5 new coronavirus cases in Middlesex-London; 0 in Elgin Oxford

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For the ninth day in a row, the London and Middlesex region saw no new deaths related to the coronavirus along with a daily case increase below 20.

On Monday, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported five new COVID-19 cases and 10 recoveries.

The region’s pandemic case tally stands at 6,098, of which 5,814 have resolved and 181 people have died. The most recent death was reported on Feb. 13. At least 103 cases are considered active by the health unit. A total of 391 cases have been reported since Feb. 1 along with six deaths.

The region is currently in the red-control tier of the province’s colour-coded framework. Full details can be found on the province’s website or by viewing the full regulation itself.

It’s expected the region will remain in red for at least another week before any potential change is made.

At least six variant cases have been confirmed in London, with four involving the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K. Genome sequencing is underway on the remaining two cases to determine which variant they involve.

At least 5,305 cases have been confirmed in the city of London since the pandemic began, while 247 have been in Middlesex Centre.

Elsewhere, 201 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 96 in Thames Centre, 54 in Lucan Biddulph, 37 in Southwest Middlesex, 32 in North Middlesex, 14 in Adelaide Metcalfe and two in Newbury.

At least 108 cases have pending location information.

Hospitalizations

The number of COVID-19 patients in the care of London Health Sciences Centre stood at 13 as of Monday. Five patients were in critical or intensive care. Active LHSC staff cases remained unchanged with fewer than five reported.

No COVID-19 patients were reported to be in the care of St. Joseph’s Hospital as of Friday, the most recent update from St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL). The organization said it would issue an update if and when those numbers changed.

One active case within SJHCL involves a staff member and four staff members are linked to the outbreaks at Mount Hope and at Parkwood’s mental health care building. One patient case is linked to Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care.

The health unit says at least 355 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 during the pandemic, with 66 needing intensive care.

Institutional outbreaks

Seven outbreaks remain active, with five at seniors’ facilities and one at Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care Building.

There have been at least 101 institutional outbreaks since the pandemic began, with at least 74 at local seniors’ facilities.

Outbreaks remain active at St Anne’s Catholic School, Caradoc North Public School and Clara Brenton Public School.

At Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, meantime, an outbreak declared a month ago remains relatively steady, with only one active inmate case, down from a peak of 19 three weeks ago. In total, 24 inmate cases have been reported at the jail along with 21 staff cases. It’s unclear how many staff cases remain active.

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Schools

At least four school outbreaks remain active in London and Middlesex. A full list can be found on the health unit’s website.

The health unit says at least 206 cases at schools and child-care centres have been reported during the pandemic.

According to the MLHU, there is one active case each at Louis Arbour French Immersion Public School (TVDSB) and St Anne’s Catholic School (LDCSB).

In child-care centres, two outbreaks remain active. Two active cases are linked to Pinetree Montessori school, and the second outbreak involves one case at Mrs. B’s All My Little People.

Vaccinations and testing

The region’s second vaccination clinic opened its doors last week at the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges.

A day earlier, health officials announced that the region’s third and fourth vaccination clinics will be located at North London Optimist Community Centre at 1345 Cheapside St. and at ice pad A of the Earl Nichols Recreation Centre at 799 Homeview Rd.

Work is underway to convert the two facilities into vaccination clinics. The two clinics aren’t expected to officially open to the public for several weeks.

So far, more than 29,000 doses have been administered in London and Middlesex since vaccinations began in late December.

Earlier this week, the health unit announced that the local vaccination campaign was being expanded to include more Phase 1 priority groups.

As a result of more shipments of vaccine and revised provincial guidelines, those eligible now include some 15,000 local “highest priority” and “very high priority” health-care workers as defined in the province’s vaccine prioritization guidelines.

Second doses for long-term care and high-risk retirement home residents were slated to wrap up last week. Initial doses at low-risk retirement homes are expected this week.

Further details are also expected about when vaccinations may be opened up to members of the general public over the age of 80 after the province moved the group from Phase 2 to Phase 1.

The city’s two main COVID-19 assessment centres remain open and operating by appointment.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.2 per cent as of the week of Feb. 7, down from 1.7 the week before, figures released Thursday show.

At least 10,191 people were tested during the week of Feb. 7, nearly unchanged from a week earlier.

Ontario

Ontario is reporting 1,058 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the provincial total to 294,144.

Monday’s case count is slightly lower than Sunday’s, which saw 1,087 new infections. On Saturday, 1,228 new cases were recorded and 1,150 on Friday.

It is also the fifth day in a row cases are above 1,000.

According to Monday’s provincial report, 325 cases were recorded in Toronto, 215 in Peel Region, 87 in York Region, 56 in Hamilton and 51 in Ottawa.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 50 new cases in the provincial report.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health reported zero new COVID-19 cases, along with three recoveries on Monday.

The region’s pandemic case tally stands at 2,457, of which 2,350 have resolved.

At least 67 people have died during the pandemic. According to SWPH data, one death is related to the Aylmer Retirement Residence and the second was at Caressant Care Retirement Home in Woodstock. Both deaths were reported Saturday.

The health unit says 40 cases remain active in the region. At least 16 cases are active in Woodstock, while nine are active in St. Thomas. Nine other municipalities have four or fewer active cases.

Three outbreaks are active at local long-term care and retirement homes, declared on:

• Feb. 17 at Aylmer Retirement Residence (one resident case, one death)
• Feb. 11 at Valleyview Nursing Home in St. Thomas (one staff case)
• Jan. 21 at Caressant Care Retirement Home in Woodstock (54 resident, 23 staff cases, three deaths)

As of Monday, Elgin Court Public School has one case involving a student, at least four cases remain active at Annandale Public School, and one case each is active at Elgin Court Public School in St. Thomas and Royal Roads Public School in Ingersoll.

One student case also remains active at Huron Park Secondary School.

The health unit says a total of 483 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, while 425 have been in St. Thomas, 361 in Aylmer and 335 in Tillsonburg.

Elsewhere, 201 cases have been in Norwich, 161 in Bayham, 115 in Ingersoll, 104 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 54 in Zorra, 50 in Blandford-Blenheim, 46 in South-West Oxford, 44 in Central Elgin, 25 in Southwold, 23 in Dutton/Dunwich, 21 in West Elgin and eight in Malahide.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at 0.8 per cent the week of Feb. 7, down from 1.6 the week before, figures released Thursday show.

At least 4,513 people were tested the week of Feb. 7, down slightly from 4,857 a week earlier.

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Huron and Perth

Huron Perth Public Health reported 15 new cases on COVID-19 and seven new cases on Monday.

As of Monday, the region’s pandemic case tally stood at 1,321, of which 1,243 people have recovered, and 49 have died.

At least 29 cases were listed as active in the region, with 13 in Stratford. Six municipalities have between one and four active cases.

Three people were listed as being in hospital Monday.

Two outbreaks remain active at local seniors’ facilities, while one outbreak remains active at St. Marys Hospital and one at a child-care centre in South Huron.

The outbreak at Hillside Manor in Perth East involving one resident and one staff case, declared in Jan. 31 is now resolved. The outbreak declared on Jan. 7 involving 30 resident cases and 12 staff cases at Caressant Care Retirement Home in North Perth has also been resolved.

The region’s active seniors’ facility outbreaks were declared on:

• Jan. 31 at Seaforth Manor Retirement Home in Huron East (12 resident cases, 1 staff case)
• Jan. 17 at Seaforth Manor Nursing Home in Huron East (44 resident, 25 staff cases, five deaths)

The outbreak at St. Marys Memorial Hospital is tied to three patient and five staff cases.

One school case remains active in Huron-Perth, located at Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School in Wingham, according to the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

According to the health unit, at least 539 cases have been reported in Perth County during the pandemic, including 344 in North Perth 134 in Perth East, 32 in Perth South and 29 in West Perth.

Elsewhere, 438 cases have been reported in Huron County, including 97 in Huron East and South Huron, 50 in Central Huron, 45 in Morris Turnberry, 42 in North Huron, 34 in Howick, 33 in Bluewater, 21 in ACW and 19 in Goderich.

At least 313 cases have been reported in Stratford and 31 in St. Marys.

Officials reported Thursday that the local test positivity rate stood at 0.9 per cent as of the week of Feb. 7, down from 1.6 the week before.

Sarnia and Lambton

Lambton Public Health reported eight new COVID-19 cases along with eight recoveries on Monday.

The county’s pandemic case total stands at 2,026, of which 1,882 people have recovered and 46 have died. The most recent death was reported Wednesday.

At least 98 cases remain active. At least three people are in hospital at Bluewater Health, the organization reported.

Health officials reported Thursday that the region’s test positivity rate rose to 2.3 per cent as of the week of Feb. 7, up from 1.0 per cent the week before.

The increase came as testing rates fell in the county. At least 3,464 tests were recorded the week of Feb. 7 compared to 3,662 the week before.

An outbreak declared at Bluewater Health in Sarnia on Feb. 18 is linked to one patient cases and six staff cases.

As of Monday, six outbreaks remained active, including four at seniors’ facilities, one at Sarnia’s jail, and one at Bluewater Health.

The seniors’ facility outbreaks that remain active were declared on:

• Feb. 19 at Twin Lakes Village Retirement Home in Sarnia (one staff case)
• Feb. 12 at Landmark Village in Sarnia (one staff case)
• Feb. 12 at Trillium Villa in Sarnia (one staff case)
• Feb. 10 at Country Manor Estates in Lambton Shores (one resident, one staff case)
• Jan. 8 at Twin Lakes Terrace (LTC) in Sarnia (18 resident, six staff cases, one death)

At Sarnia’s jail, at least 46 cases involving inmates and five involving staff have been reported since Feb. 7.

One new school case has been reported in the region. The case is located at Great Lakes Secondary School in Sarnia, which had already seen one active case. Both cases involve students.

Elsewhere, four cases remain active at North Lambton Secondary School in Forest.

— With files from 980 CFPL’s, Gabby Rodrigues, Matthew Trevithick and Kelly Wong, and The Canadian Press