was reported by the Avon-Maitland District School Board, located at F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham.

At least 12 school cases remain active in the region, two with outbreak declarations:

• Six cases at St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School involving five students and one staff member. An outbreak declaration remains active at the school as of Friday.
• Two cases at Listowel District Secondary School.
• Two cases at F. E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham.
• One case at North Perth Westfield Elementary School.
• One case at Northside Christian School involving a staff member. An outbreak declaration remained active as of Friday and the school remains closed as a result.

One case also remains active involving a staff member of the Avon-Maitland District School Board, according to the province.

Including that case, at least 27 school cases have been reported since Sept. 1.

There has been no change to the state of institutional outbreaks in the region, according to the health unit.

Two outbreaks remain active, located at Cedarcroft Place in Stratford and Stratford General Hospital.

At Cedarcroft Place, 50 resident cases and 24 staff cases have been reported, with 12 resident deaths.

No new cases have been reported in at least a week, and the health unit said Monday that no resident cases were active. One staff case is still active.

At Stratford General Hospital, an outbreak remains active in its medicine unit, declared Dec. 3. At least seven staff members have tested positive as a result, a tally unchanged for nearly a week.

The health unit said the outbreak appears to be under control.

At least 198 cases have been in Perth County — with at least 90 in North Perth and 87 in Perth East — while 166 cases and at least 16 deaths have been in Stratford.

Elsewhere, 98 cases have been in Huron County, while eight cases and at least one death have been in St. Marys.

Locations for the region’s three other reported deaths were not immediately available.

As of the week of Nov. 29, the region’s test per cent positivity rate was 1.6 per cent.

Sarnia and Lambton

Four people have tested positive for the coronavirus, while another three have recovered, Lambton Public Health reported Tuesday.

The update brings the region’s total case tally to 456, of which 405 people have recovered. Twenty-six deaths have been reported, most recently on Thursday of last week.

There are at least 25 active cases. Bluewater Health says at least three COVID-19 patients were in its care as of Monday.

The region remains in the yellow-protect tier of the province’s restrictions framework.

According to the local school boards, no cases are currently active at schools.

At least 11 school cases have been reported in the county.

Meantime, two workplace outbreaks remain active in the region, the health unit says.

Details about the workplaces, including their locations, are not being released by the health unit, which says at least two cases are tied to one declared Dec. 3, and four to one declared Dec. 11.

A total of 15 outbreaks have been declared since March — 10 at seniors’ facilities, four at workplaces and one at Bluewater Health — linked to 121 cases and 16 deaths.

As of the week of Nov. 29, the region had a weekly test per cent positivity rate of 0.64 per cent. About 2,624 people were tested that week.