London and Middlesex adds 126 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, 91 recoveries

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

The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 126 new coronavirus cases on Sunday.

This marks the fifth day in a row the London and Middlesex region has recorded a single-day COVID-19 case jump in the triple digits.

The region’s pandemic case tally is at 8,394, with 6,995 resolved cases, marking an increase of 91 from the previous day. At least 190 deaths have been reported, most recently April 3.

At least 1,209 cases were active in London-Middlesex as of Sunday, the health unit said.

The region has seen at least 1,202 cases since the start of the month, nearly as many as were recorded through the whole of March.

The local seven-day rolling case average stands at 113 as of Friday, up from 76 the seven days previous. At the same point a month ago, the seven-day average was around 18.

The local test positivity rate stood at 5.9 per cent during the week of March 28, based on 10,313 tests, about the same as the provincial rate. The tally is up from 3.2 a week earlier (9,587 tests) and 1.6 two weeks previous (9,343 tests).

Of the 126 cases reported Sunday, the health unit says 113 are from London.

Thirty-two cases involve people 19 or younger; 33 are in their 20s; 13 are in their 30s; 14 are in their 40s; 14 are in their 50s; 10 are in their 60s; eight are in their 70s; and three are in their 80s.

Health unit data shows that people under 30 account for 767 of the region’s 1,202 cases this month, or roughly 64 per cent.

At least 697 of the region’s cases have screened positive for one or more spike gene mutations consistent with a variant of concern, an increase of 152 from the day before.

Another nine have been confirmed through further genomic analysis to be the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K. That tally is unchanged from the day before.

Of the 697 cases that have screened positive for a spike gene mutation — but have not undergone further genomic analysis — roughly 137 are presumed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, as they were found to have only one particular spike gene mutation — N501Y.

At least four cases have screened positive for the E484K spike gene mutation, which has been associated with the B.1.351 and P.1 variants, first detected in South Africa and Brazil, respectively, while 18 have screened positive for both the E484K and N501Y mutations.

Three cases have screened positive for both the E484K+ and N501Y- while 383 have tested positive for both the N501Y+ and E484K-.

According to the health unit, people under 30 account for roughly 71 per cent of all cases that have screened variant positive in the region so far during the pandemic.

Upwards of 38.4 per cent of cases whose episode date was during the week of March 28 screened variant positive, compared to 13.8 per cent the week of March 7, health unit figures show.

(The MLHU defines “episode date” as being the earliest date reported for the onset date of symptoms, the date in which the person was tested, or the date the case was reported to public health. The “reported date,” which is used for daily case numbers, is the date on which MLHU was first notified of the case, regardless of when they became ill or were tested.)

At least 7,427 cases have been confirmed in the city of London since the pandemic began, while 300 have been in Middlesex Centre.

Elsewhere, 257 cases have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 106 in Thames Centre, 60 in Lucan Biddulph, 49 in North Middlesex, 49 in Southwest Middlesex, 14 in Adelaide Metcalfe and two in Newbury.

At least 130 cases have pending location information.

Hospitalizations

Thirty-one COVID-19 inpatients were listed as being in the care of London Health Sciences Centre as of Friday.

Of those, 14 were in critical or intensive care.

Active staff cases number eight, the organization reported.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London listed no COVID-19 patients in the care of St. Joseph’s Hospital.

At least 29 cases are active within the organization, however, with eight patient and 14 staff cases linked to an outbreak at Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care Building, and seven that are not outbreak-related. Their data was last updated on April 6.

Rising case counts across Ontario have been putting increasing strain on the province’s hospital system.

On Friday, Ontario hospitals were instructed to begin ramping down elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures next week to ensure they have the capacity to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients.

In a memo Thursday, the president and CEO of Ontario Health — which oversees the province’s health system — told hospitals to make the move to preserve critical care and human resources, starting Monday.

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In an interview with 980 CFPL’s Mike Stubbs on Friday, Dr. Adam Dukelow, chief medical officer with LHSC, said that moving operating room staff to open up ICU beds will result in lower local surgical capacity.

“We have to prioritize those that are most emergent and urgent in order to free up staff to go take care of COVID patients in our ICUs,” he said.

“The urgent and emergent things… are cancers and cardiac surgeries, and there’s many, many more. The less urgent, we’ll call them, or the scheduled activities sometimes are things like joint replacements, let’s say, might be something that will be postponed.”

Urgent and emergent procedures that are deemed priority level one and level two will still be done, he says, along with priority three procedures that “have been waiting for a significant amount of time.”

Dukelow adds it’s the most significant redeployment of resources the organization has seen so far during the pandemic.

“We’ve redeployed people to the assessment centres and vaccine centres and other areas over time, but this is the most significant redeployment we’ll have to do related to direct patient care for COVID cases,” Dukelow said.

The highest number of COVID-19 inpatients seen at London Health Sciences Centre on a given day was 57 on Dec. 7, according to data from the Ministry of Health. At St. Joseph’s Hospital, the highest tally was 12, seen from Dec. 31, 2021, to Jan. 4.

LHSC surgical volumes are down about 5,000 “if you compare the COVID year versus the year previous to that,” Dukelow said.

“It’s probably somewhat less than that given that screening wasn’t done and referrals weren’t made for a period of time, but the high end would be 5,000.”

At least 403 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in London and Middlesex during the pandemic, including 71 who have needed intensive care.

Outbreaks

No new institutional outbreaks have been declared, and none are resolved.

As of Sunday, two institutional outbreaks are listed active in the region, both at Parkwood Institute’s Mental Health Care Building.

One was declared March 30 in its G5 unit, while one was declared April 3 in G2 and H2.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London says the Parkwood outbreaks are linked to at least eight patient cases and 14 staff cases.

Elsewhere, a non-institutional outbreak remains active at the city’s jail.

At least five inmate cases remain active at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre as of Wednesday, according to provincial data, down from nine on Monday. There was just one active inmate case on March 31.

The EMDC outbreak was declared on Jan. 18, and has been associated with at least 37 inmate and 29 staff cases. The number of current active staff cases at the jail was not immediately available.

Elsewhere, non-institutional outbreaks are also active at eight separate Western University student residences. Details are below.

Schools

Global News does not update school information on weekends.

At least 21 local school-linked cases are considered active. A full list can be found on the MLHU website. Outbreaks are still listed as active involving four local schools:

• Holy Rosary Catholic School
• Northridge Public School
• Riverbend Academy
• Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School.

The health unit says that at least 284 cases have been reported at local elementary and secondary schools during the pandemic.

Local schools are staying open throughout the stay-at-home order.

An additional 37 cases have been reported at child care and early years settings. Four were active Saturday at two facilities, according to the health unit.

At least two cases are associated with Kidorable Child Care Centre, which has seen an outbreak declared, according to the health unit. One case is also active at Misty’s Home Daycare.

In the post-secondary world, two new outbreaks have been declared at student residences in London — one on Western University’s main campus, and one at the Western-affiliated King’s University College.

The two new outbreaks are located at Perth Hall and at King’s Commons, according to the health unit.

They’re the seventh and eighth residence outbreaks to be declared since March 25 involving Western University, all of which remain active, declared on:

• April 8 at King’s Common (King’s University College)
• April 8 at Perth Hall
• April 4 at Essex Hall
• April 2 at Delaware Hall
• March 30 at Elgin Hall
• March 31 at Medway-Sydenham Hall
• March 26 at Saugeen-Maitland Hall
• March 25 at Ontario Hall

As of Friday, seven of Western’s eight first-year student residences are currently experiencing an active outbreak.

Updated case numbers were not immediately available for the eight outbreaks. The health unit says it will release that information on Monday.

At least 89 cases had been confirmed as of Tuesday involving the six previously declared outbreaks in Delaware, Elgin, Essex, Medway-Sydenham, Ontario, and Saugeen-Maitland halls.

The total number of cases associated with Western will be updated by the MLHU during Monday’s media briefing.

In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Western moved the majority of in-person classes and final exams online starting Monday, and encouraged students in residence to move out early if possible, offering prorated refunds to those who do before April 11.

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Vaccinations and Testing

The London-Middlesex region surpassed 100,000 vaccinations as of Thursday.

Bookings for vaccinations began early this week for people 65 and older, and are expected to expand to people 60 and older as early as next week, pending vaccine availability.

Three mass vaccination clinics are operating in the region, and there are plans for a fourth. Low vaccine supply has kept it from opening.

Eligible residents are asked to visit the local vaccine booking website or call 226-289-3560 to book an appointment. Online appointments are encouraged due to the high call volume.

More information on eligibility can be found on the MLHU’s website.

Meantime, people aged 55 and older can still be vaccinated through two local pharmacies, with more expected to come online soon.

London Mayor Ed Holder unveiled Thursday that the region was expecting a “significant increase” in the number of pharmacies offering doses as part of the provincially-run pilot.

“As well as my understanding these pharmacies will be spread out across all quadrants of the city, providing easier access for those who qualify,” Holder said.

Earlier in the week, Holder had criticized the province over the low number of initial pharmacies, as the number was similar to cities with much smaller populations.

“In addition, I’ve told (Premier Doug Ford) if there’s extra vaccine, London will take it. If there are communities or regions unable or incapable of effectively distributing what they’ve received, London will gladly take it,” he said.

Holder added he was “perplexed” as to why the province didn’t designate London, or a specific area of London, as a COVID-19 hot spot, adding he planned to talk to Ford about it.

Earlier this week, the province labelled dozens of postal codes across 13 Ontario health units as being hot spots, prioritizing them for more vaccine doses, and allowing for younger age groups to be immunized.

The only postal code listed as a hot spot near London-Middlesex is N5H in Elgin County, which is centred around Aylmer.

Dr. Mackie said the health unit was not consulted, and that such a designation is at the province’s discretion. He added they were looking into whether there is room for them to provide input.

“As much as the cases have really climbed here, we’re still well off where the GTA communities that are currently defined as hot spots are. As much as we wish cases were lower, we’re also very glad that they’re not at the same rates as Peel, Toronto, etc.”

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

According to the health unit, roughly 3.2 per cent of tests were coming back positive as of the week of March 21, up from 1.6 the previous week and 1.2 the week before that.

Ontario

Ontario reported 4,456 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 386,608.

It marks the largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases in Ontario since the pandemic began.

Twenty-one new deaths were also reported, bringing the provincial death toll to 7,552.

A total of 346,239 COVID-19 cases are considered resolved, which is up by 2,617 and is 89.6 per cent of all confirmed cases.

Nearly 56,400 additional tests were completed. Ontario has completed a total of 13,148,359 tests and 31,836 remain under investigation.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health does not report case numbers on weekends. The information below was last updated Friday.

Twenty-four new coronavirus cases have been reported in the Elgin-Oxford region, officials with Southwestern Public Health reported on Friday.

It brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,960, of which 2,768 have resolved. This marks an increase of 16 from the day before. At least 69 deaths have been reported, most recently on March 29.

The health unit says 123 cases are active in the region, with 36 in Woodstock, 24 in St. Thomas, and 19 in Aylmer.

Five people are currently hospitalized, including two who are in intensive care.

Meantime, the number of cases that have screened positive for a spike gene mutation common to a coronavirus variant has risen by five compared to the day before.

Of the 118 cases that have screened positive, six have been confirmed through further genomic analysis to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K., the health unit says.

At least 104 cases are presumed to be the B.1.1.7 variant as they screened positive for only one specific spike gene mutation, named N501Y.

The health unit says five cases, three active and two resolved, have screened positive for the E484K spike gene mutation. Another three, two active and one resolved, have screened positive for both E484K and N501Y mutations.

Genomic analysis is ongoing to determine the specific variants involved in those eight cases.

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During a media briefing Thursday, local health officials reported that roughly 25,000 residents in the health unit’s jurisdiction had seen at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

SWPH says people aged 60 and older will soon be eligible to book a vaccine at a local mass vaccination clinic, along with education staff who work with children who have special needs, and people with certain comorbidities as outlined in Phase 2 of the province’s vaccine rollout.

“While these groups are not yet eligible in our region due to vaccine supply, they will become eligible very soon,” said Dr. Joyce Lock, the region’s medical officer of health.

“We are starting to develop a registration process for essential workers so that when their turn comes, they will be able to make an appointment easily.”

Eligible residents are asked to visit the area’s vaccine booking site or call 226-289-3560 to book an appointment. Eligibility information can be found on the health unit website.

Lock added that doses are also being administered through at least one primary care practice in the region, and five local pharmacies as part of the province’s pilot program.

The pharmacies are immunizing people 50 and older with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Appointments should be made directly with a participating pharmacy.

Earlier this week, the postal code N5H, centred around Aylmer, was named a COVID-19 hot spot by the province — one of dozens across 13 public health units designated as such, and the only one in the London region.

The province says hot spot areas will be prioritized for more vaccine doses and will see younger age groups allowed to be immunized.

“Vaccinations are underway in that region, and we’re currently starting with large congregate settings such as the Ontario Police College,” Lock said of Aylmer, referring to the site of a recent large outbreak.

Lock later stated that the province made it clear the additional doses were being given to areas where people may be at higher risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19.

“We will be looking at our data from the last year at the type of cases and outbreaks we had within Aylmer and the region around it to determine where we could be most impactful in terms of administering additional doses of vaccine,” Lock said.

The Aylmer area saw a significant surge in cases late last summer along with the recent police college outbreak.

Health officials say they will also be looking to curb vaccine hesitancy in the postal code.

Data from ICES shows only six per cent of people in the N5H postal code (all age groups) had seen at least one dose as of March 29, the lowest in SWPH. The postal code N5C is the region’s second-lowest with 7.6 per cent.

On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said the province would begin vaccinating people aged 18 and older living in the designated hot spots over the next few weeks through mobile teams who will deliver doses in congregate settings, residential buildings, faith-based centres and large employers.

Regions will be selected based on patterns of transmission, severe illness and mortality from COVID-19, he said, with education workers in specific postal codes in Toronto and Peel starting next week, to be expanded to other hot spot areas as supply allows.

A local timeline remains murky.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure that in these vulnerable communities, everybody is eligible to get vaccine, and in that way, helping to protect those at-risk individuals the most. We will be trying to determine how we can be most impactful within the Aylmer area… and how and what age brackets would be the best to hit and what settings would be best to hit.”

The Ford government also announced earlier this week that its provincial booking system would begin allowing those in high-risk hot spots aged 50 and older to immunized at a local mass vaccination clinic starting on Friday.

In an email, a spokesperson with SWPH, which uses a local booking system co-run with the Middlesex-London Health Unit, said residents 50 and older in the N5H postal code wouldn’t be able to book a shot starting Friday, saying the health unit was still finalizing its strategy.

More information is expected next week.

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Neither the Thames Valley District School Board nor the London District Catholic School Board have reported new school-linked cases in the region.

Several cases linked to schools remain active. Full school case lists can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.

One new institutional outbreak has been declared in the region.

The outbreak is located at Metcalfe Gardens in St. Thomas and is associated with two staff cases.

It’s one of two active outbreaks in Elgin-Oxford.

The other is located at Caressant Care Bonnie Place, also in St. Thomas, and is associated with one resident and one staff case.

The health unit says a total of 631 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, while 485 have been in St. Thomas, 475 in Aylmer and 358 in Tillsonburg.

Elsewhere, 211 cases have been in Norwich, 166 in Bayham, 144 in Ingersoll, 120 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 68 in Central Elgin, 61 in Zorra, 60 in Blandford-Blenheim, 59 in South-West Oxford, 32 in Dutton/Dunwich, 26 in Southwold, 24 in West Elgin and 15 in Malahide.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at 2.2 per cent as of the week of March 28, the same as the week before, but up from 1.8 the week before that.

Huron and Perth

Huron Perth Public Health does not provide COVID-19 updates on Sundays.

As of Saturday, the region’s case tally stood at 1,460, of which 1,373 have resolved. At least 51 deaths have been reported, most recently on Tuesday.

At least 36 cases were active in the region, with 14 in Stratford alone. At least one person is in hospital.

The number of cases in the region that have screened positive for a spike gene mutation common to a coronavirus variant stands at 25.

At least six cases have been confirmed through further genomic analysis to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K., according to Public Health Ontario.

It’s unclear what spike gene mutations were detected during screening of the other cases. Such information may give an idea of what specific coronavirus variant may be involved. (The variant detected in the U.K., for example, is associated with the spike gene mutation N501Y, while the variants detected in Brazil and South Africa are associated with three mutations, including N501Y.)

According to the health unit, roughly 28,062 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Huron-Perth as of April 8, the most recent figures available. The tally includes first and second doses.

People aged 65 and older, and those turning 65 this year, are eligible as of this week to get a vaccine at a Huron-Perth vaccination clinic.

Those looking to book a vaccination appointment are asked to do so via the local booking system or by calling 1-833-753-2098.

More information on who is currently eligible can be found on the health unit’s website.

Local health officials say they will also connect with area school boards regarding the province’s announcement Wednesday to make education workers who “provide direct support to students with special education needs” vaccine-eligible over the April break.

Meantime, people aged 55 and older are still able to receive an Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the province’s ongoing pharmacy immunization program.

Local health units are not directly involved in the initiative. Residents are asked to contact the pharmacies directly. A list of local participating pharmacies can be found on the province’s website.

One outbreak is active in the region, located at an unnamed workplace, according to Huron Perth Public Health. No outbreaks are active at senior facilities, hospitals, schools, child-care centres, or in congregate living settings.

No new school cases have been reported. Two remain active in the region, one at St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School in Goderich and the other at Jeanne Sauvé Catholic Elementary School in Stratford.

At least 578 cases have been reported in Perth County, with 357 in North Perth and 138 in Perth East, while at least 474 have been reported in Huron County, with 107 in South Huron and 103 in Huron East.

Stratford has reported at least 371 in total, while St. Marys has seen 37.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at 0.9 per cent as of the week of March 28, up from 0.4 the week earlier.

Sarnia and Lambton

Lambton Public Health reported 16 new COVID-19 cases along with 17 recoveries on Sunday.

This brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 3,039, of which 2,851 have resolved. At least 52 deaths have been reported, most recently on Wednesday.

At least 136 cases are active in Lambton, with 10 listed in the care of Bluewater Health.

Lambton’s medical officer of health is calling for more vaccines for the region, saying they have more capacity than they have supply at this point.

“We are not the only region suffering from a lack of vaccine supply,” said Dr. Sudit Ranade, Medical Officer of Health for Lambton County.

“While we’ve been doing fairly well on the immunization front so far, our COVID case counts are still very concerning… We need a large influx of vaccines to keep our clinics running and most importantly, to keep our residents protected.”

The health unit reported the average supply of COVID-19 vaccines for March has been around 5,000 doses per week while the region has the capacity to take 10,000 doses per week through fixed and mobile clinics.

Until the supply increases, the health unit reported the Point Edward Arena “Hockey Hub” mass vaccination clinic will only run four days a week, rather than six.

Lambton Public Health does not update detailed information on weekends. The following information was last updated Friday.

One additional case has screened positive for one or more spike gene mutations associated with a known variant of concern.

So far, at least 175 cases have screened positive as such, with 28 since confirmed by genomic analysis to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K.

It’s unclear what spike gene mutation(s) were detected in the remaining cases, which may provide insight into what specific variant it may be. (The variant detected in the U.K., for example, is associated with mutation N501Y, while the variants detected in Brazil and South Africa are associated with three mutations, including N501Y.)

People 60 and older became eligible to book an appointment in the county earlier this week. Lambton uses the province’s online booking system, unlike Elgin-Oxford, Huron-Perth, and London-Middlesex which use their own.

People under 60 who have health conditions defined as ‘highest-risk’, ‘high-risk,’ and ‘at-risk’ by the province, along with one essential caregiver from each of those groups, are also eligible to pre-register for a vaccine.

More information can be found on the health unit’s website. Those eligible to for a vaccine are asked to visit the health unit’s vaccine webpage for details on how to book an appointment, or to call 519-383-8331.

Three pharmacies in Lambton are also offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to those 55 and older as part of the province-run pilot program. Residents are asked to book appointments with the pharmacies directly.

At least five new school cases have been reported in Lambton by the Lambton-Kent District School Board.

Two cases each are associated with Lambton Central Collegiate & Vocational Institute and Northern Collegiate Institute & Vocational School, while one is associated with Rosedale Public School.

The cases are among several that remain active involving county schools, according to figures from the Lambton-Kent District School Board and St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

Two school outbreaks remain active, both declared on April 1.

One involves École élémentaire Les Rapides, and is linked to three cases, while the other, involving London Road Elementary School, is linked to two cases.

Meantime, no new outbreaks at seniors’ facilities or in workplaces have been declared.

Two seniors’ facility outbreaks are active, declared on:

• March 23 at Rosewood Retirement Village in Sarnia (19 resident, two staff cases)
• March 19 Afton Park Place in Sarnia (two resident, three staff cases).

Four workplace outbreaks are active, declared between March 25 and April 7.

The names of the workplaces has not been released. They’re associated with between four and seven cases each.

The health unit says the county’s test positivity rate was 2.4 per cent the week of March 28, down from 3.3 the week before and 3.7 the week before that.

— With files from 980 CFPL’s Matthew Trevithick, Sawyer Bogdan and The Canadian Press