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Health officials in London-Middlesex reported one new death and 49 new COVID-19 cases in the region on Thursday.
The death, health officials said, involved a 24-year-old man. It’s the third death to be reported in the region during the pandemic involving someone in their 20s.
Health officials said the individual had yet to be vaccinated. Vaccine eligibility opened to all adults 18 and older on Tuesday of last week.
“On the question of underlying conditions, we don’t have more information on that at this point. What we do know is that there is a coroner’s investigation,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, during Thursday’s briefing.
“There is no doubt that COVID is a contributing cause of death. There may be others, and the coroner will determine.”
With Thursday’s update, the region’s pandemic total stands at 12,126, of which 11,476 have resolved, 50 more than the day before. At least 218 deaths have been reported.
At least 432 cases are active in the region, the health unit says.
London-Middlesex has recorded more than 1,636 cases this month, along with 18 deaths, three of which have involved people under the age of 50. One of them, reported May 6, involved 18-year-old Owen Brandies, who became the region’s youngest COVID-19-related death of the pandemic.
The rolling seven-day case average for London-Middlesex (May 20-26) is 43, down from 56 the seven days previous. A month ago (April 19-25), the average was 97.
Of the 49 new cases reported Thursday, 48 are from London while one is from elsewhere in Middlesex County.
Eighty-one per cent of the cases involve people under the age of 50. Nine involve people aged 19 or younger; 11 are in their 20s; 10 each are in their 30s and 40s; five are in their 50s; two are in their 60s; and two are 80 or older.
At least 17 cases are listed as being due to close contact with a confirmed case, while 11 cases have no known link, and five are due to outbreak. At least 16 cases are pending exposure source data.
The region has recorded its first confirmed case of the B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa. It’s among 29 new variant cases confirmed in the region Thursday, bringing the total tally to 2,946.
Two of the newly confirmed variant cases involved the B.1.617 variant, first identified in India. (The health unit dashboard notes that one involves the variant’s sub-lineage B.1.617.1, and the other sub-lineage B.1.617.2.)
The remaining 26 newly confirmed variant cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the U.K. That variant makes up a vast majority of the region’s overall variant case tally — 2,904.
At least 38 variant cases so far have involved the P.1 variant, first identified in Brazil, while three have involved the B.1.617 variant, and one the B.1.351 variant.
Variant cases have accounted for more than 80 per cent of cases every week this month, health unit data shows.
Meanwhile, at least 365 other cases were found to have a spike protein mutation consistent with one or more coronavirus variants. An undetermined number are currently under investigation.
During Thursday’s media briefing, London Mayor Ed Holder offered their condolences to the family and friend of the young man who died.
“These types of worst-case scenarios are happening with less frequency than we have seen during the first and second waves, though it’s a sobering reminder that even young people remain vulnerable to COVID-19, especially with these more transmissible variants,” Holder said.
“It was but a few short weeks ago where an 18-year-old young man from our community died after contracting the virus. It happens, and it can continue to happen so long as we have people who are not vaccinated.”
Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, implored young Londoners to get the shot.
“If you are a young person or you know somebody who is, please make sure that we can get as many young arms down to the clinics as possible,” Mackie said.
Mackie added that the region and province aren’t at a place yet where significant reopening can occur without risking a possible fourth wave, pointing to the health crisis unfolding in Manitoba.
“Manitoba has a rate of COVID right now that is as high as it ever been, higher than the rate in Ontario ever reached per-capita, and that’s in spite of very high vaccination rates,” Mackie said.
“We need to get vaccine rates high. Not just high, but even higher than anywhere else in Canada. And we also need to keep our public health measures in place at this time.”
A total of 10,949 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 361 have been in Middlesex Centre.
Elsewhere, 329 cases have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 154 in Thames Centre, 72 in Lucan Biddulph, 58 in North Middlesex, 54 in Southwest Middlesex, 15 in Adelaide Metcalfe and six in Newbury. At least 128 cases have pending location information.
Hospitalizations
At least 36 COVID-19 patients were listed as being in the care of London Health Sciences Centre as of Thursday, a decline of three from the day before.
Of those, 11 are in intensive care, four fewer from Wednesday.
LHSC notes that fewer than five COVID-19 patients from out of region are receiving acute care, and fewer than five are in ICU.
The number of out of region patients has slowly decreased over the last two weeks after surging in late April when hard-hit Toronto-area hospitals transferred patients elsewhere to maintain capacity.
Though the tally has decreased, LHSC officials say they have begun to accept patients from hard-hit Manitoba.
As of Monday, the number of patients coming from the west was below five, but further transfers were expected over the coming weeks.
The surge in COVID-19 patients late last month led to a directive from the province to halt non-urgent surgeries and procedures, a directive which was lifted last week.
LHSC’s chief medical officer, Dr. Adam Dukelow, said Monday that 10 of 15 operating rooms at University Hospital and 14 of 17 at Victoria had come back online.
He noted, however, that the organization would need to continue balancing surgical services with the need to maintain critical care capacity. During the patient surge, staff within LHSC were redeployed to help support ICU capacity.
At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, meanwhile, no COVID-19 patients were reported in their care at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Three staff cases are active within SJHCL as of Tuesday.
The health unit says at least 632 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 during the pandemic, including 107 who have needed intensive care.
Outbreaks
No new institutional outbreaks have been declared.
Three are still active in the region involving seniors’ facilities, including Kensington Village (first-floor long-term care), Kensington Village Retirement (Canterbury) and McGarrell Place (Windermere Way).
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Meanwhile, a months-long outbreak at the city’s jail remains active, however, no inmate cases are currently listed there.
The outbreak at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, declared on Jan. 18, has been linked to cases involving at least 62 inmates and 43 staff.
Schools
No new school cases have been reported.
One case remains active involving Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School. The school also has an active outbreak declaration, reported on Friday.
At least 354 cases have been reported involving local elementary and secondary schools during the pandemic.
It’s unclear whether students will return to classrooms by the end of next month.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford issued an open letter Thursday asking for input from doctors and educators as to whether or not schools should reopen amid the third wave.
Ontario parents, critics and experts have been calling for the resumption of in-person learning due to the detrimental effects of remote learning on students in regards to their mental health.
Ford asked for responses to be submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. and attached seven questions for the recipients to answer, including: “The modelling from the Ontario Science Table has suggested that reopening schools will lead to an increase in cases in the province of Ontario, is this acceptable and safe?”
Dr. Mackie said MLHU was among those who received the letter and who will be responding.
Meanwhile, at least nine cases are active in the region’s child-care sector involving two facilities.
Eight are linked to Simply Kids, two more than the day before. An active outbreak declaration has been in place since May 12.
Elsewhere, one case is active involving Kidorable Child Care Centre – Jim Ashton.
At least 105 cases have been reported during the pandemic involving child care and early-years settings.
In the post-secondary setting, Western University students will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine in order to live on campus, university officials announced Thursday.
Western says students will be required to have had at least one dose, and will be asked to get vaccinated before they arrive. Failing that, they will have two weeks following their move-in date to get the vaccine on campus.
Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or “other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code” can request accommodation.
The plan has been endorsed by the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the university said. More information will be given to students planning to live on campus in the coming days.
Outside of those living in residence, the university is also “strongly encouraging all members of the campus community to get vaccinated as soon as they can.”
At least eight student residence outbreaks on Western’s campus in late March and early April were linked to nearly 200 cases.
Vaccinations and testing
Local health officials say the London-Middlesex region will soon hit the 60 per cent mark when it comes to adults in the region who have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We were, as we reported on Monday, at about 53.5 per cent as of last week’s data, and we’re booking something in the range of five per cent of our population each week,” he said.
Four mass vaccination clinics are in operation in the region, vaccinating roughly 3,200 people per day, about half of the maximum potential capacity.
All people aged 12 and older are eligible to get the vaccine, with youth able to get the Pfizer shot.
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 four vaccination clinics. Online appointments are encouraged.
When it comes to second doses, certain individuals are able to get theirs earlier than the revised 16-week interval.
During Thursday’s briefing, Mackie was asked about news from the Toronto-area that the province had indicated it would shorten the intervals between first and second doses for all residents 80 and older.
Vaccines are currently being administered four months apart, with some exceptions, as noted above.
“We will not be able to move to rebooking folks over 80 in the next few days,” Mackie responded. “We are behind Toronto in terms of vaccination campaign for first doses, and there’s nobody that would argue that we should discontinue offering first doses in order to rebook,” he continued, adding that youth only recently became eligible.
“We really don’t have confidence that that message has reached the parents and adolescents in that group in order for them to really fully take advantage of the existing appointments available.”
The region is expecting to see roughly 25,000 doses of the Pfizer shot administered this week and for the next several weeks, according to the health unit.
For those who have only gotten their first shot, Mackie says people “should continue to act as if they’re unvaccinated,” when it comes to gatherings and other activities.
He noted that the region has good, but not excellent, vaccination coverage, and that COVID-19 continues to circulate within the community, largely as a result of more contagious variants which have comprised at least 80 per cent of the region’s caseload over the last several weeks.
“The vaccine isn’t perfect and if you end up taking actions or changing your behaviour in a way that puts you at higher risk and a lot more contacts, then you’re going to potentially reverse the benefit that the vaccine has created at least from the first dose.”
When it comes to AstraZeneca, first doses remain paused.
Ontario stopped giving out first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month after saying it was linked to an increased risk of a rare but serious blood clotting disorder.
Since then, hundreds of Ontario pharmacies have begun offering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, including in London-Middlesex.
This week, the province started offering second shots of the vaccine — at a 10-week dosing interval — to the first batch of AstraZeneca recipients in order to use up the doses that expire soon.
Ontarians who received the vaccine between March 10 and March 19 in Kingston, Windsor and Toronto became eligible to book second doses.
A stockpile of 45,000 doses expires Monday, while 10,000 more expire at the end of June.
Thousands of AstraZeneca shots set to expire next week were still undergoing quality checks on Thursday. The province said about 5,000 were to be sent out later Thursday, another 12,000 were to be cleared Friday and others were still under review.
Those looking for a COVID-19 test can still visit the region’s two main assessment centres.
The assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, remain open and operating by appointment. Officials with London Health Sciences Centre reported this week they had processed more than one million COVID-19 tests since March 18, 2020.
Small and medium-sized businesses looking to get their hands on free, rapid testing kits can still do so as part of the StaySafe London initiative.
Ontario
Ontario reported 1,135 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and 19 more deaths linked to the virus
Health Minister Christine Elliott said there were 316 new cases in Toronto, 271 in Peel Region and 75 in York Region.
The data is based on more than 37,700 completed tests.
The Ministry of Health said there were 1,072 hospitalizations in Ontario — 650 patients are in intensive care and 452 are on a ventilator.
The province reported that 2,302 more cases have been resolved since the last daily update.
The ministry said 143,748 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Wednesday’s report, for a total of more than 8.5 million doses.
Elgin and Oxford
Ten new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Elgin-Oxford.
The update brings the region’s pandemic case total to 3,761, of which 3,607 have resolved, 17 more than the day before. At least 80 deaths have been reported, most recently on Tuesday.
The health unit reports 74 cases are active, including 23 in Woodstock and 12 in St. Thomas. At least five people are in hospital with COVID-19, including one in the ICU.
The number of variant cases, and cases that have screened positive for a mutation consistent with a variant, stands at 761 — nine more than the day before.
At least 679 have been the B.1.1.7 variant, and two have involved the P.1 variant. One case has been confirmed to involve the B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa, a decline of one from a day earlier. It’s unclear what caused the case tally to decline.
At least 79 other cases screened positive for a variant-consistent spike protein mutation and are being investigated.
People aged 12 and older are eligible to get the vaccine, however, youth are only able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, meaning they are unable to get vaccinated at the Tillsonburg clinic as it only offers Moderna.
Eligible residents are asked to visit the area’s vaccine booking site and are being encouraged to add their names to a same-day vaccination list.
Certain individuals are also able to book earlier second doses by phone at 226-289-3560.
Several pharmacies in the region are offering Pfizer and Moderna shots. Bookings must be made directly with the pharmacies.
No new outbreaks have been reported.
One remains active, located at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital. The outbreak, declared May 5, is linked to 14 resident cases, five staff cases and three deaths, according to the health unit.
No new school-linked cases have been reported and none are active, local school boards say.
Per-municipality case counts can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.
The region’s test positivity rate stood at 2.9 per cent the week of May 16, virtually unchanged from the three per cent a week earlier.
Huron and Perth
Four new COVID-19-related cases have been reported in Huron-Perth.
It brings the region’s pandemic case total to 1,780, of which 1,687 have resolved, an increase of five from the day before. At least 57 deaths have been reported, most recently on May 20.
The health unit says 36 cases are considered active, including nine in Perth East and seven in Huron East. One person is hospitalized with COVID-19.
The number of variant cases, and cases that have screened positive for a mutation consistent with a variant, stood at 246 as of Thursday — one more than the day before.
At least 150 involve the B.1.1.7 variant, according to Public Health Ontario, while two involve the P.1 variant. The remaining cases are likely still under genomic analysis, a process that can take up to two weeks.
Health officials say more than 68,293 Huron-County residents have gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, or roughly 55 per cent of eligible people.
All people aged 12 and older are eligible to get the vaccine, however, youth are currently only able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
The health unit says youth and their eligible family members have been given priority access to bookings at vaccination clinics the weeks of June 14 and 21, with links sent to parents and guardians from their child’s school or school board.
Others looking to book an appointment are asked to do so via the local booking system or by calling 1-833-753-2098.
Officials say a Moderna clinic is scheduled to take place on June 4 in Stratford, with details available here.
Earlier second doses of vaccine are also being offered to certain individuals, and several regional pharmacies are offering the Pfizer vaccine as part of the provincial initiative.
No new school-related cases have been reported. At least eight are active, none due to school exposure.
Lists can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.
The health unit reports one active retirement home outbreak involving Goderich Place. At least one resident and one staff member are positive with COVID-19, the same as the day before.
Elsewhere, five outbreaks are active at unnamed workplaces, while one each is active in the community and at a congregate living setting.
Case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit dashboard.
The region’s most recent test positivity rate, from the week of May 16, was 2.2 per cent, down from 3.3 a week earlier.
Sarnia and Lambton
One new COVID-19 case has been reported in Lambton County.
It brings the region’s pandemic case total to 3,463, of which 3,366 have been resolved. At least 60 deaths have been reported so far, most recently on Sunday.
The health unit says 37 cases are active. Five people are in hospital with COVID-19, according to Bluewater Health, four fewer than the day before.
The region’s variant case count stands at 565, three more than the day before.
Public Health Ontario data shows 399 cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant, while 13 cases have been confirmed to be the P.1 variant. The remaining cases are under genomic sequencing.
The health unit says more than 68,700 doses have been administered in Lambton as of Tuesday, with nearly 59 per cent of adults vaccinated with at least one dose.
All people aged 12 and older are eligible to get the vaccine. Currently, youth are only able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. In Lambton, they can get the vaccine at the Point Edward Arena clinic.
Eligible residents can book appointments through the health unit’s website. People with questions can contact the health unit’s call centre at 226-254-8222.
Certain individuals are also able to book earlier second doses.
The health unit says it’s “developing a strategy to ensure” residents get their second dose at an appropriate time, and “will invite residents directly to book their second dose appointments soon in the order they were administered.”
The health unit says that more than 68,700 doses have been administered in Lambton as of Tuesday, with nearly 59 per cent of adults now vaccinated with at least one dose.
Some pharmacies are currently offering the Pfizer or Moderna shots according to the health unit. Residents are asked to book spots with the pharmacies themselves.
No new outbreaks have been declared, but one has resolved.
The resolved outbreak was first declared on May 10 at Bluewater Health. It was associated with four patient cases, five staff cases and two deaths.
Two outbreaks remain active. One is located at Afton Park Place, a long-term care home, linked with two resident and 10 staff cases and one death.
Elsewhere, a workplace outbreak is also active, linked to seven cases.
The region’s positivity rate was 1.8 per cent the week of May 16, down from 2.2 per cent a week earlier.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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