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

Five people have died and another 79 have tested positive for the coronavirus, health officials said Tuesday, as January’s ongoing case tally surpassed 1,100, and as the province declared a second state of emergency and issued a new stay-at-home order.

The update from the Middlesex-London Health Unit brings the region’s total case tally to 4,592, of which 3,155 people have recovered, an increase of 71 from the day before.

At least 132 people have died since the pandemic began, the health unit says.

The five deaths reported on Tuesday involved two women in their 80s and one woman in her 90s who were associated with a long-term care home, and a man and woman in their 80s who weren’t tied to a seniors’ facility.

Their deaths bring this month’s toll to at least 30, or about six short of the death toll for the whole of December 2020. The region has reported at least two COVID-19-related deaths per day for the last 10 days.

At the same time, January, which is several days away from being half over, has seen at least 1,144 cases, according to the health unit. December, the worst month for cases, recorded a total of 1,723.

Of the 79 new cases, health officials say three are still in the early stages of investigation and data will be made available about them with Wednesday’s update.

Of the 76 cases with available information, the health unit says 51 are from London while seven are from Strathroy-Caradoc, five are from Middlesex Centre, three are from Thames Centre and one is from Adelaide Metcalfe. Nine cases are pending a location.

As was the case on Monday, those infected skew younger. However, unlike Monday, nearly half of the new cases — 36 of the 76 with available data — involve people in their 20s.

Every other age bracket has fewer than 10 cases — five cases are aged 19 or younger, eight are in their 30s, nine are in their 40s, two are in their 50s, nine are in their 60s, five are in their 70s and two are 80 or older.

Local contact tracing efforts remain hampered by the deluge of cases in recent weeks. At least 66 of the 76 cases with associated data were still pending an exposure source. At least seven were due to close contact and three due to an outbreak.

According to the health unit, it took 262 days for the region to report its first 1,000 cases, and only nine days for it to record 1,000 cases between Dec. 29, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2021.

The region’s seven-day case average stands at 109.42, down slightly from 120.14 on Monday but about the same as it was on Friday. The seven-day average was 80.28 as of Dec. 31.

The 14-day average, meantime, stands at 106.92, down slightly from 108.14 on Monday. The 14-day average was 75.78 as of Dec. 31.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at around six per cent as of the week of Jan. 3, according to a modelling projection presentation released by the province on Tuesday. The rate is up from 5.3 the week prior and 3.7 the week before that.

It’s not clear yet how many people were tested that week. Those figures will be released by the health unit on Wednesday. Roughly 9,738 people were tested the week of Dec. 27, down from 11,188 the week before.

The region’s cumulative incidence rate is 904.2 per 100,000 people, compared to Ontario’s 1,474.1.

Middlesex Centre remains the hardest-hit area by the pandemic when it comes to caseload.

According to the health unit, the locale, which has only seen 210 cases since last March, has an incidence rate equivalent to 1,216.5 cases per 100,000 people due to its smaller population.

London, which has seen 3,959 cases in that same period, has an incidence rate of 990.4.

Elsewhere, Strathroy-Caradoc has posted 142 cases, Thames Centre 80, Lucan Biddulph 28, Southwest Middlesex 24, North Middlesex 23, Adelaide Metcalfe six and Newbury two. At least 42 cases are pending location data.

Hospitalizations

The number of COVID-19 inpatients has risen by one while the number of patients in critical or intensive care has risen by three.

London Health Sciences Centre reported Tuesday that 40 people with COVID-19 were in its care, with 15 in critical or intensive care.

At the same time, the organization said active staff cases have also increased by two to 29. It’s unclear how many staff cases in total have been reported since the pandemic began as LHSC has not made that figure available.

Meantime, no COVID-19 inpatients were reported to be in the care of St. Joseph’s hospital as of Tuesday, according to St. Joseph’s Health Care London.

However, at least 19 staff members are currently infected with the virus, including 12 due to an outbreak at Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care. The outbreak has also infected 22 residents, of which two have since died.

The health unit says at least 306 people have needed to be hospitalized due to the virus, including 60 who have needed intensive care.

During Monday’s media briefing, Dr. Adam Dukelow, chief medical officer for London Health Sciences Centre, noted that the two-dozen beds opened at Victoria Hospital in late November in the wake of admissions reductions at University Hospital have remained open.

“To help us continue to manage current internal and external capacity pressures, we are now working to open an additional 26 acute care beds at Victoria Hospital. This will provide additional capacity for COVID-19 patients,” Dukelow said.

The opening of the beds, he says, will be done in a phased approach, with 14 beds opening this week.

Dukelow added that LHSC continues to run nine of 15 operating rooms at University Hospital, or 60 per cent of normal capacity, while at Victoria Hospital, 14 of 19 operating rooms are in operation, or about 70 per cent — figures unchanged from last week.

“It would be the priority three and priority four cases that would be not scheduled,” he said of the procedures being impacted. “We haven’t been cancelling procedures because of the pandemic this week, just scheduling less.”

LHSC has taken in additional patients to help harder-hit regions, including from Windsor-Essex, Dukelow said.

“There’s ongoing conversations about the possible need for us to take more patients from Windsor,” he said.

“We’ve worked very hard to create a 15 per cent buffer in our capacity so we can respond both to local and regional as well as provincial surges.”

Institutional outbreaks

One new institutional outbreak has been declared in the region and one has been declared over.

The new outbreak was declared Monday at Elmwood Place and involves the entire facility. It’s not clear how many cases are tied to the outbreak.

Elsewhere, an outbreak at Victoria Hospital in D5-300 has been declared over as of Tuesday, according to LHSC. It comes a day after an outbreak in D7-200 was also declared over. Both outbreaks were tied to fewer than five patient and five staff cases and no deaths.

In addition to Elmwood Place, outbreaks also remain active at the following seniors’ facilities, declared on:

• Jan. 10 at Queens Village (Memory Lane area)
• Jan. 9 at Fox Hollow Retirement Residence (first floor)
• Jan. 9 at Glendale Crossing (Lambeth, Westminster)
• Jan. 8 at Chelsey Park Retirement Community (fifth floor)
• Jan. 8 at Strathmere Lodge (Sydenham Meadows)
• Jan. 5 at Oneida Long-Term Care Home (facility-wide)
• Jan. 2 at Chelsey Park (Long-term Care – fifth floor, second floor)
• Dec. 26 at Earls Court Village (third floor)
• Dec. 26 at Extendicare (third floor, second floor)
• Dec. 26 at Oakcrossing Retirement Living (second floor)
• Dec. 23 at Middlesex Terrace (facility-wide)
• Dec. 22 at Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care (SM1, MV4, MV5. Outbreaks in SM2 and SM3 were resolved Jan. 6. At least 22 residents and 12 staff are currently infected and two people have died.)
• Dec. 8 at Country Terrace (facility-wide).

According to St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the outbreak at Mount Hope has been tied to cases involving at least 22 residents, two of whom have since died, and 12 staff members. Releasing such information is at the discretion of each facility.

One outbreak also remains active at Victoria Hospital, declared on Jan. 6 in B41 Antenatal. It’s tied to fewer than five patient and five staff cases. No deaths have been associated with the outbreak.

Since March, the region has seen at least 86 institutional outbreaks in London and Middlesex, including at least 62 at local seniors’ facilities.

The health unit says seniors’ facility outbreaks are linked to at least 312 resident cases — an increase of five from Monday — and 284 staff cases — an increase of six.

They’re also tied to at least 64 of the region’s 132 deaths.

Schools

No new school cases were reported Tuesday and none are currently active in the region, the health unit says.

At least 174 cases have been reported tied to schools and child-care centres in London and Middlesex during the pandemic so far.

Students in the region, and across southern Ontario, will stay in remote learning until at least Jan. 25.

Elementary school students in northern Ontario returned to in-class learning on Monday.

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Vaccinations and testing

Coronavirus vaccine doses continue to be administered at the Western Fair District Agriplex, where health officials say some two-thirds of long-term staff in the region have been vaccinated.

During Monday’s media briefing, Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said vaccinations at long-term care homes were not underway.

One long-term care home had been completed on Monday and several more will be completed later this week, he said.

Just under 6,500 people had been vaccinated at the Agriplex vaccination clinic as of late Sunday, according to Dukelow.

The clinic is nearing its goal of completing 1,000 vaccinations per day, with 845 completed on Friday, Dukelow said.

Provincewide, some 133,553 doses had been administered as of Tuesday morning, with about 11,448 doses being administered per day. As the vaccine requires two doses a few weeks apart, only 6,046 total complete vaccinations have been recorded.

Meantime, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that Canada had secured another 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19. Along with the doses of Moderna’s vaccine, this means Canada will now get enough to vaccinate every Canadian by the fall.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at around six per cent as of the week of Jan. 3, according to a modelling projection presentation released by the province on Tuesday. The rate is up from 5.3 the week prior and 3.7 the week before that.

As of the week of Dec. 27, 9,738 people were tested compared to 11,188 the week before. New testing numbers will be released Wednesday by the province.

The city’s two main assessment centres have continued to see steady turnout, with Carling Heights seeing the largest demand.

Both centres are continuing to operate by appointment only. Appointment testing for certain asymptomatic people is also continuing at some local pharmacies.

Ontario

Ontario is issuing an order requiring residents to stay at home starting Thursday, except for essential activities such as accessing health care or shopping for groceries.

Premier Doug Ford says he is also declaring another state of emergency effective immediately in response to surging COVID-19 infection rates.

The new measures also include restricting the hours of operation for non-essential retail stores such as hardware stores to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The premier announced the restrictions shortly after the province released new projections that show the virus is on track to overwhelm Ontario’s health-care system.

Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, one of the experts behind the projections, says that if the province’s COVID-19 positivity rate is at five per cent, Ontario will see more than 20,000 new cases a day by the middle of next month.

If the rate climbs to seven per cent, that means the province will see 40,000 new daily cases.

Ontario is reporting 2,903 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, including eight new cases of a variant from the United Kingdom.

The province also reported 41 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 837 new cases in Toronto and 545 in Peel Region.

York Region had 249 more cases and there were 246 new infections reported in the Niagara Region.

Elliott also says more than 44,800 tests have been completed since the last daily update.

Ontario is also reporting that 11,448 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered since its last daily update, with 133,553 total doses now administered.

A total of 222,023 Ontarians have tested positive for COVID-19, with 186,829 cases resolved and 5,053 deaths.

Elgin and Oxford

Three people have died and 64 others have tested positive, Southwestern Public Health reported on Monday.

The increase brings the region’s total case count to 1,825, of which 1,425 people have recovered, an increase of 79 from the day before.

At least 35 people have died during the pandemic, with 22 this month alone.

The deaths reported Tuesday involved three women aged 93, 94 and 96. Two of the deaths, involving the women aged 94 and 96, were associated with an outbreak at PeopleCare in Woodstock, health officials confirmed.

With Tuesday’s update, there are at least 365 active cases in the region. At least 123 of them are in Tillsonburg. Elsewhere, 63 cases are active in St. Thomas, 37 are active in Woodstock and 35 are active in Norwich.

At least 16 people were hospitalized as of last Thursday, the most recent figures available. Three were in intensive care. At least 73 people have been hospitalized since the pandemic began, including 27 in intensive care.

At least 521 cases have been reported so far this moth. The region posted a record single-day case jump on Jan. 2 with 75 cases.

The region’s test positivity rate stands at roughly seven per cent as of the week of Jan. 3, according to a provincial modelling document released Tuesday. A more specific percentage, and the number of tests performed that week, will be made public by the health unit on Wednesday.

No new institutional outbreaks have been reported in the region.

Cases continue to be reported at Maple Manor Nursing Home, which has seen at least 80 resident cases — of which 11 later died — and 48 staff cases since an outbreak was declared there on Dec. 12.

The number of staff cases at the facility rose by three compared to the day before.

Meantime, the number of resident cases linked to an outbreak declared Jan. 6 at Trillium Retirement Home has risen by seven to 12, the health unit says.

Elsewhere, outbreaks remain active at the following facilities, as declared on:

• Jan. 8 at Extendicare Port Stanley (one staff case)
• Jan. 4 at Goodness Retirement Living (one staff case)
• Jan. 4 at Caressant Care Bonnie Place – St. Thomas (one resident case)
• Jan. 1 at Woodingford Lodge – Woodstock (two resident, two staff case; one staff case more than the day before)
• Dec. 19 at Terrace Lodge in Aylmer (five staff cases)
• Dec. 16 at PeopleCare Tavistock (39 resident, 32 staff cases, five deaths; two resident cases more than the day before).

Meantime, no new school cases appear to have been reported in the region. No cases are active at schools in the region that are operated by the Thames Valley District School Board or the London District Catholic School Board.

The health unit defers updates about school cases to the boards and to the province, which has paused the updating of its online database amid the remote learning period.

At least 64 school cases have been reported in the region since the school year began, most of them in Elgin County.

The health unit says St. Thomas has seen the highest number of cases, 323, compared to Aylmer’s 303.

Aylmer’s much smaller population, however, means that case total is the equivalent to 4,044 cases per 100,000 people, compared to St. Thomas’ 830 per 100,000.

Elsewhere in the region, at least 278 cases have been reported in Woodstock, 275 in Tillsonburg, 152 in Norwich, 139 in Bayham, 79 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 70 in Ingersoll, 44 in Blandford-Blenheim, 42 in Zorra, 35 in South-West Oxford, 30 in Central Elgin, 17 in West Elgin, 15 in Dutton/Dunwich, 15 in Southwold and six in Malahide.

Huron and Perth

Twenty-two people have tested positive for the coronavirus and 24 others have recovered, Huron Perth Public Health reported Monday.

The update brings the region’s case total to 910, of which 781 people have recovered. Twenty-five deaths have been reported, most recently on Monday.

Health unit figures show at least six of Monday’s cases are from Stratford, while five are from South Huron, four are from North Perth, two each are from Central Huron and St. Marys, and one each are from Huron East, North Huron and Perth East.

There are at least 104 active cases in the region, of which at least five people are in hospital.

The health unit says at least 30 cases are active in South Huron, while 27 are active in North Perth, 13 in Stratford, and seven each in Perth East and St. Marys.

Two previously unreported institutional outbreaks have been announced by the health unit.

The outbreaks were declared on Jan. 8 at Fordwich Village in North Huron, tied to two staff cases, and on Jan. 10 at Spruce Lodge in Stratford, tied to one staff case.

The outbreaks are among at least 11 that were active as of Tuesday. At least eight are at long-term care homes and three at retirement homes.

Five new school cases have been reported in the region, all by the Avon-Maitland District School Board.

The new cases were reported at South Huron District High School, St. Marys District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (two cases) and Stratford District Secondary School (two cases).

The cases at St. Marys District Collegiate and Stratford District Secondary come on top of cases that had already been active at the two schools.

The cases are among at least 11 that were listed as being active on Tuesday by the school board. No cases are active involving schools under the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board.

Cases are active at:

• Avon-Maitland board
• Elma Township Public School
• F.E. Madill Secondary School
• South Huron District High School (two cases)
• St. Marys District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (three cases)
• Stratford District Secondary School (three cases).

Of the region’s total case count, 384 cases have been located in Perth County, including 209 in North Perth and 126 in Perth East.

Elsewhere, 257 cases have been in Huron County, 243 have been in Stratford and 24 have been in St. Marys.

As of the week of Dec. 27, the region’s test per cent positivity rate was 3.4 per cent, up from 2.5 per cent a week earlier and 1.6 per cent the week before that. An updated figure is expected Wednesday.

At least 3,494 people were tested, down from 3,742 the week before.

Sarnia and Lambton

For the second day in a row, health officials in Lambton County are reporting 85 new coronavirus cases, continuing a surge in cases that began late last month.

The update brings the region’s total case count to 1,394, of which 1,118 people have recovered — 61 more than the day before — and 28 have died. The most recent death was reported on Dec. 19.

At least 248 cases are currently active in Lambton. The locations of the cases aren’t known as the health unit has refused to issue more detailed information.

According to the health unit, at least 547 cases have been reported since the beginning of the month, more than any other month of the pandemic. December, the second-worst month for cases, reported 431 in total.

Some 10 per cent of the county’s COVID-19 tests have been coming back positive as of the week of Jan. 3, according to a provincial modelling document released Tuesday.

According to the same document, the county’s weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 residents stands at 253, second in the province only to Windsor-Essex with 323.

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A new outbreak has been declared in the region, located at Landmark Village in Sarnia. The outbreak is linked to one staff case.

It’s the second outbreak to be seen at the facility during the pandemic, following a deadly outbreak that was active last year from March 26 to May 6. The outbreak, the region’s first of the pandemic, was linked to 30 resident cases — six of whom later died — and 10 staff cases.

Elsewhere, an outbreak at Village on the St. Clair in Sarnia has worsened, the health unit says. Eleven new resident cases have been reported at the facility since the health unit’s last update Monday.

Five staff cases have also been reported there, unchanged from the day before.

Health officials also say two previously active outbreaks are now over.

The outbreaks were declared on Dec. 27 at Vision Nursing Home, tied to two resident cases, and on Jan. 1 at Afton Park Place, linked to one staff case.

In addition to the outbreaks at Landmark Village and Village on the St. Clair, outbreaks remain active at at least nine other facilities, declared on:

• Jan. 9 at Sumac Lodge in Sarnia (one staff case)
• Jan. 8 at Fiddick’s Nursing Home in Petrolia (one staff case)
• Jan. 8 at Fiddick’s Retirement Home in Petrolia (one staff case)
• Jan. 8 at Twin Lakes Terrace (LTC) in Sarnia (12 resident, two staff cases)
• Jan. 8 at Twin Lakes Terrace (Retirement) in Sarnia (one staff case)
• Jan. 4 at Fairwinds Lodge in Sarnia (four resident, two staff cases)
• Jan. 1 at Lambton Meadowview Villa in Petrolia (two staff cases)
• Dec. 31 at North Lambton Lodge in Forest (one resident case)
• Dec. 19 at Trillium Villa in Sarnia (four staff cases)

Seniors’ facility outbreaks have been tied to 97 resident and 69 staff cases, and 16 deaths.

No new workplace outbreaks have been declared. Four are currently active, linked to 18 cases.

Meantime, no information is available as to whether any new school cases have been confirmed.

The Lambton Kent District School Board says it is not reporting case data during the mandated remote learning period.

The St. Clair Catholic District School Board, meantime, has not updated its online COVID-19 page since before the holidays.

The health unit says a previously active outbreak at Confederation Central School was declared over on Saturday.

At least 75,516 people had been tested in the county as of Jan. 2, the most recent figures available.

The region’s test per cent positivity rate was 6.8 per cent that week, a jump from the 3.30 seen the week before and the 0.86 seen during the week of Dec. 6.

The health unit says 4,221 people were tested between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2.

— With files from The Canadian Press