Coronavirus: 5 new cases in London-Middlesex; 1 death, 5 new cases in Huron-Perth

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

Health officials in London and Middlesex reported five new coronavirus cases on Monday along with one death that occurred in late January but which had not been reported previously.

The update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 6,182, of which 5,903 have resolved, an increase of eight from Sunday.

Factoring in the previously uncounted death, which the health unit says involved a man in his 80s who was associated with a long-term care home, the number of people who have died during the pandemic now stands at 182. The most recent death occurred on Feb. 12.

During the month of February, at least 472 cases were reported along with six deaths.

The five cases reported Monday involve two people in their 20s, one person each in their 30s and 50s, and one person aged 80 or older, all from London.

Health unit data shows two cases are listed as being due to outbreaks and one to close contact. Two cases are pending or undetermined.

As of Monday, the region is under orange-restrict level of Ontario’s colour-coded COVID-19 response framework.

“You know, It’s been 77 days since we were last in this tier, and it feels like a long and difficult road back,” said London Mayor Ed Holder on Monday.

“Think of how many individuals and businesses have suffered as a result of the provincewide lockdown from Boxing Day and even over the previous two weeks while we were in red. But after 77 days, it’s my sincere hope that these struggles and those sacrifices will not have been in vain, and that our current trajectory with respect to all COVID-related metrics will be maintained.”

The region has seen at least 12 confirmed variant cases as of Friday, according to local health officials. Four cases came in between Wednesday and Friday.

According to Public Health Ontario, at least four have involved the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the United Kingdom. The eight others remain under investigation.

“It’s still a relatively low proportion overall, over that time period,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, of the increase on Friday. “We’re still talking about less than 20 per cent of cases or variants of concern, but it is concerning to see that number rising.”

Last week, projections from the province’s science advisory group found that more infectious variants would likely make up 40 per cent of cases by the second week of March.

The region’s seven-day case average stood at 11.85 as of Monday, while the 14-day average was 10.78.

At least 5,389 cases have been confirmed in the city of London since the pandemic began, while 248 have been in Middlesex Centre.

Elsewhere, 201 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 96 in Thames Centre, 54 in Lucan Biddulph, 37 in Southwest Middlesex, 33 in North Middlesex, 14 in Adelaide Metcalfe and two in Newbury.

At least 108 cases have pending location information.

Hospitalizations

Fewer than five COVID-19 inpatients were in the care of London Health Sciences Centre on Monday, a notable decrease from Friday’s tally of nine.

It’s the first time since Nov. 12 that LHSC has had fewer than five COVID-19 inpatients in its care, according to LHSC’s Chief Medical Officer, Adam Dukelow.

At the same time, fewer than five patients are in critical or intensive care and fewer than five staff cases are active, both unchanged from Friday.

“We’re happy to see that the efforts taken throughout the lockdown and red zone, both in hospital and in our community, have had such a positive impact on limiting the spread,” Dukelow said during Monday’s briefing.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, no COVID-19 patients were listed as being in the care of St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Only three cases are active within the organization, all involving staff members. Two are outbreak-related.

The organization has one active outbreak, located at Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care. An outbreak at Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care Building was declared over on Sunday.

At least 358 people have been hospitalized in the region during the pandemic, including 66 in intensive care.

Institutional outbreaks

One new institutional outbreak has been declared and one has been resolved, the health unit says.

The new outbreak was declared Sunday at Richmond Woods and is facility-wide.

The resolved outbreak was located in the G4 area of Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care Building, declared Feb. 12.

As of Monday, five institutional outbreaks are active in the region, all declared in February.

Outbreaks at long-term care and retirement homes have been associated with at least 773 cases and 105 deaths.

Elsewhere, a non-institutional outbreak remains active at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre.

Declared Jan. 18, it’s been associated with at least 55 cases involving 29 staff and 26 inmates.

Schools

At least two new school cases were reported by the London District Catholic School Board.

Both are located at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School.

One case was also reported over the weekend at St. John French Immersion Catholic Elementary School.

It leaves at least six active school cases in the region.

In addition to the aforementioned three cases, two cases are also active at Northbrae Public School and one at Prince Charles Public School.

No outbreaks are active.

The health unit says at least 212 school and child care centre cases have been reported during the pandemic.

No child care centre cases are active as of Monday. No outbreaks are active.

Vaccinations and Testing

Local health officials announced Monday that thanks to a stable supply of the coronavirus vaccine, first dose eligibility has been expanded once again to more priority groups identified under Phase 1 of the province’s three-phase vaccine rollout.

As of Monday, the health unit says it, Huron Perth Public Health, and Southwestern Public Health have expanded eligibility to Indigenous adults 55 and older, and members of the community who are 80 and older.

The health unit says appointment bookings for Indigenous adults 55 and older began on Monday, while appointment bookings for those 80 and older will begin on Tuesday at 7 a.m. Vaccinations for both groups will begin March 6.

Bookings can be made via the local online system covidvaccinelm.ca or by calling 226-289-3560 between 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week for slots at the Western Fair District Agriplex and the Caradoc Community Centre vaccination clinics.

Also eligible are health-care workers defined as “very high priority” by the province.

“This would include people who work in procedure-oriented facilities like ORs or radiation centres, clinics where there is hands-on exposure, and one potential staff person being ill could potentially affect many vulnerable people,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health during a briefing on Monday.

“As of now, our booking system is available for health-care workers in that category. Those health-care workers do have to be preregistered through their employer, and we’ve sent all the relevant employers information and received eligibility lists back for many of those employers already.”

A full list of the groups currently eligible to receive the vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.

Mackie said capacity to dole out the vaccines locally continues to outstrip supply of the vaccines themselves. Two mass vaccination clinics are currently open in London and Middlesex, with plans to open two more. One of the additional clinics will likely open later this month.

“We have a roadmap to get to 10,000 vaccines per day if we need to. If our community has supplies for 10,000 vaccines per day, that’s what we will deliver,” Mackie said.

“The reality is we don’t expect that any time before late spring or early summer at the earliest,” he added, noting between 1,000 and 2,000 per day is where capacity will likely stay in the short term.

Just over 33,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in London-Middlesex since Dec. 23.

Asked whether MLHU will pivot to the provincial booking system once it becomes operational on March 15, Mackie said they don’t see that happening right now.

“The province has asked health units who are doing their own online bookings to maintain that for now, while they transition some of those health units that don’t have access, at this point, to online booking,” he said.

On Monday, the federal government announced that it hoped to start receiving doses of AstraZeneca’s recently approved vaccine this week. The vaccine is the third to be approved in Canada behind the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Canada has ordered 24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the majority to be delivered from the United States between April and September. Two million jabs have been ordered from the Serum Institute of India, and Verity Pharmaceuticals, which is facilitating the institute’s application in Canada, has said the first 500,000 would reach Canadian shores this week.

Asked whether members of the public would be able to choose their vaccine, Mackie said the health unit’s strong recommendation is to be vaccinated with whatever vaccine is offered.

“We have three very good vaccines. It’s true there’s some difference in effectiveness, but any one of those vaccines is far better than not getting vaccinated at all,” he said.

The region’s two mass vaccination clinics continue to operate at the Western Fair District Agriplex in London and the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges.

Two more are planned to open North London Optimist Community Centre and at ice pad A of the Earl Nichols Recreation Centre. It’s unclear when they are set to open.

The region’s two main assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, remain open and operating by appointment.

Carling Heights recorded an average of 360 visits per day between Monday and Friday of last week, with a surge of 495 seen on Friday.

Oakridge Arena saw an average of 283 visits per day.

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 the week before.

At least 9,730 people were tested the week of Feb. 14 compared to 10,536 a week earlier.

Ontario

Ontario is reporting 1,023 new cases of COVID-19 today and six more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 280 new cases in Toronto, 182 in Peel Region and 72 in Ottawa.

Ontario says that 939 more cases were resolved since the last daily report.

Today’s data is based on more than 35,000 tests completed.

Another 17,424 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were given since Sunday’s daily update.

A total of 704,695 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province so far.

There have been 301,839 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario since the pandemic began, 284,283 of which have been resolved and 6,986 that have led to death.

Elgin and Oxford

Three new cases were reported on Monday by Southwestern Public Health, bringing the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,537.

Of those, 2,385 cases have resolved, an increase of two from the day before, and 67 have died. The most recent death was reported Feb. 20.

The update comes as local health officials deal with a significant outbreak at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ont.

As of Sunday evening, at least 65 cases had been confirmed at the college since Feb. 22, according to a Ministry of the Solicitor General spokesperson.

At least 29 of the 31 cases reported in the region on Sunday involved the college, the health unit said.

Classes at the college have been suspended for two weeks as a result of the outbreak. Recruits who test positive will remain at the college to self-isolate, the ministry said.

At least 84 cases are active in Southwestern Public Health’s jurisdiction, with 60 of them located in Aylmer.

The region moved into the orange-restrict level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework on Monday.

SWPH says it is finalizing preparation for its local vaccination clinics in Elgin and Oxford counties. The clinics are expected to open the week of March 15, with information on booking appointments expected to be made public next week.

However, SWPH says those aged 80 and older and Indigenous adults 55 and older “who do not wish to wait” can book an appointment at the Western Fair District Agriplex in London starting March 2.

Due to limited supply, SWPH says appointments at the Agriplex are limited to March 6 to 8.

No new school cases were reported in the region by the Thames Valley District School Board or the London District Catholic School Board.

At least one school case is active in the region, located at Central Public School in Woodstock.

Meantime, no new institutional outbreaks were declared or resolved.

One remains active at Aylmer Retirement Residence, linked to one resident case and one death, the health unit says.

The health unit says a total of 494 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, while 428 have been in St. Thomas, 421 in Aylmer and 336 in Tillsonburg.

Elsewhere, 201 cases have been in Norwich, 162 in Bayham, 115 in Ingersoll, 104 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 54 in Zorra, 53 in Blandford-Blenheim, 46 in South-West Oxford, 45 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 as of the week of Feb. 14, compared to 0.8 the week before.

At least 4,470 people were tested the week of Feb. 14, down slightly from 4,513 a week earlier.

Huron and Perth

One person has died and five others have tested positive for the coronavirus, Huron Perth Public Health reported.

The update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 1,335, of which 1,264 have recovered, an increase of six from the previous update.

At least 50 people have died during the pandemic. The death reported Monday involved a resident of Seaforth Manor Nursing Home, the health unit said.

As of Monday, 21 cases are listed as active in the region. Eight are in Stratford, while four are in Perth South. The remaining nine cases are spread out over eight municipalities.

The region moved into the yellow-protect level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework on Monday.

On the local vaccination front, the health unit says it will be opening a public booking system “in the days ahead.”

It adds that when booking opens, the health unit will be “communicating this information widely” through providers, its own website, print, radio, local news, and social media. Clinics in its jurisdiction will begin “early to mid-March” with details available soon.

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One of the region’s most severe long-term home outbreaks has resolved, the health unit says.

The outbreak had been declared on Jan. 17 at Seaforth Manor in Huron East in its nursing home.

In that time, at least 44 residents and 25 staff members tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least five residents died.

An outbreak remains active in the facility’s retirement home, linked to 12 resident cases and one staff case. It’s the only institutional outbreak currently active in Huron and Perth.

The health unit says one outbreak remains active at an unspecified congregate living setting and one is active at a workplace.

Meantime, no new school cases were reported in the region.

One case remains active at Jeanne Sauvé Catholic Elementary School in Stratford, according to the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

Health unit figures show at least 544 cases have been reported in Perth County during the pandemic, including 344 in North Perth and 135 in Perth East.

Elsewhere, 444 cases have been reported in Huron County, including 98 in South Huron and 97 in Huron East, while at least 310 cases have been reported in Stratford and 32 in St. Marys.

Officials reported Thursday that the local test positivity rate stood at 0.7 per cent the week of Feb. 14, down from 0.9 a week earlier.

Roughly 2,862 people were tested the week of Feb. 14, down from 3,377 the week before.

Sarnia and Lambton

Eleven new coronavirus cases have been reported in Lambton County, local health officials reported.

It brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,105, of which 1,961 have resolved, an increase of 10 from Sunday, and 46 have died. The most recent death was reported Feb. 17.

The update comes a day after the county saw 27 new cases on Sunday. The region is staying in red-control of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework this week.

As of Monday, 98 cases are active in the county. One COVID-19 patient is listed as being in the care of Bluewater Health.

On the local vaccine front, Lambton health officials say they are one of six Ontario health units participating in a pilot of the province’s vaccination booking system.

All members of Lambton EMS are being invited to test the system by booking vaccination appointments through the portal, which are scheduled at fixed site clinics on March 5 and 5 at Point Edward Arena/Optimist Club Community Hall, and on March 9 and 11 at Wyoming Fairgrounds.

The health unit says it’s also training staff and preparing to launch a local call centre to assist with the EMS bookings in anticipation of a larger vaccine rollout once more supply is available.

No new outbreaks have been declared but one has resolved.

The outbreak had been declared on Feb. 18 at Bluewater Health in Sarnia. It was linked to one patient case and six staff cases.

Six outbreaks remain active, including three at seniors’ facilities, one at a shelter, one at Sarnia’s jail, and one at a workplace.

The active seniors’ facility outbreaks were declared on:

• Feb. 24 at Marshall Gowland Manor in Sarnia (three staff cases)
• Feb. 19 at Twin Lakes Terrace in Sarnia (one staff case)
• Feb. 10 at Country Manor Estates in Lambton Shores (two resident, one staff case)

Meantime, the shelter outbreak, located at Good Shepherd’s Lodge in Sarnia, is linked to three resident cases and three staff cases.

The outbreak at Sarnia’s jail is tied to 47 inmate cases and five staff cases, unchanged from Friday.

Elsewhere, one workplace outbreak, declared Feb. 25, is also active in the region, associated with seven cases. Few details have been released.

At least four new school cases have been reported since Friday.

Two cases were reported at Gregory A. Hogan Catholic School in Sarnia, one case was reported at Queen Elizabeth II Public School in Sarnia, and one was reported at St. Joseph Catholic School in Corunna.

At least 10 school cases are active.

In addition to the four aforementioned cases, one case is active at Colonel Cameron Public School, two cases are at Holy Rosary Catholic School in Wyoming, one is active at North Lambton Secondary School, one at Northern Collegiate Institute & Vocational School, and one additional case is active at St. Joseph Catholic.

At least 1.9 per cent of tests came back positive as of the week of Feb. 14, according to the health unit. At least 3,733 people were tested.

— With files from The Canadian Press