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The Middlesex-London Health Unit is reporting 10 new infections of the coronavirus on Wednesday and no new deaths.
The region’s pandemic case tally stands at 6,126, of which 5,844 have resolved and 181 people have died. The most recent death was reported on Feb. 13.
At least 101 cases are considered active by the health unit.
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 believed the region is on track to move to the orange or even yellow level next week.
At least 5,332 cases have been confirmed in the city of London since the pandemic began, while 248 have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, 202 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 109 cases have pending location information.
Hospitalizations
The number of COVID-19 patients in the care of London Health Sciences Centre dropped to 10 on Wednesday, down from 11 as of Tuesday. Fewer than five patients are in critical or intensive care. LHSC says there are fewer than five active staff cases.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London issued an update Tuesday reporting a total of five COVID-19 cases among its patients or residents and health-care workers.
There is currently one outbreak-related case of COVID-19 involving a patient/resident at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care.
SJHCL says there are also three outbreak-related cases involving health-care workers and one non-outbreak case involving a health-care worker within its hospital network.
Currently, SJHCL is reporting outbreaks at Mount Hope’s Unit MV2 and at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building Unit G4.
The health unit says at least 355 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 during the pandemic, with 66 needing intensive care.
Institutional outbreaks
Five outbreaks remain active:
- Feb. 19 at Peoplecare Oak Crossing (third floor)
- Feb. 13 at Dearness Home (3 East)
- Feb. 12 at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building (G4)
- Feb. 11 at Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care (MV2)
- Jan. 2 at Chelsey Park (long-term care – fifth floor).
There have been at least 101 institutional outbreaks since the pandemic began, with at least 74 at local seniors’ facilities.
The latest data from the province on Feb. 22 shows five active inmate cases in connection with an outbreak declared over a month ago at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, down from a peak of 19 three weeks ago.
The province says there are 23 resolved inmate cases. Previously, at least 21 staff cases were confirmed in total. It’s unclear how many staff cases remain active.
Schools
One school outbreak remains active in London and Middlesex at St. Anne’s Catholic School. A full list can be found on the health unit’s website.
Outbreaks at Caradoc North Public School and Clara Brenton Public School were declared over on Tuesday.
The health unit says at least 209 cases at schools and child-care centres have been reported during the pandemic.
According to the MLHU, there are two active case at Northbrae Public School (TVDSB) and one active case at St. Anne’s Catholic School (LDCSB).
In child-care centres, two outbreaks remain active. One active case is linked to Pinetree Montessori school, and one active case is confirmed at Mrs. B’s All My Little People.
Vaccinations and testing
Last 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 0.8 per cent as of the week of Feb. 14, down from 1.2 per cent as of the week of Feb. 7 and 1.7 per cent the week before that.
At least 9,730 people were tested during the week of Feb. 14, down from 10,536 the week before.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting 1,054 new coronavirus cases and nine more deaths on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 296,173 cases and 6,893 deaths.
The daily case count went above 1,000 after being below that threshold on Tuesday. However, there were almost 30,000 more tests completed on Wednesday than on Tuesday.
According to Wednesday’s provincial report, 363 cases were recorded in Toronto, 186 in Peel Region, 94 in York Region, 53 in Simcoe Muskoka and 50 in Windsor-Essex.
All other local public health units reported fewer than 50 new cases in the provincial report.
Elgin and Oxford
Southwestern Public Health reported no new COVID-19 cases, along with seven recoveries on Wednesday.
This comes a day after the region reported 14 cases.
The region’s pandemic case tally stands at 2,463, of which 2,368 have resolved.
At least 67 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died during the pandemic.
The health unit says 28 cases remain active in the region. At least 15 cases are active in Woodstock, while four are active in St. Thomas, three in Ingersoll, two in Zorra, and one each in Tillsonburg, Blandford-Blenheim, West Elgin, and Malahide.
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 Wednesday, Elgin Court Public School in St. Thomas has one case involving a student, Central Public School in Woodstock has one student case, Huron Park Secondary School has one student case, Royal Roads Public School has one student case, and four student cases are active at Annandale Public School in Tillsonburg.
The health unit says a total of 488 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, while 426 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 0.5 per cent the week of Feb. 14, down from 0.8 the week before.
At least 4,470 people were tested the week of Feb. 7, down slightly from 4,513 a week earlier.
Huron and Perth
Huron Perth Public Health reported one new case of COVID-19 out of South Huron, as well as six more recoveries on Wednesday.
The region’s pandemic case tally stands at 1,313, of which 1,250 people have recovered and 49 have died.
At least 14 cases are listed as active in the region, with four in North Perth, three in North Huron, two in Stratford, and one each in Goderich, Huron East, South Huron, Perth East, and Perth South.
Two people are listed as being in hospital as of Wednesday, down from three on Tuesday.
Two outbreaks remain active at seniors’ facilities.
An outbreak at Seaforth Manor Nursing Home in Huron East, declared Jan. 17, involves 44 residents and 25 staff cases. At least five deaths are associated with the outbreak.
One at Seaforth Manor Retirement Home in Huron East involves 12 resident cases and one staff case.
One outbreak also remains active at St. Marys Memorial Hospital and involves three patient cases 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. It is not considered an outbreak.
The province is not currently reporting any active cases within the Avon Maitland District School Board.
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 three new COVID-19 cases along with 22 recoveries on Wednesday.
The county’s pandemic case total stands at 2,038, of which 1,920 people have recovered and 46 have died. The most recent death was reported Wednesday.
At least 72 cases remain active, down from 94 on Tuesday. Bluewater Health is reporting that there were no patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19 as of Feb. 23.
Health officials reported Thursday that the region’s test positivity rate sits at 1.9 per cent for the week of Feb. 14, down from 2.3 per cent for the week of Feb. 7.
At least 3,733 tests were recorded the week of Feb. 14, compared to 3,884 the week before.
There are currently five active outbreaks reported by Lambton Public Health, three involving seniors’ facilities:
- Feb. 10 at Country Manor Estates in Lambton Shores (two residents, one staff)
- Feb. 12 at Trillium Villa in Sarnia (one staff/caregiver case)
- Feb. 19 at Twin Lakes Village Retirement Home in Sarnia (one staff/caregiver case).
Elsewhere, an outbreak declared at Bluewater Health in Sarnia on Feb. 18 is linked to one patient case and six staff cases and an outbreak at the Sarnia Jail declared Feb. 7 is linked to 47 cases among inmates and five among staff.
Active school cases in the Lambton Kent District School Board, according to the province, include:
- Great Lakes Secondary School in Sarnia (one student)
- Lansdowne Public School in Sarnia (one student, one staff)
- Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School in Sarnia (one student)
- North Lambton Secondary School in Lambton Shores (three students).
— With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues, Matthew Trevithick, and Sawyer Bogdan
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