COVID-19: MLHU adds 2 deaths, LHSC has 136 COVID inpatients with 26 in ICU

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

The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported two deaths and 190 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, compared to six deaths and 180 cases a week ago.

The deaths involved a man in his 70s and woman in her 90s, neither of whom were associated with a long-term care or retirement home. Based on vaccination status of deaths reported in the last six weeks, one was unvaccinated and one was vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the London Health Sciences Centre reported 136 COVID-19 inpatients on Tuesday, with 26 in critical care.

Hospitalizations

As noted, LHSC is caring for 136 COVID-19 inpatients, with 26 inpatients in adult critical care, compared to 163 inpatients with 20 in critical care a week ago.

Of those, there are five or fewer in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care. Last Wednesday, there were five or fewer COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital with zero in critical care. 

Of the 136 patients, 84 are being treated for COVID-19 while 52 others in hospital have incidental COVID-19 infections (meaning they were admitted for another reason).

Among staff, there are 208 cases, up from 192 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 12 cases among patients or residents in its care as of Tuesday and 76 health-care workers with COVID-19, compared with 21 patient/resident cases and 82 staff cases a week ago.

Among the 12 patient/resident cases, two are at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care, three are at Parkwood Institute Main Building and seven are at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building.

Cases and testing

As mentioned, the MLHU reported the deaths of a man in his 70s and a woman in her 90s. One was unvaccinated and one was fully vaccinated, though further details were not provided. The MLHU says neither was associated with a long-term care or retirement home.

On Tuesday, the MLHU reported five deaths (for a total of seven deaths so far this month) and on Monday the health unit announced three deaths between Saturday and Monday.

The MLHU also reported 190 cases on Wednesday. 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 29,469 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, including 1,741 active cases (a decrease of 51), 27,421 resolved cases (an increase of 244) and 307 deaths (an increase of two).

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 23 was 18.9 per cent, down from 21.3 per cent the week before.

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Outbreaks

LHSC is reporting the following outbreaks:

• University Hospital
  • U4 North East and East Corridors, General Medicine, declared Jan. 25, 12 patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
    
  • U10 Subacute Medicine and Palliative Care, declared Jan. 16, involving nine patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
  • A8 Surgery Inpatient, declared Jan. 14, involving 15 patient cases and seven staff cases
  • A9 Inpatients 100 and 200 Corridors, declared Jan. 11, involving 33 patient cases and 12 staff cases
• Victoria Hospital
  • D6-200 – Nephrology Inpatients, declared Jan. 25, seven patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
  • D6-100 – Acute Medicine, declared Jan. 25, five or fewer patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
    

A previously-reported outbreak at Victoria Hospital’s B72 – Adult Mental Health Inpatients, declared Jan. 17, involving seven patients and five or fewer staff cases, is no longer listed as active.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London is only reporting one outbreak, at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building’s G3 unit.

Additionally, 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 Jan. 31
• Chartwell Riverside Retirement Residence, facility-wide, declared Jan. 21
• Chelsey Park, third floor-A Wing, declared Jan. 18 and second and fourth floor, declared Jan. 28
• Dearness Home, Oakdale, declared Dec. 29
• Elmwood Place, Victoria Unit, declared Dec. 27
• Extendicare, first floor and third floor, declared Dec. 24
• Henley Place LTC Residence, FW, Harris declared Jan. 28, initially declared Dec. 29
• Manor Village at London, 4E, declared Jan. 31
• Meadow Park Care Centre, Blue Unit, declared Jan. 1
• Oneida Long Term Care Home, West Wing, declared Jan. 28 and East Wing, declared Jan. 31
• Queens Village, lower level and second floor, declared Jan. 25, facility-wide declared Jan. 28
• Village of Glendale Crossing, facility-wide, declared Dec. 25

A previous outbreak at Highview Residence – Chapin House, declared Jan. 7 was listed as over as of Feb. 1.

Note that school closures and school absence rates can be found on the province’s website.

Vaccinations

As of the end of day Jan. 29, 89.9 per cent of those aged five and older have had at least one dose, up from 89.6 per cent as of Jan. 22. Two-dose coverage for that cohort sits at 84.9 per cent, up from 83.7 per cent a week prior.

The percentage of people aged five and older who’ve received third doses climbed to 46.1 per cent, up from 43.2 per cent a week prior. Note that those under 18 are not currently eligible for a third dose.

First-dose coverage for those aged five to 11 stands at 57.3 per cent, up from 56.3 per cent.

Health unit data shows that since Dec. 22, 31.61 per cent of hospitalized cases have involved people who were unvaccinated. Note that unvaccinated residents make up only 10.1 per cent of the region’s five-and-older population as of Jan. 29.

According to the MLHU, there have been 49 deaths within the last six weeks. Of those, 35 involved fully vaccinated individuals and 14 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 reported 2,939 people in hospital with COVID on Wednesday with 555 in intensive care units.

Of those in hospital, 56 per cent were admitted because of the virus, while the rest were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19 upon screening. Of the 555 people in ICUs with the virus, around 83 per cent were admitted because of COVID-19.

Ontario also reported 3,909 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, 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 11,576 as 72 more virus-related deaths were added.

Elgin and Oxford

Starting this week, Southwestern Public Health’s COVID-19 cases dashboard is only updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, barring holidays.

On Wednesday, SWPH reported one death, involving a woman in her 70s from Elgin County.

SWPH also reported 25 hospitalizations, down from 29 a week ago. Of the 25, six are in the ICU. Last Wednesday, there were 10 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 23 was 15.9 per cent, down from 17.7 per cent the week prior.

As for cases, SWPH is reporting:

• 10,326 cases (an increase of 99 from Monday with three cases removed due to data cleanup)
• 570 active cases (a decrease of 106 from Monday)
• 9,425 resolved cases (an increase of 191 from Monday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome)
• 140 total deaths to date (an increase of one from Monday)
  

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

• Aylmer Retirement Residence, Aylmer, declared Jan. 24, involving one resident case and two staff cases
• Valleyview Nursing Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 23, 2021, involving 17 resident cases, 34 staff cases and one death
• Woodingford Lodge, Woodstock, declared Jan. 27, involving two staff cases
• 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 Nursing Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 30 and involving 31 resident cases and 25 staff cases
• Secord Trails, Ingersoll, declared Jan. 2 and involving 41 resident cases, 26 staff cases and two deaths
• Chartwell Aylmer, Aylmer, declared Jan. 2 and involving seven resident cases and 15 staff cases
• Caressant Care Nursing Home – Woodstock, declared Jan. 3 and involving three resident cases and 25 staff cases
• Arches Transitional Bed Program, Woodstock, declared Jan. 10 and involving 17 resident cases, 16 staff cases and one death
• Cedarview Living Retirement, Woodstock, declared Jan. 13 and involving 74 resident cases and nine staff cases
• Metcalfe Gardens Retirement Home, St. Thomas, declared Jan. 13 and involving 26 resident cases, eight staff cases and one death
• Beattie Manor Retirement Residency, Wardsville, declared Jan. 17 and involving 14 resident cases and one staff case
• Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving 10 patient cases, two staff cases, one death and one case under investigation
• Maple Manor Nursing Home, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving 29 resident cases and 16 staff cases
• Elgin Manor, St. Thomas, declared Jan. 20 and involving 19 resident cases and 15 staff cases

As of Jan. 31, 78.8 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 83.1 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

Global News is awaiting Wednesday’s data from Huron Perth Public Health.

On Tuesday, Huron Perth Public Health reported seven people were in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, three were considered to be active cases. Last Tuesday, HPPH reported seven people in hospital, six with active cases.

For the week of Jan. 16, the test positivity rate was 11.7 per cent, up from 10 per cent the week prior.

In total, HPPH reported 5,056 total cases (an increase of 34) and 85 deaths to date (unchanged).

HPPH reported 548 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of six from Monday.

There are six active outbreaks reported by HPPH, including at the following long-term care or retirement homes:

• Braemar Nursing Home, North Huron, declared Jan. 12 and involving 41 residents and 18 staff cases
• Huronview, Huron East, declared Jan. 21 and involving five resident cases and five staff cases
• Kingsway Lodge, St. Marys, declared Jan. 3 and involving 19 resident cases and 17 staff cases
• Queensway Nursing Home, Bluewater, declared Jan. 27 and involving 15 resident cases and seven staff

HPPH is also reporting an outbreak at South Huron Hospital in South Huron, declared Jan. 27, involving 14 patients and four staff members. There is also one congregate living outbreak reported but no further details were provided.

As of Jan. 31, 84.1 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 79.8 per cent are fully vaccinated. Third-dose coverage stands at 49.6 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 32 patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19, compared with 39 a week ago. Of those 32, four are in the ICU, compared with six a week ago.

Lambton Public Health is reporting the average ICU occupancy was at 67 per cent the week of Jan. 23, down from 83 per cent for the week of Jan. 16.

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 23 was  21.9 per cent, down from 30.8 per cent the week before.

On Wednesday, Lambton Public Health reported:

• 8,875 total cases (an increase of 44)
• 261 active cases (a decrease of eight)
• 8,505 resolved cases (an increase of 51)
• 109 deaths to date (an increase of one)

No further details were provided about the death reported Feb. 2.

LPH reported seven active outbreaks, including at the following congregate living facility:

• Lambton County Developmental Services in Oil Springs, declared Jan. 19 and involving fewer than five residents and fewer than five staff cases

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
• Watford Quality Care in Watford, declared Jan. 5 and involving 15 resident cases and 15 staff cases
• Trillium Villa in Sarnia, declared Jan. 3 and involving 60 residents and 40 staff/caregivers

An outbreak at Sarnia Jail in Sarnia was declared Jan. 8 and involves 41 inmates and nine staff members.

There are two ongoing outbreaks in unidentified workplaces. One declared Jan. 17 involving eight cases and one declared Jan. 26 involving eight cases.

A previous outbreak at Lambton County Developmental Services in Corunna, declared Jan. 23 and involving fewer than five resident cases and six staff cases, was listed as over as of Feb. 1.

Among area residents aged five and older, 82 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, 78 per cent have had two doses and 46 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