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 15 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and one new death.
The death involved a man in his 70s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home. Based on the updates to the MLHU’s vaccination status of recent deaths graph, the latest death involved someone who was partially vaccinated.
The region’s total COVID-19 case count now stands at 14,109 cases (an increase of 16) with 13,706 recoveries (an increase of 23), 163 active cases (a decrease of eight) and 240 deaths.
The number of cases involving a variant of concern remains at 4,259. The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:
- 3,384 cases of the Alpha variant
- 745 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 is caring for nine inpatients with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, up from eight on Monday.
Five or fewer patients are in adult critical care/the intensive care unit.
There are zero COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital and zero inpatients in pediatric critical care as of Monday.
The number of staff cases remains at five or fewer.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) is reporting two non-outbreak cases involving health-care workers.
Outbreaks
The MLHU is not reporting any active institutional outbreaks, however, there are several outbreaks reported at area schools and child-care/early-years centres.
The following schools have active outbreaks:
- Lord Elgin Public School, declared Sept. 26
- St. Catherine of Siena Elementary School, declared Oct. 1
- London Christian High, declared Oct. 1
The following child-care or early-years centre has active outbreaks:
- Kidlogic London, declared Sept. 26 (three cases)
An outbreak at Chelsea Green Children’s Centre, declared Oct. 2 was declared over Oct. 4.
The health unit is also reporting one COVID-19 case, but no outbreak, at Bright Beginnings Pre-School Home Daycare in Strathroy-Caradoc.
Schools
In addition to the outbreaks listed above, 10 schools have active cases associated with them:
- B. Davison Secondary School Secondary School (one case)
- Eagle Heights Public School (one case)
- Glencoe District High School (one case)
- London Christian High (three cases)
- Lord Elgin Public School (six cases, the TVDSB is reporting six active cases and 13 resolved cases)
- Saunders Secondary School (one case)
- Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School (one case)
- St. Anthony Catholic French Immersion School (two cases)
- St. Catherine of Siena Elementary School (one case)
- St. Theresa Catholic School (two cases)
The health unit said at least 93 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, and child-care/early-years centres.
Vaccinations and testing
The Middlesex-London Health Unit, Southwestern Public Health and Huron Perth Public Health will be holding a joint news conference on Wednesday to provide more information about vaccination requirements in sport and recreation facilities where organized sports are played or practised.
The MLHU released updated vaccination data on Tuesday showing that as of the end of day Oct. 2, 768,942 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the region.
Of those 12 and older, 82.1 per cent are fully vaccinated and 87.2 per cent have had at least one dose.
Rates are similar in the City of London and Middlesex County: in London, 81.8 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated and 87.1 per cent have had at least one dose compared to 83.2 per cent fully vaccinated and 87.3 per cent with one dose in Middlesex County.
Those aged 18-24 still have the lowest vaccine uptake in the region, though 71.5 per cent of residents in that age group are now fully vaccinated, up from 69.4 per cent a week ago.
Since Aug. 24, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 67.67 per cent of all cases (or 542 of 801 cases) and 72.73 per cent of all hospitalizations (or 24 of 33 hospitalizations).
Meanwhile, 19.85 per cent of all cases (or 159 of 801 cases) involved those who were fully vaccinated while 21.21 per cent of all hospitalizations (seven of 33) involved individuals who were fully vaccinated.
The rest of the cases involved individuals who were partially vaccinated or not yet protected by vaccination.
Of the seven COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, three involved people who were unvaccinated, two involved individuals who were fully vaccinated, one involved someone who was partially vaccinated and one involved someone who was not yet protected by vaccination.
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 1.8 per cent for the week of Sept. 19, down from 2.2 per cent for the week of Sept. 12.
Ontario
The province reported 429 cases Tuesday, with 233 among unvaccinated people, 27 involving partially vaccinated individuals, 128 fully vaccinated and 41 people who had an unknown vaccination status.
According to Tuesday’s report, 108 cases were recorded in Toronto, 55 in Peel Region and 47 in Ottawa. All other health units reported fewer than 35 cases.
Ontario reported 277 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 131 from the previous day), with 155 patients in intensive care units (down by four) and 101 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (down by three).
Among those eligible, 81.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Elgin and Oxford
On Tuesday, Southwestern Public Health reported:
- 4,348 total cases (an increase of nine from Monday)
- 77 active cases (an increase of six)
- 4,184 resolved cases (an increase of 18)
- 87 deaths (an increase of one)
- 1,224 variant of concern cases (an increase of seven, all Delta), with 771 Alpha, 399 Delta and 54 Beta or Gamma
SWPH says the death was an Aylmer man, 75.
Of the 77 active cases in the region, 46 are in Elgin County (including 21 in Aylmer and 11 in Bayham) while 31 are in Oxford County (including 10 in Woodstock and seven in Tillsonburg).
Three people with COVID-19 were 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. 19, the region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.2 per cent, down from 2.6 per cent a week earlier.
As of Oct. 3, 81.0 per cent of those 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 85.9 per cent have had at least one dose.
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
On Tuesday, Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported:
- 2,210 cases (an increase of five from Monday)
- 43 active cases (a decrease of three)
- 2,102 recoveries (an increase of eight)
- 65 deaths (unchanged)
Among the 43 active cases, eight are in Perth East, seven in Perth South and six in West Perth. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.
One COVID-19 patient is currently in hospital. There are two active COVID-19 cases involving a health-care worker.
HPPH is not reporting any active long-term care home, retirement home, hospital or school outbreaks.
However, one community outbreak is currently active.
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 2.0 per cent as of the week of Sept. 19, up from 1.8 per cent the week before.
HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Oct. 4, 78.7 per cent of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 83.7 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 Tuesday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:
- 3,934 cases (an increase of 15 from Monday)
- 90 active cases (a decrease of nine)
- 3,773 resolved cases (an increase of 23)
- 70 deaths (unchanged)
An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that LPH’s daily case count increased by 145 instead of 15. Global News regrets this error.
As of Tuesday, 565 variant of concern cases had been recorded in the region, unchanged from Monday.
Of those, 439 have been Alpha, 108 have been Delta (an increase of four) and 18 have been Gamma.
Three COVID-19 patients were in the care of Bluewater Health on Tuesday, a decrease from four on Monday.
LPH is reporting active outbreaks at:
- Generations Day Care – Queen Elizabeth Site, declared Sept. 28 and involving fewer than five cases.
- Bkejwanong Kinomaagewgamig Elementary School, declared Sept. 24 and involving five cases.
- Bkejwanong Children’s Centre, declared Sept. 22 and involving fewer than five cases
- An unidentified workplace outbreak, declared Oct. 3
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 aged 12 and older, 76.8 per cent are fully vaccinated and 81.8 per cent have had at least one dose.
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 Global News’ Jessica Patton.