Jump to: Hospitalizations – Cases and testing – Outbreaks – Vaccinations – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton
The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported eight deaths and 37 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, though case counts are considered an under-estimate due to testing restrictions and widespread transmission.
The total number of deaths reported so far this February stands at 49.
London Health Sciences Centre, meanwhile, is caring for 51 inpatients with COVID-19, eight of whom are in adult critical care.
Hospitalizations
As noted, LHSC is caring for 51 COVID-19 inpatients, with eight inpatients in adult critical care. Last Wednesday, there were 71 COVID-19 inpatients, with 16 in adult critical care.
Of the 51, there were six patients in Children’s Hospital, with five or fewer in pediatric critical care. A week ago, LHSC reported seven in Children’s Hospital, with five or fewer in pediatric critical care.
Of all of LHSC’s COVID patients, 22 are being treated for COVID-19 while 29 others in hospital have incidental COVID-19 infections.
Among staff, there are 160 cases, up from 151 on Tuesday, 135 cases a week ago and 141 two weeks ago.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London reported three cases among patients or residents in its care and 51 health-care workers with COVID-19. A week ago it reported one patient or resident case and 55 cases among health-care workers.
Two patient/resident cases reported Wednesday are at Parkwood Institute Main Building while one is at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building.
Cases and testing
As mentioned, the MLHU reported eight deaths on Wednesday:
- man in his 40s with three doses of vaccine, no association to long-term care
- man in his 60s with two doses of vaccine, no association to long-term care
- man in his 60s with three doses of vaccine, no association to long-term care
- man in his 60s who was unvaccinated, no association to long-term care
- man in his 60s with three doses of vaccine, associated with a long-term care facility
- man in his 70s who was unvaccinated, no association to long-term care
- woman in her 90s with two doses of vaccine, no association to long-term care
- man in his 90s with three doses of vaccine, associated with a long-term care facility
Only two of the eight deaths involved unvaccinated individuals, one man in his 60s and one in his 70s.
On Tuesday, acting medical officer of health Dr. Alex Summers the region is “consistently seeing that deaths are happening among older individuals, some of whom have been vaccinated.”
He said there are often significant other complications involved in those deaths and said that for those under the age of 70, “we are not seeing COVID deaths unless you are unvaccinated. The protection provided by that vaccine across the age brackets remains significant, particularly for those in that 40- to 70-year-old age bracket.”
The total number of COVID-related deaths reported by the MLHU in February stands at 49.
The MLHU also reported 37 cases on Wednesday. Last Wednesday, the MLHU reported no deaths and 85 cases. 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 31,417 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, including 798 currently active cases (a decrease of 105), 30,270 resolved cases (an increase of 135) and 349 deaths (an increase of eight).
The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 6 was 16.6 per cent, down from 17.8 per cent the week of Jan. 30.
Outbreaks
LHSC is updating its outbreak information on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, except in the cases where an outbreak is resolved or declared.
LHSC is reporting the following outbreaks:
- University Hospital
- U9 300 – Medicine, declared Feb. 17, involving eight patient cases
- U4 North East and East Corridors, General Medicine, declared Jan. 25, 17 patient cases and 14 staff cases
- A9 Inpatients 100 and 200 Corridors, declared Jan. 11, involving 41 patient cases and 13 staff cases
- Victoria Hospital
- C6 100 Geriatric Behavioural Unit, declared Feb. 21, involving five or fewer patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
- C6 100 Geriatric Behavioural Unit, declared Feb. 21, involving five or fewer patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
- University Hospital
A previously-declared hospital outbreak at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital in 1S, declared Feb. 2, was listed as over as of Feb. 22.
Additionally, the MLHU is reporting the following active institutional outbreaks:
- Ashwood Manor, facility-wide, declared Feb. 22
- Dorchester Terrace, second floor, declared Feb. 19
- Kensington Village Retirement, eighth avenue, declared Feb. 18
- Maple View Terrace, third and sixth floors, declared Feb. 12
- Waverley Mansion, first floor, declared Feb. 3
- Westmount Gardens, Lily Unit, declared Feb. 15
Previous outbreaks at Extendicare, first and second floors, declared Dec. 24 and Oneida Long Term Care Home, facility-wide, declared Jan. 28 were both listed as over as of Feb. 22.
Vaccinations
As of end of day Feb. 19, 90.6 per cent of residents aged five and older had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, up from 90.4 per cent the week prior. Two-dose coverage for that cohort sits at 86.9 per cent, up from 86.5 per cent.
The percentage of people aged five and older who have received third doses is 49.2 per cent, up from 48.5 per cent the week before. Note that those aged 12 to 17 only became eligible for a third dose as of Feb. 18 and those under 12 are still not eligible.
First-dose coverage for those aged five to 11 is 59.5 per cent, up from 59.0 per cent. Last week, the MLHU announced it would be rolling out several additional child- and youth-focused COVID-19 vaccination clinics in a bid to get more doses of the vaccine into the arms of local children.
Data showing the distribution of cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions since Dec. 29, 2021, by age, based on vaccine status from no doses to three doses can be found on the “vaccination status” tab of the health unit’s Summary of COVID-19 Cases in Middlesex-London page.
Further information on vaccination in the MLHU’s region, as well as other COVID-19-related information, can be found on the health unit’s website.
Ontario
The province is reporting 1,106 people in hospital with COVID on Wednesday, with 319 in ICUs. The figures compare to 1,403 hospitalizations with 364 in intensive care a week ago.
Of the 1,106 in hospital, 49 per cent were admitted because of COVID while the rest were admitted for another reason but tested positive in hospital. Of those in the ICU, 77.5 per cent were admitted because of COVID.
Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 1,425 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.
Nineteen more virus-related deaths were also added, bringing the pandemic total to 12,306.
Elgin and Oxford
Southwestern Public Health’s COVID-19 cases dashboard is updated only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, barring holidays.
As Monday was Family Day, Wednesday’s update is the first since Friday.
On Wednesday, SWPH reported three deaths, none of which were tied to an outbreak. The deaths involved a woman in her 50s, man in his 60s and man in his 80s, all from Oxford County.
The health unit said there were 11 COVID-19 hospitalizations with four inpatients in the ICU, compared with 19 hospitalizations and six inpatients in the ICU a week ago.
The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 6 was 13.5 per cent, down from 14.9 per cent the week prior.
As for cases, SWPH reported:
- 11,071 cases (an increase of 107 from Friday with three removed due to data cleanup)
- 227 active cases (a decrease of 104 from Friday)
- 10,696 resolved cases (an increase of 205 from Friday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome)
- 148 total deaths to date (an increase of three from Friday)
There were active institutional outbreaks at the following locations:
- Maple Manor Nursing Home, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving 50 resident cases and 19 staff cases
- Bethany Care Home, Norwich, declared Feb. 9 and involving four resident cases and one staff case
Previously reported outbreaks at Chartwell Aylmer in Aylmer, declared Jan. 2 and involving seven resident cases and 20 staff cases, and at Metcalfe Gardens Retirement Home in St. Thomas, declared Jan. 13 and involving 28 resident cases, nine staff cases and one death, were no longer listed as active.
As of Feb. 21, 80.5 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 83.5 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.
Huron and Perth
On Wednesday, Huron Perth Public Health reported five patients in hospital with COVID-19, with four cases considered active. Last Wednesday, HPPH reported one person in hospital with COVID-19 and the case was not considered active.
For the week of Feb. 6, the test positivity rate was 11.0 per cent, down from 11.3 per cent the week prior.
In total, HPPH reported 5,582 total cases (an increase of 11) and 92 deaths to date (unchanged).
HPPH reported 659 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of six from Tuesday. Three cases were listed as active as of Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, there was only one active outbreak, at Queensway Nursing Home in Bluewater. The outbreak was declared Jan. 27 and involves 35 resident cases and 19 staff cases.
A previously reported outbreak at an unidentified congregate living facility is no longer listed as active.
As of Feb. 21, 84.2 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 80.7 per cent are fully vaccinated. Third-dose coverage stands at 51.1 per cent of those five and older, though those under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for a third dose and those aged 12 to 17 only became eligible for a booster dose as of Feb. 18.
Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.
Sarnia and Lambton
Bluewater Health reported nine patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19, the same figure was reported a week ago. Of those nine, none are in the ICU, compared with one a week ago.
Lambton Public Health is reporting the average ICU occupancy was 55 per cent for the week of Feb. 13, down from 67 per cent for the week of Feb. 6 and 81 the week of Jan. 30.
The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 6 was 22.9 per cent, down from 25.7 per cent the week of Jan. 30.
Lambton Public Health has updated its COVID-19 dashboard and is no longer listing the number of active cases and resolved cases.
As of Wednesday, LPH said there were 9,680 total cases (an increase of 16) and 126 deaths (unchanged).
LPH said Wednesday there were no active outbreaks in “congregate settings.”
Among area residents aged five and older, 83 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, 79 per cent have had two doses and 48 per cent have had a third dose. Note that those under 12 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 Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues
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