Jump to: Hospitalizations – Outbreaks – Schools – Vaccinations and Testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton
The number of new COVID-19 cases in London and Middlesex plummeted on Monday.
Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 27 new cases, which is the region’s smallest update since mid-March.
For the past week, the region’s daily case updates usually sat around 100 cases.
No new deaths and 83 recoveries were also reported Monday.
This update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 11,213, of which 10,140 have been resolved.
At least 210 deaths have been reported during the pandemic to date for the region.
The health unit says at least 863 cases are active in London-Middlesex as of Monday.
Of these, 721 cases have been reported since the start of May.
Of the 27 new cases, all are from London.
The number of variant cases recorded in the region rose by 104 on Monday, to a total of at least 2,028.
Nearly all of the region’s confirmed/presumed* variant cases — 2,011 — have involved the B.1.1.7 variant. Sixteen have involved the P.1 variant first detected in Brazil, and one, reported last week, the B.1.617 variant, first detected in India.
- Positive COVID-19 cases undergo initial screening for spike protein mutations common to variants (N501Y, E484K and K417N), and if found to have one or more, undergo further genomic analysis to determine the specific variant involved (B.1.1.7, B.1.351 or P.1) — a process that can take up to two weeks.
- The province has stopped conducting genomic analysis on cases that screen positive for just N501Y. Those cases are presumed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, as the variant has only been associated with that mutation.
- Cases that screen positive for either E484K or K417N are still being sent for genomic analysis as they have been associated with the B.1.351 and P.1 variants, first detected in South Africa and Brazil, respectively.
A separate tally from the health unit shows at least 281 cases in the region have screened positive for a spike protein mutation that is consistent with one or more variants.
At least 150 of them are in the process of genomic analysis, as they screened positive for the E484K mutation.
An additional 131 cases were initially found to have just the N501Y mutation, but since they have not been ruled out for E484K, they are not being presumed to be B.1.1.7 variants yet, and added to the main variant tally. It’s unclear if or when the cases may be added.
A total of 10,077 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 344 have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, 322 cases have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 145 in Thames Centre, 69 in Lucan Biddulph, 56 in Southwest Middlesex, 54 in North Middlesex, 15 in Adelaide Metcalfe and three in Newbury.
At least 128 cases have pending location information.
Hospitalizations
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) said 89 COVID-19 patients were in its care as of Monday.
This includes 44 in intensive care. At least 31 patients are transferred from a different region.
At least six staff cases are active, LHSC says, a decline of two from Friday.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s last update on April 26 said at least five staff cases were active within the organization.
LHSC, like several other hospitals in the region, including St. Thomas and Stratford, have been receiving patients from hard-hit Toronto-area hospitals to keep them from becoming overwhelmed.
To deal with the surge, LHSC has opened at least 25 additional critical care beds over the last several weeks, and has cut its surgical volume in half to free up space and staffing resources.
At least three of the additional critical care beds are in Children’s Hospital’s pediatric critical care unit. Adult patients were in the unit as of last week, but officials would not say how many, citing privacy.
Institutional outbreaks
No new outbreaks have been declared at local seniors’ facilities.
Six outbreaks remain active at three retirement homes:
- Kensington Village Retirement (Canterbury area, first floor)
- Dearness Home (5 East)
- Glendale Crossing (Lambeth, Westminster, Glanworth)
It’s unclear how many cases are linked to each facility. The MLHU has not made that information public.
At least 821 cases and 107 deaths have been linked to long-term care and retirement homes during the pandemic.
Elsewhere, a non-institutional outbreak is also active at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre.
The outbreak has been active since Jan. 18, and has seen at least 62 inmate cases and 43 staff cases reported at that time.
As of Wednesday, at least three inmate cases were active, an increase of two from Tuesday, the most recent provincial data shows.
It’s unclear if any other non-institutional outbreaks or workplace outbreaks are active in the region, as MLHU only reports outbreaks in settings such as child care, education, and health care.
Schools
No new school cases were reported Monday.
One outbreak located at Sir Arthur Currie Public School is still active. The case was reported late Wednesday by the Thames Valley District School Board.
At least 351 cases have been reported involving local elementary and secondary schools.
Earlier last week, the Thames Valley District School Board announced that parents and guardians now had until June 1 to decide whether their child should learn in-person or remotely next year.
Dr. Chris Mackie said Thursday that he was recommending parents choose in-person learning, citing the low rate of COVID-19 in students locally, and recent news involving the vaccine and children.
At least five cases are linked to London Bridge: Rowntree Park Early Childhood Learning Centre. An outbreak declaration is also active there.
Elsewhere, all residence outbreaks have been declared over at Western University.
The last outbreak to be declared over was at Perth Hall. It was declared active on April 8 and involved at least 31 cases, according to the health unit.
Eight student residence outbreaks have been reported at Western since late March, linked to a total of at least 196 cases.
Vaccinations and Testing
Starting Tuesday, May 11, the MLHU will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all individuals with at-risk health conditions such as dementia, diabetes and sickle cell disease, as well as essential workers who cannot work from home.
The health unit says it will expand eligibility to all those 40 years of age and older on Thursday, May 13.
Additionally, people who fall under the first of two provincially designated groups of essential workers who can’t work from home are also now able to book a spot.
Eligible residents are asked to visit the local vaccine booking website, or call 226-289-3560 to book an appointment at one of the region’s mass vaccination clinics. Online appointments are encouraged due to the high call volume.
People aged 40 and older are eligible to get the AstraZeneca shot through some local pharmacies as part of the province-run program. Residents are asked to book a spot with the pharmacies themselves.
The province’s updated vaccine timeline, released last week, aims to have all Ontarians 18 and older eligible as of the week of May 24.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said Wednesday the province will soon expand its rollout to include kids aged 12 to 15 years old after Health Canada authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for that age group.
Three mass vaccination clinics remain in operation in London-Middlesex, but with an expected bump in vaccine doses this month and next, officials expect to open the fourth this month at Earl Nichols Arena. A date for its opening will be released this week.
Ontario is expecting to receive large vaccine shipments soon, mostly from Pfizer. The province is set to receive over four million of those doses in May and more than 3.7 million in June.
Ontario is also now expecting an additional shipment of approximately 388,000 Moderna doses in May. A shipment of 116,000 Johnson & Johnson shots is also expected to arrive in May, and the province said it will share more information on the use of that vaccine soon.
Those looking to get tested for COVID-19 can still visit the region’s two main assessment centres, at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, which remain open and are operating by appointment.
The London-Middlesex region has seen more than 190,000 vaccine doses administered.
The tally includes doses handed out through mass vaccination clinics, mobile clinics, pharmacies and primary care settings.
At least 22,000 doses of AstraZeneca have been administered locally at pharmacies, and around 6,000 through primary care settings.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting 2,716 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The provincial total now stands at 495,019.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,327 as 19 more deaths were recorded.
Meanwhile, 454,701 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 92 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 3,110 from the previous day.
The seven-day average has now reached 3,017, down from Sunday at 3,120, and is down from last week at 3,577. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 3,400.
Officials have listed breakdown data for the new variants of concern detected so far in the province which consist of the B.1.1.7 (the one first detected in the United Kingdom), B.1.351 (first detected in South Africa), P.1 (first detected in Brazil), as well as mutations that have no determined lineage.
The B.1.1.7 variant is currently the dominating known strain at 93,263 variant cases, which is up by 1,639 since the previous day. There are 511 B.1.351 variant cases, which is up by 111, and 1,558 P.1 variant cases, which is up by 329.
Elgin and Oxford
Southwestern Public Health is reporting a new COVID-19-related death, 58 new cases and 41 recoveries since its last update on Friday.
The region’s case tally stands at 3,567, of which 3,352 have been resolved.
At least 77 deaths have been reported.
At least 138 cases were active in the region, with 34 in Woodstock, 30 in Tillsonburg and 30 in St. Thomas, the health unit says.
At least 16 people from SWPH were in hospital as of Monday, with eight of them in intensive care.
The number of variant cases, and cases which have screened positive for a mutation consistent with a variant, stands at 584. At least 93 are active.
At least 504 of the cases have either been confirmed to be or are presumed to be the B.1.1.7 variant, while two cases have been confirmed to be the P.1 variant.
At least 65 cases have screened positive for the E484K spike protein mutation, which has been associated with the P.1 variant, and the B.1.351 variant. Those cases are undergoing genomic analysis.
Officials with SWPH say they have launched a weekly “Same Day Vaccination List” in an effort to obtain the names of vaccine-eligible people they could call to fill a freed-up appointment slot at the last minute.
Residents will need to provide their name, contact information, date of birth, and preferred location, as well as the days they are available to get themselves to a clinic within 30 minutes of a phone call from the health unit.
“Once they are on the list, SWPH will call on a first-come, first-served basis when doses become available as the week goes on,” read a health unit release.
The list will reset on a weekly basis, meaning people will need to add their names again each Monday for that week. Those interested can sign up on the health unit website.
People 50 and older, and people turning 50 this year, are currently eligible for the vaccine, as are residents who fall under Group 1 of essential workers who can’t work from home, and people who fall under previously identified eligible groups.
People in the N5H postal code, centred around Aylmer, are eligible if they are 18 or older. The region is a designated COVID-19 hot spot. People from N5H must show proof of age and address at the vaccination clinic.
Eligible residents are asked to visit the area’s vaccine booking site or call 226-289-3560.
Roughly 66,500 SWPH residents have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, about 34 per cent of the total population.
Vaccinations are also ongoing at some local pharmacies for people 40 and older as part of the provincial pilot program. Appointments must be made with the pharmacy itself.
Two institutional outbreaks are active.
An outbreak at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital has seen 10 cases among residents and five cases among staff.
At Caressant Care Nursing Home in Woodstock, four residents and six staff have tested positive.
A new school-related case was reported by the Thames Valley District School Board. It involves a case at Harrisfield Public School in Ingersoll.
The health unit says at least 787 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, followed by 656 in St. Thomas, 509 in Aylmer, and 450 in Tillsonburg.
Elsewhere, at least 234 have been in Norwich Township, while 184 have been in Bayham, 171 in Ingersoll, 137 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 87 in Central Elgin, 83 in Blandford-Blenheim, 75 in Zorra, 68 in South-West Oxford, 45 in Dutton/Dunwich, 34 in West Elgin, 28 in Southwold and 18 in Malahide.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 3.2 per cent as of the week of April 25. The figure is down from 3.5 the week prior.
Huron and Perth
Huron Perth Public Health has reported 40 new COVID-19 cases and 12 recoveries since its last update on Friday.
The region’s case tally sits at 1,654. At least 1,531 cases have resolved, while at least 53 deaths have been reported, most recently on May 3.
At least 70 cases are active in Huron-Perth, with at least 20 of them in Stratford and 16 in South Perth.
Five people are in hospital, the health unit says.
The number of variant cases, and cases that have screened positive for a mutation consistent with a variant, stands at 156. At least 45 variant cases are active.
As of Friday, at least 68 of the cases either been confirmed to be or are presumed to be the B.1.1.7 variant.
More than 52,151 people from Huron-Perth have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, the health unit says.
As of Thursday, people 50 and older, and people turning 50 this year, are now eligible, as are residents who fall under Group 1 of essential workers who can’t work from home, as defined by the province.
Those looking to book an appointment are asked to do so via the local booking system or by calling 1-833-753-2098.
More information on the local vaccine campaign and eligibility can be found on the health unit’s website.
Elsewhere, several local pharmacies are still offering vaccine doses of AstraZeneca. Bookings should be done with the pharmacies themselves.
Two new school cases were reported at Anne Hathaway Public School in Stratford on May 7.
Lists of school-related COVID-19 cases can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.
One outbreak remains active at a long-term care home. Declared on April 30 at Fordwich Village in Howick, the outbreak is linked to two staff cases.
Elsewhere, three outbreaks are active at unnamed workplaces, while one is active at an unnamed congregate living setting, the health unit says.
A total of 645 cases have been reported in Perth County, with 401 in North Perth and 149 in Perth East, while 555 have been reported in Huron County, with 128 in South Huron and 107 in Huron East.
Stratford has reported at least 414 in total, while St. Marys has seen 40.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.0 per cent the week of April 25, about the same as the week before.
Sarnia and Lambton
Lambton Public Health reported four new COVID-19 cases and six recoveries on Monday.
It brings the region’s pandemic case total to 3,332, of which 3,194 have resolved.
At least 56 deaths have been reported, most recently on April 24.
Eighty-two cases remain active, and at least 14 COVID-19 patients are in the care of Bluewater Health, one fewer than the day before.
The number of variant cases, and cases that have screened positive for a mutation consistent with a variant, stands at 451.
As of Friday, at least 298 of the cases either been confirmed to be or are presumed to be the B.1.1.7 variant, according to Public Health Ontario. One case has been confirmed to be the P.1 variant.
- According to Public Health Ontario, the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant has been associated with the N501Y spike protein mutation, while variants B.1.351 and P.1, first detected in South Africa and Brazil, respectively, have been associated with mutations N501Y, E484K and K417N.
- As a result, any specimens screening positive N501Y and negative for E484K are presumed by the province to involve the B.1.1.7 variant and aren’t being sent for further genomic testing.
- Specimens that screen positive for either the E484K or K417N mutation will undergo genomic testing.
The health unit says more than 53,409 vaccine doses have been administered so far by the health unit, Bluewater Health, and primary care clinics and pharmacies.
As of Thursday, people 50 and older, and people turning 50 this year, are now eligible, as are residents who fall under Group 1 of essential workers who can’t work from home, as defined by the province.
Eligible residents are being encouraged to book appointments for the vaccine through the health unit’s website.
People with questions about the booking process can contact the health unit’s new call centre at 226-254-8222. The health unit says its main number, 519-383-8331, is still available to field other inquiries.
The AstraZeneca shot is continuing to be administered at some local pharmacies to people who are 40 and older as part of a provincial program. Bookings should be made with the pharmacies themselves.
Both the Lambton-Kent District School Board and St. Clair Catholic District School Board have paused the reporting of new cases during the remote learning period.
Four outbreaks are active as of Monday. Three outbreaks involve unnamed workplaces, linked to a total of 15 cases.
The other outbreak involves Afton Park Place, a long-term care home in Sarnia. It was declared on May 7 and involves two cases among patients and four cases among staff.
The health unit says the region’s positivity rate was 1.9 per cent as of the week of April 25.
— with files from Global News’ Matthew Trevithick, Gabby Rodrigues and Sawyer Bogdan, and The Canadian Press
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