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 18 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, though the total case count only rose by 17.
This comes a day after the region reported just two cases, the lowest daily case count since zero cases were reported Aug. 3.
The region’s case count has risen to 14,310, with 13,967 recoveries (an increase of 21), 100 active cases (a decrease of four) and 243 deaths (unchanged).
The total number of cases involving a variant of concern stayed the same at 4,280. The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:
- 3,384 cases of the Alpha variant
- 766 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
- Ultra-processed food tied to higher risk of early death, study finds. What to avoid
- Panera to remove ‘Charged Sips’ drink from Canada amid wrongful death lawsuits
- AstraZeneca says it’s withdrawing COVID vaccine amid low demand
- More than half of parents report burnout, U.S. study finds. What can be done?
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is caring for 10 inpatients with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the same as the day before.
There are five or fewer inpatients in adult critical care or the intensive care unit.
There are five or fewer inpatients with COVID-19 in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care.
Five or fewer staff have currently tested positive for COVID-19.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) reported one non-outbreak case involving a health-care worker.
Outbreaks
As of Tuesday, there were no active outbreaks in the region involving long-term care homes, retirement homes or hospitals.
There are outbreaks reported at the following schools:
- Our Lady of the Pillar Academy, declared Oct. 18
- Providence Reformed Collegiate, declared Oct. 14
A previous outbreak at St Kateri Catholic School, declared Oct. 7, was listed as over as of Oct. 17.
Schools
The following schools have cases associated with them, according to the MLHU:
- Caradoc Public School (one case)
- Covenant Christian School (one case)
- Our Lady of the Pillar Academy (two cases)
- Providence Reformed Collegiate (two cases)
- St. Francis Catholic School (two cases)
- Wilfrid Jury Public School (one case)
There is one active COVID-19 case associated with child-care or early years centres, at London Children’s Connection: Caradoc – Before and After School.
The health unit said at least 128 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, as well as child-care and early years centres.
Vaccinations and testing
The latest vaccination update says as of Oct. 16, 84.1 per cent of residents aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 88.3 per cent have had at least one dose.
Since Sept. 6, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 64.2 per cent of all cases (or 442 of 688 cases) and 63 per cent of all hospitalizations (17 of 27).
Meanwhile, 26.3 per cent of all cases (or 181 of 688 cases) involved those who were fully vaccinated while 33.3 per cent of all hospitalizations (nine of 27) 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 eight COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, three involved people who were unvaccinated, two involved individuals who were fully vaccinated, two involved people who were 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 1.7 per cent for the week of Oct. 3, unchanged from the week of Sept. 26.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting 328 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the ninth day in a row the count is less than 500. The provincial case total now stands at 595,563.
Of the 328 new cases recorded, the data showed 177 were unvaccinated people, 16 were partially vaccinated people, 105 were fully vaccinated people and for 30 people the vaccination status was unknown.
According to Tuesday’s report, 60 cases were recorded in Peel Region, 52 in Toronto, 20 in Ottawa, 19 in Windsor-Essex, 18 in Middlesex-London, 17 in Hamilton and 16 in Lambton Public Health.
All other local public health units reported fewer than 15 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 9,819 as four more deaths were recorded.
As of 8 p.m. on Monday, 21,310 vaccines (7,551 for a first shot and 8,343 for a second shot) were administered in the last day.
There are more than 10.8 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 83.2 per cent of the eligible (12 and older) population. First dose coverage stands at 87.5 per cent.
Elgin and Oxford
Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) is reporting eight new cases Tuesday, and one case previously reported was removed.
SWPH is reporting:
- 4,520 total cases
- 76 active cases (a decrease of 12)
- 4,354 resolved cases (an increase of 18)
- 90 deaths to date (an increase of one)
- 1,374 variant of concern cases (an increase of five, all Delta), with 774 Alpha, 546 Delta and 54 Beta or Gamma
Of the 76 active cases in the region, 32 were in Elgin County (including 10 in St. Thomas, nine in Bayham and eight in Aylmer) and 44 were in Oxford County (including 15 in Tillsonburg and 12 in Norwich Township).
One death is a woman in her 80s from Elgin County.
Three people are hospitalized with COVID-19 with one case in the ICU as of Tuesday, up from three patients hospitalized with none in the ICU on Friday.
One outbreak, declared Oct. 3, is ongoing at Elgin Manor in St. Thomas. The outbreak is tied to two resident cases and two staff cases.
Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.
The region’s test positivity rate was 2.9 per cent for the week of Oct. 3, up from 2.5 per cent a week earlier.
As of Oct. 17, 82.5 per cent of those aged 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 86.5 per cent have had at least one dose.
Information on where and how to get vaccinated can be found on the health unit’s website.
Huron and Perth
Huron and Perth
On Tuesday, Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported:
- 2,288 total cases (an increase of four)
- 27 active cases (a decrease of one)
- 2,195 recoveries (an increase of five)
- 66 deaths to date (unchanged)
Among the 27 active cases, 11 were in North Perth and five in Morris Turnberry. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.
There were no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, nor were there any active cases involving health-care workers.
HPPH reported five outbreaks, though there were no long-term care home, retirement home or hospital outbreaks.
Two of the outbreaks involved schools:
- Huron Christian School in Clinton, declared Oct. 8 and involving six student cases
- Stratford District Christian School in Stratford, declared Oct. 8 and involving two students
The other outbreaks were listed as a community outbreak, a congregate living setting outbreak and a workplace outbreak. No further details were provided.
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 2.3 per cent for the week of Oct. 3, down from 2.6 per cent the week of Sept. 26.
HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Oct. 18, 80.3 per cent of those aged 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 84.4 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.
Sarnia and Lambton
On Tuesday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:
- 4,088 total cases (an increase of 16)
- 81 active cases (an increase of three)
- 3,937 resolved cases (an increase of 13)
- 70 deaths to date (unchanged)
LPH reported one more variant of concern cases Tuesday, which was the Delta variant, for a total of 585. Of that total, 439 have been Alpha, 129 have been Delta and 18 have been Gamma.
Six COVID-19 patients were in the care of Bluewater Health Tuesday, the same as the day before.
LPH reported active outbreaks at two unidentified workplaces, declared on Oct. 3 and Oct. 8, linked to four and two cases, respectively.
Three outbreaks linked to schools are active, one at Confederation Central Public School, declared Oct. 12, and linked to fewer than five cases.
The two other active outbreaks were declared on Oct. 14 at Cathcart Boulevard Public School and Gregory A Hogan Catholic School, both linked to 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.
The test positivity rate for the week of Oct. 3 was 3.6 per cent, down from 3.7 per cent the week prior.
Among those aged 12 and older, 78.8 per cent are fully vaccinated and 82.8 per cent have had at least one dose.
Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments or find information on vaccine availability at pharmacies using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.
Those who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.
—with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues, Jacquelyn LeBel and Kelly Wang.
Comments