Jump to: Hospitalizations – Outbreaks – Schools – Vaccinations and Testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton
Twenty-two new COVID-19 cases have been reported in London and Middlesex, local health officials reported on Thursday.
It brings the total number of cases confirmed by the Middlesex-London Health Unit to 13,885, of which 13,443 have been resolved, an increase of 14 from the day before.
At least 238 deaths have been reported, most recently on Tuesday involving a man in his 40s who was partially vaccinated.
The health unit said 204 cases are active in the region, with 166 of them in London, 11 in Thames Centre, and six in Middlesex Centre. Three cases are currently active in Newbury, which has only seen a total of nine cases during the entire pandemic.
The region’s seven-day moving case average is 21.3 as of Thursday, down from 22.7 a week ago.
The number of cases involving a variant of concern sits at 4,232, up eight from the day before.
The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:
- 3,384 cases of the Alpha variant
- 718 cases of the Delta variant
- 124 cases of the Gamma variant
- two cases of the Beta variant
- one case of the Kappa variant
- one case of the Zeta variant
There are also two cases listed using the old code numbers, one described as B.1.617 and another listed as B.1.617.3.
Further information can be found on the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London.
Hospitalizations
As of Thursday, 11 COVID-19 patients were listed as being in the care of London Health Sciences Centre, an increase of two from the day before.
Five of fewer are in adult critical care/ICU, unchanged from the day before.
Also unchanged is the number of COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital (none), in paediatric critical care (none) and the number of staff cases (five or fewer).
St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) is reporting one non-outbreak case involving a health-care worker, the same as the day before.
Outbreaks
Two outbreaks are currently active involving seniors’ facilities.
One is located at Earls Court Village, declared Sept. 16 and involving the first and second floors, while the other is at Oakcrossing Retirement Living, declared Sept. 21 and involving the fourth floor.
A new outbreak was declared Thursday involving a local school. St. Thomas More Catholic School has four active cases, according to the health unit.
An outbreak also remains active involving École Élémentaire La Pommeraie, an elementary school. The outbreak was declared late last week and was tied to three active cases as of Thursday, down from at least five as of Tuesday.
Schools
At least 23 COVID-19 cases were active at the following schools as of Thursday, according to the health unit, an increase of at least three from the day before.
- Ashley Oaks Public School (one case)
- Catholic Central High School (one case)
- Cedar Hollow Public School (one case)
- Eagle Heights Public School (one case)
- École élémentaire La Pommeraie (three cases)
- École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-Bruyère (one case)
- Holy Family Elementary School (one case)
- Jack Chambers Public School (one case)
- Lambeth Public School (one case)
- Lord Elgin Public School (one case)
- Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School (one case)
- Oxbow Public School (one case)
- Regina Mundi College (one case)
- Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School (one case)
- St Francis Catholic School (one case)
- St Rose of Lima Catholic School (one case)
- St Thomas More Catholic School (four cases)
- Wilfrid Jury Public School (one case)
As noted abvoe, there are outbreaks at St. Thomas More Catholic School and École Élémentaire La Pommeraie.
Elsewhere, one outbreak and six COVID-19 cases are active involving the following local child care and early years facilities:
- Angels Daycares Arva in Middlesex Centre (two cases)
- Cedar Hollow Before and After School in London (one case)
- l’Escale la Pommeraie in London (two cases)
- Robbyn’s Before and After School in Thames Centre (one case)
The lone active child care outbreak involves Angels Daycares, the health unit said.
The health unit said at least 46 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools and child care centres.
In post-secondary, no cases or outbreaks have been reported, however, a union representing workers on university campuses in Ontario is calling for the government to put classroom capacity limits and distancing requirements in place.
Ontario announced earlier this month that it wouldn’t require distancing or class caps when post-secondary institutions resume in-person learning.
CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn said that the universities’ proof-of-vaccination and mandatory masking policies are not enough to stop the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
He said he’s hearing from members that classrooms are packed with sometimes hundreds of people, and he calls that a “recipe for disaster.”
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Colleges and Universities said earlier that schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.
Vaccinations and Testing
Ontario’s vaccine certificate system took effect Wednesday.
Roughly 85.5 per cent of residents in the MLHU’s jurisdiction who are 12 years old and above had gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Sept. 18, according to health unit data released this week.
For two doses, the percentage is 79.4 per cent, the data shows.
Vaccination rates are on par for the city of London and Middlesex County.
Young adults remain the least vaccinated age group, according to the health unit. Only 76.7 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 have gotten one shot, and 66.7 per cent two shots. The rates are 79.1 and 69.8 per cent, respectively, for those 25 to 29.
Children 12 to 17 clock in at 86.7 per cent for one shot and 77.7 per cent for two.
The majority of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the region over the last six weeks continues to involve people who were not fully vaccinated, health unit data shows.
Of the cases reported in London-Middlesex since Aug. 12, 82.3 per cent were either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or had gotten their second dose less than two weeks prior. Those completely unvaccinated make up the largest percentage: 67.7 per cent.
Looking at those hospitalized in that same time frame, a similar story emerges. Roughly 88 per cent of hospitalizations involved those not fully vaccinated. Seventy-nine per cent of hospitalized cases had not gotten a first dose.
For deaths, five of the seven deaths reported since Aug. 12 involved someone who had not gotten a first dose, while one involved someone who had gotten both doses, but was still within the two-week waiting period. One death involved someone fully vaccinated, the first in the region. The deceased was a woman in her 80s, the health unit said.
On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies; guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country; transportation support for those in need; and more.
Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about the locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.
The latest COVID-19 test positivity rate in the region was 2.2 per cent for the week of Sept. 12, the same as the week prior, Sept. 5.
Ontario
Ontario reported 677 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and six more deaths.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said 148 of those cases are in fully vaccinated people, and the rest are either not fully vaccinated or their status is unknown.
There are 193 people in intensive care units due to COVID-19: 12 are fully vaccinated; 12 are partially vaccinated; 106 are unvaccinated; and the status of another 63 people isn’t known.
There were 122 new school-related cases reported on Thursday, with 106 in students, 14 in staff, and two who weren’t identified.
Elliott said more than 85 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than 79 per cent have both doses.
Elgin and Oxford
On Thursday, Southwestern Public Health reported:
- 4,241 total cases (an increase of two)
- 50 active cases (a decrease of 15)
- 4,089 resolved cases (an increase of 16)
- 86 deaths (an increase of one)
- 1,133 variant of concern cases, with 769 Alpha, 310 Delta (an increase of three) and 54 Beta or Gamma (an increase of one)
The health unit said the death reported Thursday involved a man in his 70s from Elgin County. It’s unclear if the individual had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Of the 50 active cases in the region, 30 are in Oxford County and 20 are in Elgin County. Ten alone are in Woodstock, and seven in St. Thomas.
Four people with COVID-19 are currently hospitalized, the health unit said, with all four in intensive care. The tallies are both unchanged from the day before.
Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and London District Catholic School Board.
As of Sept. 12, the region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 2.6 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent a week earlier
Information on where to get vaccinated, vaccine eligibility and booking and cancelling appointments can be found on the health unit’s website.
People can add their names on a weekly basis to the health unit’s same-day vaccination list, also known as the Cancellation List. Select pharmacies in the region are also continuing to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots.
SWPH adds that if anyone needs a copy of their vaccination receipt, they can download it online using their postal code and Ontario health card or call 1-833-943-3900.
Huron and Perth
Updated Huron Perth Public Health data was not immediately available Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday, the health unit reported:
- 2,129 cases
- 27 active cases
- 2,037 recoveries (23 new recoveries)
- 65 deaths
- At least 424 variant of concern cases, according to Public Health Ontario’s most recent epidemiology summary from Wednesday. Of those, 279 are Alpha, 12 are Gamma, and 133 Delta.
Ten of the region’s active cases are in Perth East and five in North Perth. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.
Four COVID-19 patients are in hospital, and one of the region’s active cases involves a health-care worker.
One outbreak is currently active involving a long-term care home. The outbreak was declared on Sept. 17 at Bluewater Rest Home, linked to one resident case and one staff case.
One outbreak is also active involving an unidentified workplace.
Data on school cases can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.
The region’s test positivity rate was 1.8 per cent as of the week of Sept. 12, down from 2.7 the week before.
HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Sept. 19, 76.6 per cent of residents aged 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 82.5 per cent have had at least one dose.
Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website. Information on pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the province’s website.
Sarnia and Lambton
On Thursday, Lambton Public Health reported:
- 3,796 cases (an increase of 12)
- 59 active cases (a decrease of six)
- 3,668 resolved cases (an increase of six)
- 69 deaths
At least 558 variant of concern cases have been recorded in the region, the same as the previous day. Of those 439 have been Alpha, 121 have been Delta (including 20 in the last 30 days) and 18 have been Gamma.
No COVID-19 patients were reported as being in the care of Bluewater Health on Thursday, down from one the day before.
One new outbreak has been declared in the region, involving Bkejwanong Children’s Centre. The outbreak is tied to fewer than five cases.
It’s one of two outbreaks currently active. The other also involves a school, Gregory A Hogan Catholic School, linked to fewer than five cases.
Cases at schools within the Lambton Kent District School Board can be found online, as can cases at schools within the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
The health unit has declared a new outbreak at Gregory A. Hogan Catholic School. It involves fewer than five cases.
Roughly 80.7 per cent of people aged 12 and older in Lambton County have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine while 75.1 per cent are fully immunized, the health unit said.
At least 81.2 per cent of adults, and 26.4 per cent of youth have gotten at least one dose. The figure stands at 76 per cent and 22.5 per cent, respectively, for the second dose.
The most recent test positivity rate was 2.4 per cent for the week of Sept. 5, up from 0.81 per cent for the week of Aug. 29.
Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.
Information on pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the province’s website.
Those who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.
Lambton Public Health is also working with Lambton County Library in an effort to make it easier to obtain vaccine receipts by assisting residents having trouble downloading or printing the receipts.
— with files from Sawyer Bogdan, Jacquelyn LeBel, Kelly Wang and The Canadian Press
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