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For the third day in a low, the London and Middlesex region has set another single-day case record with 638 COVID-19 infections, as the health unit announces changes to its reporting plan.
The Middlesex London Health Unit (MLHU) said due to the increase in cases and the province prioritizing testing, it will no longer be able to report daily case numbers.
The health unit says it will be focusing on case numbers in high-risk settings, like long-term care homes, hospitals and congregate living settings.
“COVID-19 is now spreading in the community faster than we can test for it or detect it. This means we need to focus our case investigation efforts where they can be most effective,” says Dr. Alex Summers, acting medical officer of health with the Middlesex-London Health Unit.
“The Omicron variant requires us to follow a radically different approach to slow transmission in our community. Maintaining physical distance, wearing a mask and limiting time spent with others will slow how quickly it spreads.”
On Thursday, Ontario announced that PCR testing is only recommended for symptomatic people who are hospitalized, in long-term care or retirement homes, or health-care workers, among other high-risk groups.
The move came as the province’s testing system became strained with high demand amid the Omicron surge.
As of Friday, the seven-day case average for London-Middlesex stood at 524.7, up 187.7 from the day before, and more than five times the average of 63 recorded two weeks ago on Dec. 15.
The last death was reported Thursday and involved a man in his 70s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home, the health unit said. Further details were not provided, however, MLHU data suggests the individual was fully vaccinated.
Roughly 4,838 cases have been reported in the region so far this month, around 400 cases more than what was reported between the start of May and the end of November, and well above the previous monthly case record of 3,307 set in April.
In total, there have been 19,751 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, including 3,376 active cases (an increase of 493), 16,115 resolved cases (an increase of 151) and 259 deaths (unchanged).
The active case tally is likely much higher due to testing backlogs and a lack of available testing appointments.
Anyone who develops any kind of respiratory symptoms is being asked by the health unit to treat it like COVID-19 and self-isolate as a result of contact tracing systems being overwhelmed.
Information on local variants of concern can be found on the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases on the Middlesex-London page and the “Case Status” tab.
Hospitalizations
At least 25 COVID-19 patients were in the care of London Health Sciences Centre on Thursday, an increase of three from the day before and eight from Tuesday.
Of those, eight are in adult critical care/intensive care, five or fewer are in Children’s Hospital and five or fewer are in pediatric critical care — all unchanged from the day before.
While patient numbers have remained relatively steady, staff cases at LHSC continue to rise.
At least 135 staff members within the organization were positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, an increase of 22 from Wednesday.
Thursday’s tally is nearly three times that seen on Dec. 23, when 50 staff cases were reported.
At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, meanwhile, cases among staff are also continuing to rise, with 32 staff positive with COVID-19 as of Thursday, an increase of seven from Wednesday and 20 from Friday of last week.
At least five cases are linked to an outbreak. Five patient cases are also active involving Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care.
Institutional outbreaks
As of Dec. 31, outbreaks are active at the following long-term care and retirement facilities:
- McCormick Home, in its Memory Lane area, declared Dec. 14
- Chartwell London, in its Magnolia and Pinebrook areas, declared Dec. 18
- Parkwood Institute Main Building, on 3A-East, declared Dec. 23
- Extendicare, on its second and third floors, declared Dec. 24
- Sisters of St. Joseph, facility-wide, declared Dec. 24
- Longworth Retirement Residence on its second and third floors, declared Dec. 25
- Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care in SM1, declared Dec. 25
- Village of Glendale Crossing in its Brighton area, declared Dec. 25. An outbreak is also active in the Lambeth area, however, the health unit says the type of outbreak is currently unknown.
- Middlesex Terrace on its third floor, declared Dec. 26
- Elmwood Place, facility-wide, declared Dec. 27
- Country Terrace in its Nottinghill Unit, declared Dec. 28
- Dearness Home in its 2E, 4E, 5E, 5W and Oakdale areas, declared Dec. 29
- Henley Place LTC Residence in its Fanshawe, Medway and Victoria units, declared Dec. 29
New rules take effect at long-term care homes in the province Thursday, putting a pause on access to long-term care homes by general visitors and day absences for all residents for social purposes.
Designated caregivers, however, may continue to enter long-term care homes.
At local schools, no new outbreaks have been declared. As of Friday, outbreaks are active at the following schools:
- A. B. Lucas Secondary School, declared Dec. 20
- Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, declared Dec. 18
- Byron Somerset Public School, declared Dec. 21
- Clara Brenton Public School, declared Dec. 17
- Emily Carr Public School, declared Dec. 20
- H. B. Beal Secondary School, declared Dec. 21
- J S Buchanan French Immersion Public School, declared Dec. 23
- John Dearness Public School, declared Dec. 20
- Notre Dame Catholic School, declared Dec. 20
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, declared Dec. 6
- Sir Arthur Currie Public School, declared Dec. 14
- St. Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School, declared Dec. 17
- Stoney Creek Public School, declared Dec. 23
- Wilberforce Public School, declared Dec. 22
At local child-care and early years centres, outbreaks remained active on Thursday at:
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- YMCA: North Meadows Elementary School – Before and After School, declared Dec. 22
- YMCA: St. Patrick Catholic School – Before and After School, declared Dec. 19
In post-secondary, outbreaks remained active at:
- Western University – Delaware Hall Residence, declared Dec. 10
Schools and child care
No new COVID-19 cases have been reported involving schools and none were active as of Friday.
Cases have decreased significantly involving schools as children have returned home from class for the holiday break. As well, no cases were listed as being active at child-care or early years centres.
Information on school and child-care centre outbreaks can be found in the outbreaks section.
Ontario’s top doctor said Thursday that the province would push back the return to school to next Wednesday.
Classes were set to resume as early as Monday in much of the province, but critics called for clarity on the back-to-school plan in light of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Kieran Moore says the extra time will give schools time to prepare for several changes, including providing N95 masks to staff in schools and daycares, and deploying 3,000 HEPA filter units in addition to the 70,000 it has already rolled out.
A total of 600 cases have been reported at local elementary and secondary schools since the start of the school year in September. In comparison, 351 were reported during the 12 months from September 2020 to August 2021.
Vaccinations and testing
The province is revising its PCR testing eligibility in a bid to ease the burden on Ontario’s testing system amid the Omicron wave.
The province says starting Friday, publicly funded PCR testing will only be recommended for symptomatic people who are hospitalized patients, in long-term care or retirement homes, health-care workers, First Nations, or students and staff, among other high-risk groups.
It is no longer recommended that asymptomatic individuals get a PCR test, except for those in high-risk settings.
Those symptomatic but who don’t fall under an eligible group for PCR testing are asked to not seek testing and are instead asked to self-isolate.
The province is also revising its isolation period for those with COVID-19 to five days from 10 days following the onset of symptoms for those who are vaccinated as well as children under 12 years old.
Household contacts will also have to isolate with those who have tested positive.
The local impact of the news is not yet clear.
The assessment centre will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Appointment slots at the centre open every morning. Telephone booking will be unavailable on Jan. 3, 2022.
Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about the locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.
As of Dec. 25, 82.1 per cent of residents five and older in London and Middlesex have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 87.6 have received one dose.
As of that date, roughly 98,819 people, or about 20 per cent of the population, had received a third booster dose, health unit data shows.
Those over 30 receiving a dose of the vaccine will receive Moderna as the health unit continues to prioritize its Pfizer supply for younger age groups.
Health unit data shows roughly 50 per cent of hospitalized cases have involved people who were fully vaccinated, and 43 per cent have involved unvaccinated individuals.
It should be noted, however, that unvaccinated residents only make up 11 per cent of the region’s 12-and-over population.
With roughly 90 per cent of the local 12-and-over population vaccinated, the majority of recent cases have involved vaccinated individuals, according to the health unit.
Roughly 74 per cent of cases in the last six weeks have involved fully vaccinated individuals, while 18.3 per cent were unvaccinated. Of the 10 COVID-19-related deaths reported in that time, five individuals were unvaccinated and five were fully vaccinated.
The health unit notes that people who are vaccinated can still get COVID-19, however, they “become less sick than individuals with COVID-19 who were not vaccinated, and are much less likely to require hospitalization or die,” something borne out by local stats.
On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies, as well as guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country, transportation support for those in need and more.
Ontario
Ontario is reporting more than 16,700 new COVID-19 cases Friday.
There were 16,713 new infections reported, setting a single-day record for COVID-19 cases in Ontario since the pandemic began. There have now been 756,361 confirmed cases in Ontario.
Friday’s report broke a previous record set Thursday of 13,807 cases.
Fifteen additional virus-related deaths were also announced on Dec. 31, bringing the provincial death toll to 10,194.
There are 205 people in intensive care due to COVID-19, which is an increase of five compared with Thursday. Of those, 104 are on a ventilator, which is unchanged.
There are 1,144 people in hospital with COVID-19, which is up by 179.
Elgin and Oxford
No COVID-19 update was available on Friday from Southwestern Public Health due to the holiday period. The health unit says the next update is expected on Jan. 4, 2022. Previously reported figures are below.
On Friday, Dec. 24 the health unit reported:
- 6,221 total cases
- 479 active cases
- 5,631 resolved cases
- 111 deaths to date
The region’s most recent publicly reported death, reported Dec. 24, involved a woman in her 70s from Elgin.
The health unit automatically closes all cases 10 days after a positive result, regardless of their outcome.
On Friday, 13 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, with five in the ICU. No details were available about their vaccination status.
An outbreak at Caressant Care Bonnie Place in St. Thomas declared Nov. 28 was ongoing on Friday. It involves 11 resident cases and nine staff cases. Two deaths are associated with the outbreak.
No new school outbreaks were reported on Friday. Outbreaks were active at the following schools:
- St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School in West Lorne, declared Dec. 10
- Hickson Central Public School in Hickson, declared Dec. 15
- Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute in Ingersoll, declared Dec. 15
- King’s Academy Private School in St. Thomas, declared Dec. 16
- St. Joseph High School in St. Thomas, declared Dec. 17
- St. Michael’s Catholic Elementary School, declared Dec. 19
- Westfield Public School in Tillsonburg, declared Dec. 19
- Mitchell Hepburn Public School, declared Dec. 20
- Dunwich Dutton Public School in Dutton, declared Dec. 21
- Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock, declared Dec. 21
- Holy Family Catholic French Immersion School in Woodstock, declared Dec. 22
- Thamesford Public School in Thamesford, declared Dec. 22
Their current outbreak status is unclear due to the pause in reporting.
More information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.
Roughly 6.8 per cent of tests in the region were coming back positive as of the week of Dec. 12.
As of Dec. 23, 76.0 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 81 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.
The health unit encouraged people to join its Same Day Vaccination List, which offers any leftover doses due to cancellations or no-shows.
Huron and Perth
Updates for Huron-Perth have been spotty this week due to the holidays. On Thursday, Huron Perth Public Health reported:
- 3,323 total cases (an increase of 180 from Monday)
- 483 active cases (an increase of 254)
- 2,766 recoveries (an increase of 39)
- 74 deaths to date (an increase of one)
Details on the most recent death weren’t immediately available.
Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.
Eleven people were hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 as of Thursday, up from five on Monday. Of those, five were considered active cases.
At least five of the region’s active cases involve health-care workers.
HPPH had 11 active outbreaks listed on Thursday involving eight schools, two congregate living settings, and one long-term care home.
The most recent outbreak listed outbreak was on Dec. 27 at Wildwood Care Centre in St. Marys, with two staff impacted.
Elsewhere, outbreaks remain active at the following schools:
- Elma Township Public School in North Perth, declared Nov. 23 and involving 27 students
- Howick Central Public School in Howick, declared Dec. 15 and involving three student cases
- Listowel Christian School in North Perth, declared Dec. 23 and involving two student cases
- Listowel District Secondary School in North Perth, declared Dec. 16 and involving two staff and three student cases
- Little Falls Public School in St. Marys, declared Dec. 14 and involving five students
- Milverton Public School in Perth East, declared Dec. 9 and involving five students
- North Perth Westfield ES in North Perth, declared Nov. 30 and involving one staff member and 12 students
- North Woods Elementary School in Huron East, declared Dec. 22 and involving one staff member and 10 students
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.
As of Dec. 23, 82.5 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 77.6 per cent are fully vaccinated. Third-dose coverage stands at 21.4 per cent.
The region’s test positivity rate was 3.8 per cent for the week of Dec. 12. An updated figure is expected next week.
Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.
Sarnia and Lambton
On Friday, Lambton Public Health reported:
- 5,600 total cases (an increase of 209)
- 775 active cases (an increase of 193)
- 4,742 resolved cases (an increase of 20)
- 83 deaths to date (unchanged)
As of Friday, there were 16 COVID-19 patients in the care of Bluewater Health, an increase of one from Thursday.
Detailed information is not updated on holidays. The following numbers were last updated on Thursday.
The region’s seven-day case average is 83 as of Thursday, due in part to a surge in cases reported Christmas Eve (111) and Christmas Day (132, a single-day record).
LPH reported three active outbreaks as of Thursday:
- An unidentified workplace, declared Dec. 20 and involving two cases
- Errol Road Public School, declared Dec. 23, and involving fewer than five cases
- Rosewood Retirement Village, declared Dec. 26, and involving fewer than five resident cases and fewer than five staff 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 was 6.8 per cent for the week of Dec. 12, up from 3.6 per cent for the week of Dec. 5. An updated tally is expected next week.
Roughly 80 per cent of area residents have had at least one dose while 76 per cent have had two doses. Fifteen per cent have had a third dose, health unit data shows.
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 contact 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 Ryan Rocca, Matthew Trevithick, Jacquelyn LeBel and The Canadian Press
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