Advertisement

COVID-19: MLHU reports 16 cases, while over 80% of those eligible fully immunized

FILE. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg

Jump to: HospitalizationsOutbreaksSchoolsVaccinations and testingOntarioElgin and OxfordHuron and PerthSarnia and Lambton


The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

This brings the total number of cases in the region to 13,963, of which 13,565 have been resolved, an increase of 25 from the day before.

A total of 238 deaths have been reported, most recently on Sept. 21 involving a man in his 40s who was partially vaccinated.

Story continues below advertisement

The health unit said 160 cases are active in the region (a decrease of nine), with 135 of them in London, eight in Thames Centre and five in Middlesex Centre.

The number of cases involving a variant of concern sits at 4,250, an increase of three, all Delta.

The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:

  • 3,384 cases of the Alpha variant
  • 736 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

London Health Sciences Centre says it is caring for 14 inpatients with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, an increase of one from Monday.

Seven are in adult critical care/the intensive care unit, an increase of one from Monday.

Story continues below advertisement

There are five or fewer COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital and five or fewer inpatients in pediatric critical care.

The number of staff cases remains at five or fewer.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) is reporting one non-outbreak case involving a health-care worker.

Click to play video: 'Mixed vaccine travel confusion and frustration'
Mixed vaccine travel confusion and frustration

Outbreaks

The MLHU is not reporting any active institutional outbreaks, however there are several outbreaks reported at area schools and child-care/early year centres.

The following schools have active outbreaks:

  • École Élémentaire La Pommeraie, declared Sept. 17
  • Ekcoe Central School, declared Sept. 25
  • Lord Elgin Public School, declared Sept. 26
  • Wilfrid Jury Public School, declared Sept. 26

A previous outbreak declared Sept. 22 at St. Thomas More Catholic School was listed as resolved effective Sept. 26.

Story continues below advertisement

The following child-care or early years centres have active outbreaks:

  • Angels Daycares Arva, declared Sept. 21 (two cases)
  • Kidlogic London, declared Sept. 26 (three cases)

The health unit is also reporting one case at Bright Beginnings Pre-School Home Daycare in Strathroy-Caradoc and one case at Chelsea Green Children’s Centre in London but no outbreaks are associated with either child-care centre.

Schools

In addition to the outbreaks listed above, more than a dozen schools have active cases associated with them:

  • École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-Bruyère (one case)
  • Ekcoe Central School (one case)
  • Holy Family Elementary School (one case)
  • Kensal Park Public School (one case)
  • Lord Elgin Public School (six cases, though the TVDSB is reporting nine cases)
  • Regina Mundi College (one case)
  • St. Anthony Catholic French immersion School (one case)
  • St. Paul Catholic School (one case)
  • St. Thomas More Catholic School (one case)
  • Westminster Secondary School (one case)
  • Wilfred Jury Public School (one case)

The health unit said at least 63 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, and child-care/early years centres.

In post-secondary institutions, no cases or outbreaks have been reported.

Story continues below advertisement

Vaccinations and testing

The MLHU released updated vaccination data on Tuesday, showing that as of the end of Sept. 25, over 80 per cent of the eligible population was fully vaccinated.

The latest health and medical news emailed to you every Sunday.

The MLHU says among those 12 and older, 80.9 per cent are fully vaccinated while 86.5 per cent have had at least one dose.

Middlesex County’s vaccination rate is slightly higher than the city of London’s, with 82.2 per cent fully vaccinated compared to 80.6 per cent fully vaccinated.

Those 18 to 24 continue to have the lowest vaccine uptake, with only 69.4 per cent fully vaccinated.

The majority of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the region over the last six weeks continue to involve people who were not fully vaccinated, health unit data shows.

Since Aug. 17, only 16.98 per cent of all cases (or 145 of 864 cases) involved those who were fully vaccinated while only 11.76 per cent of all hospitalizations (four of 34) involved individuals who were fully vaccinated.

Of all COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, one of six involved an individual who was fully vaccinated, a woman in her 80s.

Story continues below advertisement

The hours of operation at the Caradoc Community Centre mass vaccination clinic in Mount Brydges have changed effective Sept. 28.

The Middlesex London Health Unit said the clinic is now only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

While the clinic will now be open on a walk-in basis only, Middlesex-London Health Unit staff have been contacting people who had previously scheduled vaccination appointments for times that will fall outside of the clinic’s new hours of operation.

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.

Story continues below advertisement

Ontario

The province reported 466 cases on Tuesday, of which 277 were unvaccinated people, 27 were partially vaccinated, 119 were fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining 43 people was unknown.

According to Tuesday’s report, 138 cases were recorded in Toronto, 39 in Peel Region, 31 each in Ottawa and Windsor-Essex, and 25 each in Hamilton and Niagara. All other health units reported fewer than 25 cases.

Eleven more deaths were reported, though two occurred over a month ago.

Among those 12 and older, 80.5 per cent are fully immunized while 86 per cent have had at least one dose.

Ontario reported 315 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 129 from the previous day.

Story continues below advertisement

Elgin and Oxford

On Tuesday, Southwestern Public Health reported:

  • 4,265 total cases (an increase of three)
  • 28 active cases (a decrease of four)
  • 4,151 resolved cases (an increase of seven)
  • 86 deaths
  • 1,155 variant of concern cases (an increase of seven), with 771 Alpha (an increase of one), 330 Delta (an increase of six) and 54 Beta or Gamma

Of the 32 active cases in the region, 12 are in Elgin County and 16 are in Oxford County (including nine in Woodstock).

Four people with COVID-19 are currently hospitalized, the health unit said, with one case in the ICU.

Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.

As of Sept. 12, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 2.6 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent a week earlier.

As of Sept. 26, 80.0 per cent of those 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 85.4 per cent have had at least one dose.

Story continues below advertisement

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

Huron Perth Public Health does not report data over the weekends. On Monday, it reported:

  • 2,159 cases (an increase of 17 from Friday)
  • 37 active cases (an increase of eight)
  • 2,057 recoveries (an increase of nine)
  • 65 deaths (unchanged)

Among the 37 active cases, 13 are in Perth East, six in Huron East, and five in North Perth. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

Four COVID-19 patients were in hospital. There is currently one active COVID-19 case involving a healthcare worker.

Story continues below advertisement

An outbreak is ongoing at Blue Water Rest Home in Bluewater, a long-term care home. The outbreak was declared Sept. 17 and currently involves one case among a resident and two staff cases.

An outbreak was declared Sept. 21 at Listowel District Secondary School in North Perth. There are currently no active cases associated with the outbreak.

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. 26, 77.8 per cent of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 83.2 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.

Click to play video: '‘We weren’t thinking about other people’: unvaccinated Alberta man on time in ICU with COVID-19'
‘We weren’t thinking about other people’: unvaccinated Alberta man on time in ICU with COVID-19

Sarnia and Lambton

On Tuesday, Lambton Public Health reported:

Story continues below advertisement
  • 3,839 cases (an increase of six)
  • 57 active cases (a decrease of seven)
  • 3,712 resolved cases (an increase of 13)
  • 70 deaths

As of Tuesday, 561 variant of concern cases had been recorded in the region. Of those, 439 have been Alpha, 104 have been Delta and 18 have been Gamma.

No COVID-19 patients were reported as being in the care of Bluewater Health on Monday.

LPH is reporting active outbreaks at:

  • Bkejwanong Kinomaagewgamig Elementary School, declared Sept. 24 and involving fewer than five cases.
  • Bkejwanong Children’s Centre, declared Sept. 22 and involving fewer than five cases
  • Gregory A. Hogan Catholic School, declared Sept. 20 and involving fewer than five cases

All active 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.

Among those 12 and older, 75.7 per cent are fully vaccinated and 81.2 per cent have had at least one dose.

Story continues below advertisement

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 Gabby Rodrigues, Matthew Trevithick and Kelly Wang

Sponsored content

AdChoices