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Eleven new coronavirus cases have been reported in London and Middlesex, local health officials reported on Monday.
In addition, the health unit says the number of screened variant positive cases has risen by seven.
The update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 6,442, of which 6,097 cases have been resolved, an increase of 17 from the day before.
At least 185 deaths have been reported, most recently on March 8.
The health unit says at least 160 cases are active in the region. The locations of the active locations have not been made public.
London-Middlesex remains in the orange-restrict level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework.
Of the 11 new cases, all but one are from London and all but one are under the age of 40. One case is from Lucan Biddulph.
Two are 19 or younger, six are in their 20s, and one each is in their 30s and 40s. No cases involve people over the age of 50.
Two cases are listed as being due to close contact and one to an outbreak. Four cases are pending or undetermined while four have no known link.
The health unit says the total number of screened variant positive cases in the region stands at 34, an increase of seven from the day before and nearly triple the number seen less than two weeks ago on March 5.
At least four of the region’s screened variant positive cases have been confirmed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first seen in the U.K. The others remain under investigation.
“The variants of concern are definitely expanding here,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, on Monday.
“We had just four cases of variants of concern only a couple of months ago… So that is really taking off. It’s becoming an important driver of the COVID pandemic numbers here in this community.”
The increasing number of screened variant cases comes as health officials sound the alarm over potential St. Patrick’s Day gatherings this week and as they continue to investigate a large community outbreak last week involving post-secondary gatherings.
Initially, officials reported Thursday that at least 22 people, most if not all Western University students, had contracted the virus after attending post-secondary gatherings at private homes between March 2 and 6. Officials said they had identified at least 10 separate gatherings.
On Monday, Mackie said the number of cases confirmed in connection with the outbreak had risen to 45.
“The majority of those additional cases, at least 26 of the additional cases, have come through secondary contacts, so people that didn’t attend the main event but were in contact with one of the people who did,” Mackie said.
“That outbreak is still growing in number, and we’re hopeful that what we’re doing mainly is documenting spread that has occurred, because we certainly have given guidance to the people involved, and all of the indications we have are that they are quarantining.”
During Thursday’s media briefing, Mackie said the health unit found that there were “some fraternity, sorority sort-of organizations involved,” but on Monday he declined to identify any specific organizations, citing privacy.
“That would be the level of information that might start identifying individuals. We don’t feel that there is adequate public health justification to do so,” he said.
Local city and health officials have asked Londoners to refrain from indoor gatherings for St. Patrick’s Day amid concerns of other possible outbreaks and a looming third wave driven by variants.
On Thursday, Mackie said he was hopeful the region wouldn’t see a significant case increase after St. Patrick’s.
“We are seeing gradually rising cases locally and across the province, so in that sense, yes, we do expect to see cases go up,” he said.
“But I’m quite hopeful that we won’t see a major spike related to St. Patrick’s Day.”
During the briefing, Josh Morgan, London’s deputy mayor, said city bylaw officers, London police, and health unit inspectors would be out in full force on St. Patrick’s. He noted that while current restrictions allow for indoor and outdoor gatherings, they still aren’t a good idea, “especially when alcohol is involved and when people aren’t distancing or wearing masks.”
“Ultimately and ideally, I’m hoping for a repeat of last year,” he said.
“To the credit of Londoners, but especially those at Western and Fanshawe, we had no issues whatsoever. People listened, they made smart decisions, and we avoided any outbreaks. That’s what I’m hoping for again this year, and I’m choosing to be optimistic.”
“I think what we’ve got going for us is that St Patrick’s Day is during the week this year, which is a plus,” added Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, warden of Middlesex County and mayor of Lucan Biddulph.
“And students, of course, are getting ready for the year end, so, of course, they’ll be diligently studying, I’m sure. But I think that we’ve got a handle on how we should behave, and I do have faith in our residents.”
The region’s seven-day case average stood at 18.85 as of Monday, while the 14-day average stood at 18.64.
At least 5,620 cases have been confirmed in the city of London since the pandemic began, while 251 have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, 209 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 96 in Thames Centre, 56 in Lucan Biddulph, 40 in Southwest Middlesex, 33 in North Middlesex, 14 in Adelaide Metcalfe and two in Newbury.
At least 121 cases have pending location information.
Hospitalizations
The number of COVID-19 inpatients in the care of London Health Sciences Centre stood at eight as of Monday, an increase of one from the organization’s previous update Friday.
There were no changes to the number of COVID-19 inpatients in critical or intensive care, or to the number of active cases involving LHSC staff. Both numbers were fewer than five.
The organization is tending to an outbreak at University Hospital in U4 – Medicine 1, also known as 4IP General Medicine.
In the meantime, no patient or staff cases were reported as being active at any St. Joseph’s Health Care London facility.
The organization has not issued an update on patient or staff cases since last Monday night and says it will once case numbers change.
At least 370 people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 67 who have needed intensive care.
Institutional outbreaks
No new institutional outbreaks have been declared and no outbreaks have resolved.
An active outbreak remains in place at University Hospital in U4 – Medicine 1, also known as 4IP General Medicine.
The outbreak, declared March 12, is linked to fewer than five patient cases and fewer than five staff cases, LHSC says. Zero staff cases had been reported on Friday.
The same unit saw a significant outbreak from Nov. 10 to Dec. 29, 2020, a period in which the hospital had at least 13 outbreaks declared, of which five were directly linked to the initial 4IP General Medicine outbreak.
The 13 outbreaks were linked to at least 174 cases in total and 23 deaths, and prompted heightened health and safety protocols at the facility, protocols which were implemented in late November and which remain in place today.
“We want to assure our community that we are doing everything that we can to contain and resolve this outbreak,” said Carol Young-Ritchie, executive vice-president, chief clinical officer and chief nursing officer at LHSC, during Thursday’s briefing.
“We do not want, nor do we expect to see a repeat of the outbreak situation that occurred towards the end of last year.”
LHSC completed prevalence screening of patients and staff on the affected unit over the weekend, and moved medicine patients identified of high-risk exposure to private rooms, she said.
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“Our emergency departments are open and safe, and we would ask people to not delay in seeking emergency care if needed.”
A potential cause of the recent outbreak was not immediately available, but Young-Ritchie says LHSC knows staff did not come to work symptomatic, adding “we are not seeking to place blame on any individual.”
At least 489 physicians, 504 residents, and 3,049 LHSC staff have received an initial dose of vaccine, Young-Ritchie said.
The hospital outbreak is among eight active institutional outbreaks in the region.
- March 12 at Dearness Home (2E/2W)
- March 12 at University Hospital (U4-Medicine 1/4IP General Medicine)
- March 11 at Glendale Crossing (Brighton)
- March 6 at Fox Hollow Retirement Residence (2nd, 3rd, 4th floors)
- March 5 at Meadow Park Care Centre (Pink Unit)
- March 4 at Strathmere Lodge (Bear Creek, Sydenham)
- Feb. 28 at Richmond Woods (facility)
- Feb. 24 at Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence (facility)
At least 110 institutional outbreaks have been declared in the region since the pandemic began last March, with at least 82 at seniors’ facilities.
Elsewhere, a non-institutional outbreak is still active at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, linked to at least 29 staff and 28 inmate cases.
One new active inmate case was reported at the jail as of Thursday last week, up from zero the day before. No staff cases were considered active as of Wednesday, according to a provincial spokesperson. Updated figures were not immediately available.
Elsewhere, a non-institutional outbreak is active at Western University’s Essex Hall resident.
Schools
At least two school cases have been reported, including one which has resulted in an outbreak declaration.
One case was reported at Regina Mundi Catholic College by the London District Catholic School Board, while the other was reported at Wilberforce Public School in Lucan Biddulph.
It leaves at least seven active school cases in London-Middlesex. A full list can be found on the health unit website.
The new Wilberforce case comes on top of a previously active case at the school. The health unit has declared an outbreak there as a result.
The outbreak is one of two active in the region, with the other located at Bonaventure Meadows Public School, declared March 5. As of Monday, the school has no active cases.
Two other outbreaks, at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School and St. Mark Catholic School, were both resolved over the weekend.
Overall, the health unit says at least 240 school and child care centre cases have been reported during the pandemic.
As of Monday, no child care centre cases were listed as being active.
In the post-secondary world, an outbreak remains active at Western University’s Essex Hall residence, declared on March 2.
Vaccinations and Testing
Local health officials expect the region’s third mass vaccination clinic to open later this week.
During Monday’s media briefing, Dr. Chris Mackie said the clinic, located at the North London Optimist Centre, will open on Thursday.
“We have had the first doses of the Moderna vaccine come into our community. Those will be going out this week, primarily through the new clinic,” Mackie said.
The new clinic will start off administering roughly 400 vaccines per day due to supply limits, but can theoretically ramp up to a maximum capacity of around 2,000 vaccines per day like the clinic at the Western Fair District Agriplex. The clinic at the Caradoc Community Centre can administer up to 550 vaccines per day, Mackie said.
More than 50,000 initial doses have been administered locally so far to those eligible.
Mackie noted that the North London Optimist Centre clinic will be administering the Moderna vaccine “at least for the first couple of weeks.”
“After that, it will depend on whether we’re getting more Moderna or more Pfizer in a given week. We’ll adjust the vaccine allocations to the different clinics depending on what’s available, what’s needed,” he said.
Vaccine appointment bookings can be made via the local online system covidvaccinelm.ca or by calling 226-289-3560 between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. seven days a week.
A fourth vaccination clinic is planned to open at Earl Nichols Recreation Centre. When, however, remains unclear.
“We, at this point, have had to delay the opening of the fourth clinic at Earl Nichols, which we had hoped would be by the end of this month, but at the moment, it doesn’t look like we’ll have enough vaccine supply to open that fourth clinic,” Mackie said.
Like the North London Optimist Centre and the Western Fair District Agriplex, the Earl Nichols clinic will have a capacity of up to 2,000 doses per day.
Last week, the health unit opened vaccinations to all remaining health-care workers defined as “very high priority” by the province, along with adults 16 and older who are chronic home care recipients, and announced the delaying of follow-up doses for most people.
During Thursday’s briefing, Mackie said he anticipated those 75 and older would be eligible for the vaccine soon, “certainly by the end of the month.” The health unit hopes to enter Phase 2 of the province’s rollout in early April, he added.
The region’s two main assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, remain open and operating by appointment.
The Carling Heights site saw an average of 399 daily visits between March 7 and 12, while Oakridge Arena saw an average of 330.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.1 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, up from 0.7 the week before.
At least 8,819 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 10,490 the week prior.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting 1,268 new cases of COVID-19 today and nine more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said today there are 366 new cases in Toronto, 220 in Peel Region, and 147 in York Region.
The province says more than 33,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Sunday’s daily report.
A total of 1,191,553 vaccine doses have been given in Ontario.
Error messages and other issues were reported Monday after Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine booking system saw tens of thousands of residents log on to schedule shots for those aged 80 and up.
The online booking system went live at 8 a.m., and the site showed more than 8,000 people in the queue for an appointment a few minutes later, with an estimated wait time of about an hour.
The lineup appeared to grow quickly, with some who went on the site shortly afterwards reporting a longer estimated wait time.
Qualifying residents can visit the online portal or call a hotline to book their appointment.
Ontario’s Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to request for comment on the system’s launch or the issues that had been reported.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a social media message Monday morning that currently, appointments are only available for Ontario residents 80 and older.
Elgin and Oxford
Nine new coronavirus cases have been reported in Elgin-Oxford, officials with Southwestern Public Health reported Monday.
It brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,635, of which 2,507 have been resolved, an increase of three from the day before.
At least 67 deaths have been reported, most recently on Feb. 20.
The most recent provincial data shows the region has seen at least 17 screened variant positive cases as of Sunday, an increase of seven from the day before.
At least two of the 17 cases have been confirmed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K., while the rest remain under investigation.
Health unit figures peg 61 cases as being active in the region as of Monday. At least 28 of those active cases are located in Woodstock, while 18 are in Aylmer and four in Norwich Township.
One person is listed as being in the hospital, in intensive care.
The region is in the orange-restrict level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.
Information on the local vaccination campaign can be found on the health unit’s website.
No new school cases have been reported. At least eight remain active in the region, including four at St. Michael’s Catholic School in Woodstock, which has closed temporarily due to an outbreak declaration. At least one case there is linked to a variant of concern.
Elsewhere, three cases are active at St. Patrick’s Catholic Elementary School, also in Woodstock, while one case is active at Emily Stowe Public School in Norwich.
An outbreak also remains active at Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ont.
The outbreak has been linked to at least 117 cases, of which 16 remained active as of Monday, a provincial spokesperson said.
Classes at the school have been suspended until at least March 24, the spokesperson said, adding no variants of concern are linked to the outbreak.
Meantime, new institutional outbreaks have been declared in the region. One is active at Arches Transitional Bed Program in Woodstock.
The health unit says a total of 532 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, while 454 have been in Aylmer, 434 in St. Thomas and 338 in Tillsonburg.
Elsewhere, 206 cases have been in Norwich, 162 in Bayham, 117 in Ingersoll, 109 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 57 in Zorra, 56 in Blandford-Blenheim, 47 in South-West Oxford, 46 in Central Elgin, 25 in Southwold, 23 in Dutton/Dunwich, 20 in West Elgin and eight in Malahide.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 0.9 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, down from 1.6 per cent as of the week before.
At least 3,739 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 4,773 the week before.
Huron and Perth
Ten new coronavirus cases were reported Monday by officials with Huron Perth Public Health.
The update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 1,386, of which 1,313 have resolved, an increase of six from the health unit’s previous update Saturday.
At least 50 deaths have been reported, most recently on March 1.
The health unit says eight of Monday’s new cases were reported in Stratford while one each was reported in Bluewater and Perth South.
At least 23 cases are active in the region, with three people currently hospitalized. At least 16 of Huron-Perth’s active cases are in Stratford.
The region has recorded at least two presumptive positive variant cases, health officials said Thursday. Both are undergoing genomic sequencing.
The region is in the yellow-protect level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.
Local officials say vaccination appointment bookings will continue to be made through Huron Perth Public Health despite the launch of the provincial system.
“HPPH has a self-established booking tool and call centre, and so will continue for the time being to book appointments for COVID-19 vaccination clinics.”
Those looking to book a vaccination appointment are asked to do so via the health unit’s booking website, or by calling 1-833-753-2098.
More information on the local vaccination campaign, including eligibility, can be found on the health unit’s website.
No new school cases were reported in the region as of early Monday afternoon.
Two were listed as active under the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, with one located at St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School and the other at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School.
No new outbreaks have been declared at any local long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, or schools. None are active at any of those locations.
One outbreak is active at an unspecified workplace, the health unit says.
Health unit figures show at least 554 cases have been reported in Perth County during the pandemic, including 348 in North Perth and 138 in Perth East.
Elsewhere, 456 cases have been reported in Huron County, including 101 in South Huron and 101 in Huron East. At least 344 cases have been reported in Stratford and 32 in St. Marys.
According to new figures released Thursday, the region’s test positivity rate was 1.0 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, up from 0.8 per cent the week before.
Roughly 2,702 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 3,319 a week earlier.
Sarnia and Lambton
Twenty-nine new coronavirus cases were reported Monday in Lambton County by local health officials.
In addition, four new screened variant positive cases have been reported and more than two dozen school cases reported since Friday.
The updates come as the region moved from red-control to grey-lockdown overnight.
It brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,409, of which 2,188 have resolved, an increase of 25 from the day before. At least 46 deaths have been reported, most recently on Feb. 17.
As of Monday, 175 cases were listed as active in Lambton. Six people were listed as being in the care of Bluewater Health for COVID-19, unchanged from the day before.
Lambton Public Health, which covers all of Lambton County, is the only public health unit in southern Ontario other than Peel and Toronto to be in grey-lockdown.
Officials say the lockdown is a “declaration of emergency” after weekly case numbers rose sharply among residents under age 50.
In a message to Premier Doug Ford, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley asked that, in the future, any region moved to lockdown should be given priority access to vaccines.
“It is a simple step your government can take immediately that would alleviate and diminish the distress as we enter the ‘Grey Lockdown Zone’ and give people here optimism and hope for the future,” Bradley said.
The region has recorded at least 296 cases since the month began, more than the 261 recorded by the Middlesex-London Health unit, which has more than 3.5 times the population.
In addition, the region has recorded at least 28 cases that have screened variant positive, up eight from Friday. All remain under investigation.
At least two of the region’s variant cases have been associated with Brooke Central Public School in Alvinston, which has an active outbreak.
Information on the impacts of grey-lockdown can be found on the province’s website.
At least 25 new school cases have been reported since Friday at 11 schools in Lambton County.
There are at least 71 active school cases in the region as of Monday, according to the most recent figures published by the Lambton Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
Full lists can be found on their respective websites, linked above.
Ten of the 25 recent cases were reported at North Lambton Secondary School where an outbreak has been declared. The school has closed temporarily.
Elsewhere, four cases were at Lambton Central Collegiate & Vocational Institute and two each were at King George VI Public School – Sarnia and Northern Collegiate Institute & Vocational School.
One case each was reported at Brooke Central Public School, Cathcart Boulevard Public School, Errol Road Public School, Grand Bend Public School, Kinnwood Central Public School, Sacred Heart Catholic School, and St. Patrick’s Catholic High School.
The case at Brooke Central is that school’s seventh. The school is under an outbreak declaration and has closed temporarily. At least two cases were found to involve variants of concern.
Outbreaks are also still active at Sacred Heart School and Queen Elizabeth II Public School – Sarnia.
Meantime, no new institutional outbreaks have been declared and none have resolved.
Ten outbreaks are active in the region. They include the four previously mentioned school outbreaks, as well as four outbreaks at seniors’ facilities, one at a shelter, and one at a workplace.
The active seniors’ facility outbreaks were declared on:
- March 11 at Trillium Villa in Sarnia (one staff case)
- March 11 at Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia (one staff case)
- March 9 at Landmark Village in Sarnia (one staff case)
- March 7 at Lambton Meadowview Villa in Petrolia (one staff case)
The shelter outbreak, meantime, is linked to six resident and three staff cases, while the unnamed workplace outbreak is tied to eight cases.
The health unit says the county’s test positivity rate was 3.1 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, up from 1.7 per cent the week prior.
At least 3,959 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 4,438 a week earlier.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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