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

The London and Middlesex region is kicking off 2021 with 157 new coronavirus cases reported over a two-day span.

This includes 70 COVID-19 cases on Friday and 87 cases on Saturday, according to the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU).

Additionally, the region also reported two deaths and 178 recoveries since Thursday.

One of the deaths involves a man in his 90s and is not associated with a long-term care or retirement home.

The first update of 2021 brings the region’s total COVID-19 case count to 3,471 with 2,696 recoveries, 104 deaths and 671 active cases.

The region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 3.3 per cent as of the week of Dec. 20, about the same as the week before and up from 2.4 two weeks earlier.

An outbreak remains active at Maple Ridge on the Parc, where at least 46 cases have been confirmed recently.

It’s unclear if any of Friday or Saturday’s cases are linked to the building, located at 112 and 114 Arbor Glen Cres.

The region’s seven-day average stood at 80.28 as of Thursday. The 14-day average was 75.78.

Hospitalizations

There were 39 COVID-19 inpatients in the care of London Health Sciences Centre on Thursday, which is its latest update.

The organization said 10 patients were in critical or intensive care.

Active staff cases stood at 20, according to LHSC.

No COVID-19 inpatients were reported in the care of St. Joseph’s Hospital. However, St. Joseph’s Health Care London said cases are active at its other facilities.

Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care has seen at least 23 patient/resident cases due to ongoing outbreaks.

One case is also active at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care, not linked to an outbreak.

At the same time, the number of staff cases within St. Joseph’s Health Care London has increased.

The organization says there are 15 outbreak-related staff cases — five more than Thursday — and four non-outbreak staff cases — one more than Thursday.

The health unit says at least 281 people have been hospitalized due to COVID-19, with at least 54 needing intensive care.

Institutional outbreaks

One new outbreak at Victoria Hospital has been declared.

Officials with London Health Sciences Centre say the outbreak impacts D7-200 – Medicine and was declared Friday.

An outbreak remains active in D5-300 Medicine.

Both outbreaks are tied to fewer than five patient cases and fewer than five staff cases. No deaths had been reported.

Elsewhere within LHSC, all outbreaks at University Hospital were declared over earlier this week. As many as 13 individual outbreaks had been declared at the hospital since Nov. 10, with at least five linked to the outbreak in 4IP General Medicine.

Overall, the UH outbreaks were associated with at least 174 cases — 92 involving staff and 82 involving patients — and 23 deaths.

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In addition to the new outbreak at Victoria Hospital, at least 11 other institutional outbreaks are active at seniors’ facilities in the region:

• Country Terrace (Woodcrest)
• Dearness Home (Facility)
• McGarrell Place (Facility)
• Westmount Gardens (Apple Blossom)
• Peoplecare Oak Crossing (Juniper, Sugar Maple, White Pine, Norway Spruce)
• Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term care (SM1, SM2, SM3, MV4)
• Glendale Crossing (Westminster, Byron, Pondmills)
• Middlesex Terrace (Facility)
• Oakcrossing Retirement Living (second floor)
• Extendicare (third floor)
• Earls Court Village (third floor).

Since March, the region has seen at least 76 institutional outbreaks in London and Middlesex, including at least 54 at local seniors’ facilities.

The health unit says seniors’ home outbreaks alone have been tied to 177 staff cases, 174 resident cases and at least 49 deaths.

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Schools

As of Saturday, Lord Dorchester Secondary School, Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School and Westminster Secondary School each had one active case of COVID-19, according to MLHU data.

Outbreaks remain active at Covenant Christian School, École élémentaire catholique Monseigneur-Bruyère and A B Lucas Secondary School.

One case also remains active at the Wilfrid Jury Childcare Centre – Whitehills Childcare Association.

In all, health officials say 167 cases have been reported at local schools this school year.

Vaccinations and testing

Local administration of the coronavirus vaccine began on Dec. 23 at the Western Fair District Agriplex.

According to LHSC officials, who are collaborating with the Middlesex-London Health Unit, Huron Perth Public Health and Southwestern Public Health, some four to five dozen hospital and health unit staff members are at the scene operating the clinic on a daily basis.

According to Dr. Adam Dukelow, chief medical officer with LHSC, it’s anticipated that vaccinations will continue through the weekend at a rate of approximately 420 per day, increasing to 500 per day as of Monday.

“The biggest limitation on how many get vaccinated in the coming weeks will be the amount of vaccine we receive,” he said on Tuesday.

Those receiving the vaccine are primary health-care workers from long-term care homes and some LHSC members who have worked in outbreak units.

The city’s two COVID-19 assessment centres are continuing to operate by appointment only.

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

The region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 3.3 per cent as of the week of Dec. 20, about the same as the week before and up from 2.4 two weeks earlier.

Ontario

Ontario has reported a total of 5,839 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the past two days, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the province to 187,998.

The province published two days’ worth of coronavirus data on Saturday morning. No numbers were released on New Year’s Day.

There were 2,476 new cases reported on Friday and 3,363 new cases on Saturday. Saturday’s total marks the largest single-day increase in cases since the pandemic began.

Ninety-five additional deaths have been reported over the past two days — 51 on Friday and 44 on Saturday — raising the provincial death toll to 4,625.

A total of 160,526 cases are considered resolved, which is 85.4 per cent of all confirmed cases.

Nearly 70,600 additional tests were completed for Friday’s report and more than 61,400 were done for Saturday. The province indicated that the positivity rate was 5.3 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

Elgin and Oxford

One new death, 93 new cases and 40 recoveries were reported over the span of Friday and Saturday by officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH).

The update brings the region’s overall case tally to 1,379, of which 1,018 people have recovered and 14 have died.

The region has recorded at least 816 cases since Dec. 1.

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The health unit says the most recent test per cent positivity rate seen in the region of 3.5 per cent is above the critical 3.0 per cent threshold that determines whether an area is at risk of being overwhelmed by cases.

As of Saturday, 347 cases are active in the region, with at least 89 in Tillsonburg, 66 in St. Thomas, 49 in Aylmer, 40 in Woodstock and 34 in East Zorra-Tavistock.

At least nine school cases had active cases as of last Thursday:

• Davenport Public School
• East Elgin Secondary School
• Eva Circe Cote French Immersion Public School
• Glendale High School
• John Wise Public School
• June Rose Callwood Public School
• Kettle Creek Public School
• Locke’s Public School
• Mitchell Hepburn Public School

Meantime, no new institutional outbreaks have been declared in the region.

Outbreaks remain active at PeopleCare Tavistock, where 32 resident cases and 21 staff cases have been reported, and at Maple Manor Nursing Home, where 42 resident cases, 27 staff cases and one death have been reported.

Elsewhere, outbreaks are also active at Elgin Manor (two resident cases), Seasons Retirement Home (two staff cases), Bethany Care Home in Norwich (three staff cases), Terrace Lodge (five staff cases) and Chartwell Aylmer (three staff cases).

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At least 19 outbreaks have been declared in the region at 14 separate facilities.

Aylmer remains the hardest-hit area in its jurisdiction, both by overall cases and by cases per 100,000 people.

At least 259 cases have been reported in the town, resulting in an incidence rate of 3,457 per 100,000 people, higher than the incidence rate for all of Peel Region in the GTA.

St. Thomas, which has seen 225 cases, has an incidence rate of 578.3 per 100,000 people, while Woodstock, with 219 cases, has an incidence rate of 535.4.

Elsewhere, Tillsonburg has seen 175 cases, while Bayham has reported 126, Norwich 108, East Zorra-Tavistock 63, Ingersoll 52, Blandford-Blenheim 42, Zorra 26, Central Elgin 21, South-West Oxford 19, Southwold 12, West Elgin 12, Dutton/Dunwich 11 and Malahide six.

The region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 3.5 per cent as of the week of Dec. 20, up from 3.3 the week before and 2.5 the week before that.

Huron and Perth

Huron Perth Public Health reported 29 new COVID-19 cases and 23 recoveries over the span of Friday and Saturday.

The region’s overall case tally now stands at 705, of which 595 people have recovered and 22 have died.

The most recent death was reported on Wednesday and involved a resident from Exeter Villa Long-Term Care Home who had previously tested positive for COVID-19, officials with the facility said. An outbreak declaration remains active at the home.

As of Saturday, at least 88 cases remain active in the region as a whole, with the largest number, 26, located in North Perth. Elsewhere, 17 cases are active in South Huron and 22 in Stratford.

At least four active cases are in hospital. At least 13 of the region’s active cases involve health-care workers.

At least 300 cases and four deaths have been reported since Dec. 1.

No new institutional outbreaks have been reported, but an outbreak at Exeter Villa continues to worsen, according to health unit figures.

The number of resident cases in the facility’s long-term care home has risen by two to 16. The number of staff cases remains at six. At least one resident has since died, reported on Wednesday.

At least six institutional outbreaks are currently active, including three at long-term care homes and three at retirement homes.

Outbreaks are active at the following long-term care and retirement homes:

• Braemar Retirement Centre in North Huron (Dec. 26 – one staff case)
• Caressant Care in North Perth (Dec. 25 – one staff case)
• Exeter Villa Retirement Home in South Huron (Dec. 21 – one resident case)
• Exeter Villa Long-Term Care in South Huron (Dec. 18 – 14 resident cases and six staff cases)
• Hillside Manor (Dec. 22 – one staff case)
• Cedarcroft Place in Stratford (Oct. 27 – 50 residents and 24 staff, 12 deaths). According to the health unit, no cases are currently active at Cedarcroft Place.

An outbreak at Listowel Memorial Hospital involving five patient and nine staff cases has been resolved.

No new school cases were reported by either the Avon-Maitland District School Board or the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

At least seven school cases were active as of Thursday, located at:

• F.E. Madill Secondary School
• Listowel District Secondary School
• North Perth Westfield Elementary School (two cases)
• Stratford District Secondary School (two cases)
• Upper Thames Elementary School.

At least 316 cases have been reported in Perth County — with at least 169 in North Perth and 111 in Perth East — while 200 cases have been in Stratford.

Elsewhere, 177 cases have been in Huron County, while 12 cases have been in St. Marys.

As of the week of Dec. 20, the region’s test per cent positivity rate was 2.3 per cent. At least 3,464 people were tested that week.

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Sarnia and Lambton

Over the span of Friday and Saturday, Lambton Public Health reported 120 new COVID-19 cases along with 28 recoveries.

The update brings the region’s total case tally to 875, of which 598 people have recovered and 28 have died. The most recent death was reported on Dec. 19.

As of Saturday, 249 cases were active in the region. It’s unclear where the cases are located as such information is not released by the health unit.

The region has reported at least 463 cases and three deaths since Dec. 1, according to health unit figures.

The following information was last updated on Dec. 30.

A total of 15 outbreaks remained active; two at senior homes, two at schools and 11 at workplaces.

At seniors’ facilities, Trillium Villa declared an outbreak on Dec. 19 and has reported two staff cases, while Vision Nursing Home declared an outbreak on Dec. 27, linked to one resident case.

The outbreak at Vision is the second to be seen at the facility during the pandemic. A deadly outbreak there from April 23 to June 18 resulted in 26 patient cases, 10 resident deaths and 28 staff cases.

Meanwhile, outbreaks are active at two Sarnia schools: Confederation Central School (declared Dec. 29) and Great Lakes Secondary School (declared Dec. 26). The outbreaks are tied to two cases each.

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It’s unclear if any other new school cases have been reported or resolved as both the Lambton Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board have paused public reporting of cases until after the holidays.

The region’s test per cent positivity rate was 3.30 the week of Dec. 20, a notable increase from the 0.86 per cent reported for the week of Dec. 6.

The health unit says 3,142 people were tested from Dec. 20 to 26.

— With files from Global News’ Matthew Trevithick and Ryan Rocca, and The Canadian Press