COVID-19: MLHU reports 5 deaths over the weekend, hospitalizations tick lower

Jump to: Hospitalizations – Cases and testing – Outbreaks – Vaccinations – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton

The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported five deaths and 592 COVID-19 cases from Saturday to Monday.

The deaths involved men in their 70s or 80s who were either fully vaccinated or had had their third dose. Two of the five were associated with long-term care.

The London Health Sciences Centre reported 143 COVID-19 inpatients on Monday, down from 147 a week ago, which was a record at the time.

The current record is 166 inpatients reported on Jan. 18 and 20.

Hospitalizations

As noted, LHSC is caring for 143 inpatients with COVID-19, down from 147 a week ago. Of those, 23 are in adult critical care, compared to 21 a week ago.

Five or fewer of the 143 are in Children’s Hospital, with zero in pediatric critical care. Last Monday, five or fewer were in Children’s Hospital, with five or fewer in pediatric critical care.

Of the 143 patients, 90 are being treated for COVID-19 while 53 others in hospital have incidental COVID-19 infections (meaning they were admitted for another reason). Last Monday, those figures were 83 and 64, respectively.

Among staff, there are 214 cases, down from 390 a week ago.

There are several outbreaks at LHSC at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. Further information can be found in the Outbreaks section, below.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London reported 16 cases among patients or residents in its care as of Monday and 88 health-care workers with COVID-19, compared to 49 patient/resident cases and 105 staff cases a week ago.

Among the 16 patient/resident cases, nine are at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care, six are at Parkwood Institute Main Building and one is at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building.

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Cases and testing

The death reported by the MLHU on Monday involved a man in his 70s with no association to long-term care who had received three doses of vaccine.

The deaths recorded Saturday involved:

• male, 70s, associated with long-term care, three doses of vaccine
• male, 80s, associated with long-term care, three doses of vaccine
• male, 80s, not associated with long-term care, three doses of vaccine
• male, 80s, not associated with long-term care, two doses of vaccine

As for cases, the MLHU reported 140 cases Monday, 201 on Sunday and 251 on Saturday.

Last week, the health unit reported 201 cases on Monday, 288 on Sunday and 329 on Saturday.

Note that due to changes in eligibility for PCR testing, daily case counts are not considered a fully reliable reflection of COVID-19 activity in the region.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit says individuals who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should consider themselves to be positive for COVID-19 and self-isolate.

The health unit has provided information on what to do if you develop symptoms, test positive on a rapid test or PCR test or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive.

In total, there have been 27,861 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, including 2,377 active cases (a decrease of 147 from Friday), 25,196 resolved cases (an increase of 745 from Friday) and 287 deaths (an increase of five from Friday).

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 9 was 22.4 per cent, down from 24 per cent the week of Jan. 2 and 28.3 per cent the week of Dec. 26, 2021.

Outbreaks

LHSC is reporting the following outbreaks:

• University Hospital
  • U10 Subacute Medicine and Palliative Care, declared Jan. 16, involving five or fewer patient cases
  • U6 200/300 Cardiac Surgery Inpatients, declared Jan. 16, involving five or fewer patients and six staff cases
  • U5 100/300 Cardiology Inpatients, declared Jan. 16, involving five or fewer patient cases and seven staff cases
  • A8 Surgery Inpatient, declared Jan. 14, involving 14 patient cases and six staff cases
    
  • A9 Inpatients 100 and 200 Corridors, declared Jan. 11, involving 22 patient cases and nine staff cases
• Victoria Hospital
  • B72 – Adult Mental Health Inpatients, declared Jan. 17, involving six patients and five or fewer staff cases
    

A previously reported outbreak at University Hospital’s 7IP Clinical Neurosciences, declared Jan. 1, involving 17 patient cases and five or fewer staff cases, is no longer listed as active.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London is reporting the following outbreaks:

• Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care: SM2
• Parkwood Institute Main Building: 3KE and 4BE

A previous outbreak at Parkwood Institute Main Building’s 2Perth has ended.

The MLHU is reporting the following institutional outbreaks:

• Arbor Trace Alzheimer’s Special Care Centre, facility-wide, declared Jan. 4
• Babcock Community Care Centre, facility-wide, declared Dec. 31
• Chartwell Parkhill, Countryside Unit, declared Jan. 1
• Chartwell Riverside Retirement Residence, facility-wide, declared Jan. 21
• Chelsey Park, third floor-A Wing, declared Jan. 18
• Country Terrace, Nottinghill Unit, declared Dec. 28
• Dearness Home
  • 4E, declared Jan. 21
  • Oakdale, declared Dec. 29
• Earls Court Village, second floor (third floor resolved Jan. 21), declared Jan. 2
• Elmwood Place, F-W (SB resolved Jan. 17, EP and Gibbons resolved Jan. 23), declared Dec. 27
• Extendicare, first floor, declared Dec. 24
• Henley Place LTC Residence, facility-wide, declared Dec. 29
• Highview Residence – Chapin House, facility-wide, declared Jan. 7
• Manor Village at London, 4 West (4 Centre resolved Jan. 21), declared Jan. 10
• McCormick Home, Evergreen unit, declared Dec. 14
• Meadow Park Care Centre, Blue Unit, declared Jan. 1
• Strathmere Lodge, Bear Creek, declared Jan. 6
• Village of Glendale Crossing, facility-wide, declared Dec. 25

Vaccinations

The MLHU announced late last week that the mass vaccination clinic at Earl Nichols Recreation Centre is accepting walk-ins.

As of the end of day Jan. 15, 89.1 per cent of residents aged five and older in the region have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 83.2 per cent have had two doses.

The percentage of people who’ve received third doses climbed to 38.5 per cent from 31.8 per cent. Note that those under 18 are not currently eligible for a third dose.

First dose coverage for those aged five to 11 stands at 54.1 per cent.

Health unit data shows that since Dec. 13, 32.83 per cent of hospitalized cases have involved people who were unvaccinated. Note that unvaccinated residents make up only 10.9 per cent of the region’s five-and-older population as of Jan. 15.

According to the MLHU, there have been 31 deaths within the last six weeks. Of those, 24 involved fully vaccinated individuals and seven involved unvaccinated individuals.

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 3,861 people in hospital with COVID on Monday with 615 in intensive care units.

This is up by 64 hospitalizations and an increase of 11 in ICUs since the previous day, though officials noted not all hospitals reported updated figures due to the weekend.

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 4,790 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, though that is an underestimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to recent testing restrictions.

The death toll in the province has risen to 11,004 as 36 more virus-related deaths were added from over the past month. Officials noted one death from over a month ago was removed from the total.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health will hold a pop-up clinic specifically for staff in school, school support or child-care settings, as well as children aged five-to-11 and their parents, and staff in long-term care or retirement homes.

The clinic will be held at the Tillsonburg Community Centre on Jan. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Appointments can be booked online through the “targeted populations” priority designation or over the phone at 1-800-922-0096 x 9 on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Southwestern Public Health reported 51 hospitalizations on Monday, up from 26 a week ago. Ten are in the ICU, up from four a week ago.

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 9 was 16.5 per cent, down from 19.5 per cent the week of Jan. 2.

As for cases, SWPH is reporting:

• 9,779 cases (an increase of 249 from Friday with three cases removed due to data cleanup)
• 803 active cases (a decrease of 57 from Friday)
• 8,543 resolved cases (an increase of 301 from Friday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome)
• 132 total deaths (an increase of two)

No further details were provided about the two deaths reported sometime between Saturday and Monday.

There are active outbreaks at the following long-term homes, retirement homes and hospitals:

• Valleyview Nursing Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 23 and involving 17 resident cases, 33 staff cases and one death
• Woodingford Lodge, Woodstock, declared Dec. 28 and involving 14 resident cases, 21 staff cases and two deaths
• Tillsonburg Retirement Residence – Tillsonburg, declared Dec. 29 and involving three resident cases and one staff case
• Chartwell Oxford Gardens, Woodstock, declared Dec. 30 and involving 12 resident cases and four staff cases
• Caressant Care Bonnie Place Retirement Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 30 and involving 18 resident cases, 13 staff cases and one death
  
• Caressant Care Bonnie Place Nursing Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 30 and involving 28 resident cases and 21 staff cases
• Beattie Manor Retirement Residence, Wardsville, declared Jan. 17 and involving five resident cases
• Extendicare, Port Stanley, declared Jan. 2 and involving nine resident cases and 12 staff cases
• Maple Manor Nursing Home, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving five resident cases and 13 staff cases
• Terrace Lodge, Aylmer, declared Jan. 2 and involving 18 resident cases, five staff cases and one death
• Secord Trails, Ingersoll, declared Jan. 2 and involving 41 resident cases, 25 staff cases and two deaths
• Chartwell Aylmer, Aylmer, declared Jan. 2 and involving six resident cases and seven staff cases
• Caressant Care Nursing Home – Woodstock, declared Jan. 3 and involving two resident cases, 17 staff cases and one case under investigation
• Maples Nursing Home – Tavistock, declared Jan. 7, involving three resident cases and 16 staff cases
• Arches Transitional Bed Program, Woodstock, declared Jan. 10 and involving 17 resident cases and 14 staff cases
• Woodingford Lodge, Ingersoll, declared Jan. 12 and involving three staff cases
• Cedarview Living Retirement, Woodstock, declared Jan. 13 and involving 52 resident cases and two staff cases
• Metcalfe Gardens Retirement Home, St. Thomas, declared Jan. 13 and involving 23 resident cases, six staff cases and two cases under investigation
• Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving three resident cases

Previous outbreaks at Alexandra Hospital, Ingersoll, declared Jan. 3 and involving nine patient cases and three staff cases and at Elgin Manor, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 31 and involving nine resident cases and 13 staff cases are no longer listed as active.

As of Jan. 19, 77.2 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 82.4 per cent have had at least one dose.

Further 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.

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Huron and Perth

On Monday, Huron Perth Public Health reported nine people were in hospital with COVID-19, compared to 10 a week ago.

Of those, seven are considered to be active cases, compared to eight last Monday.

For the week of Jan. 9, the test positivity rate was 10 per cent, down from 11 per cent the week of Jan. 2.

In total, HPPH reported 4,823 total cases (an increase of 108 from Friday) and 79 deaths to date (unchanged).

The most recent death was reported Friday. No further details were provided.

There are 11 active outbreaks reported by HPPH, including nine at long-term care or retirement homes:

• Braemar Nursing Home, North Huron, declared Jan. 12 and involving 20 residents and 12 staff cases
• Hillside Manor, Perth East, declared Dec. 31 and involving six staff cases
• Huronview, Huron East, declared Jan. 21 and involving four staff cases
• Kingsway Lodge, St. Marys, declared Jan. 3 and involving 12 resident cases and 14 staff cases
• Knollcrest Lodge, Perth East, declared Jan. 12 and one resident case and involving nine staff cases
• Caressant Care Retirement Home, North Perth, declared Jan. 2 and involving five resident cases
• Maplewood Manor Retirement Home, Huron East, declared Dec. 30 and involving two resident cases and two staff cases

A previous outbreak at Exeter Villa, South Huron, declared Jan. 2 and involving 10 resident cases and 3 staff cases, is no longer listed as active.

A previous outbreak at Goderich Place, Goderich, declared Jan. 8 and involving two resident cases and two staff cases, is also no longer active, as is a previous outbreak at Seaforth Manor Retirement Home, Huron East, declared Jan. 2 and involving seven resident cases and three staff cases.

HPPH is reporting four outbreaks at congregate living settings, down from five on Friday, but no further details were provided.

As of Jan. 17, 83.9 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 79.1 per cent are fully vaccinated. Third-dose coverage stands at 45.4 per cent of those five and older, though those under the age of 18 are not eligible for a third dose.

Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.

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Sarnia and Lambton

Bluewater Health reported 55 patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19, compared to 56 a week ago. Of those 55, eight are in the ICU, compared to 12 a week ago.

Lambton Public Health is reporting the average ICU occupancy was at 78 per cent for the week of Jan. 9, down from 95 per cent for the week of Jan. 2.

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 9 was 31.8 per cent, up from 28.5 per cent the week prior.

On Monday, Lambton Public Health reported:

• 8,452 total cases (an increase of 250 from Friday)
• 563 active cases (a decrease of 61 from Friday)
• 7,787 resolved cases (an increase of 310 from Friday)
• 102 deaths to date (an increase of one from Friday)
  

No information was provided about the death reported over the weekend.

LPH reported 19 active outbreaks as of Monday, including at the following congregate living facilities:

• Lambton County Developmental Services in Corunna, declared Jan. 23 and involving fewer than five resident cases and six staff cases
• Lambton County Developmental Services in Oil Spring, declared Jan. 19 and involving fewer than five residents and fewer than five staff cases
• Huron House Boys Home in Brights Grove, declared Jan. 8 and involving fewer than five residents and five staff/caregivers
• Community Living Sarnia-Lambton in Sarnia, declared Jan. 7 and involving fewer than five residents and fewer than five staff/caregivers

A previous outbreak at Lambton County Developmental Services in Wyoming, declared Jan. 9 and involving fewer than five resident cases and fewer than five staff/caregiver cases, was listed as over as of Jan. 19.

There are outbreaks at the following long-term care and retirement homes:

• Afton Park Place in Sarnia, declared Jan. 23 and involving fewer than five resident cases and fewer than five staff cases
• Country Manor Estates in Lambton Shores, declared Jan. 17 and involving fewer than five residents and fewer than five staff
• Fairwinds Lodge in Sarnia, declared Jan. 10 and involving fewer than five residents and fewer than five staff
• Watford Quality Care in Watford, declared Jan. 5 and involving 10 resident cases and eight staff cases
• Trillium Villa in Sarnia, declared Jan. 3 and involving 54 residents and 35 staff/caregivers
• Marshall Gowland Manor in Sarnia, declared Jan. 1 and involving fewer than five residents and 15 staff/caregivers
• Afton Park Place in Sarnia, declared Dec. 31 and involving fewer than five residents and 15 staff/caregivers
• Sumac Lodge in Sarnia, declared Dec. 31 and involving 36 resident cases and 30 cases among staff/caregivers
• Fiddick’s Nursing Home in Petrolia, declared Dec. 30 and involving 14 residents and 26 staff/caregivers

There are two hospital outbreaks and a jail outbreak. The outbreak at Sarnia Jail in Sarnia was declared Jan. 8 and involves 35 inmates and five staff members.

One outbreak at Bluewater Health in Sarnia declared Jan. 7 involves 16 patients and 10 staff members. A second outbreak at Bluewater Health was declared Jan. 14 and involves seven patients and 12 staff members.

There are three outbreaks in unidentified workplaces, one declared Jan. 18 and involving six cases, one declared Jan. 17 and involving four cases and one declared Jan. 11 involving six cases.

Among area residents aged five and older, 82 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, 77 per cent have had two doses and 42 per cent have had a third dose. Note that those under 18 are not currently eligible for a third 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 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 Gabby Rodrigues