COVID-19: MLHU reports death of man in his 80s, LHSC caring for 42 COVID-19 inpatients

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

Hospitalizations

LHSC was caring for 42 COVID-19 inpatients on Wednesday, with five or fewer in adult critical care. Last Wednesday, LHSC was caring for 51 COVID-19 inpatients with eight in adult ICU.

There are five or fewer COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care, down from six inpatients with five or fewer in critical care a week ago.

LHSC says of its 42 COVID-19 inpatients, 14 are being treated for COVID-19, while 28 are being treated with COVID-19, meaning they were admitted for a different reason and were found to have an incidental COVID-19 infection.

As patient numbers have fallen in recent weeks, staff cases climbed but data on staff cases has not been updated since Monday. LHSC said Wednesday that “we are currently validating our data and will post when it is available.”

As of Monday, the most recent data available, 232 staff members at LHSC were positive for COVID-19. Last Wednesday, that figure was 160 and two weeks ago it was 135.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, 54 cases were reported active among health-care workers, up from 51 a week ago.

Two cases were reported involving patients or residents of Parkwood Institute’s main building, compared with three total patient cases a week ago, with two at Parkwood’s main building and one at Parkwood Institute Mental Health Care Building.

Cases and testing

The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported one new death and 79 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The death involved a man in his 80s, not associated with a long-term care or retirement home, and marks the first COVID-19 death of March.

In February, a total of 49 deaths were reported by the MLHU, making it the second-deadliest month of the pandemic to date.

When looking at case counts, it should be noted 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.

The health unit says there have been 31,878 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. At least 576 cases are currently active (an increase of 18) while 30,892 have resolved (an increase of 60) and 350 deaths have been reported (an increase of one).

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 20 was 12.6 per cent, up from a revised 11.2 per cent the week prior.

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Outbreaks

The following outbreaks are active within LHSC:

• University Hospital
  • U8 General Surgery 100/200, declared Feb. 28, seven patient cases and five or fewer staff cases.
  • U9 300 – Medicine, declared Feb. 17, involving nine patient cases.
• Victoria Hospital
  • C6 100 Geriatric Behavioural Unit, declared Feb. 21, involving five or fewer patient cases and five or fewer staff cases.

LHSC updates its outbreak data on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, unless an outbreak is declared or resolved.

Additionally, the MLHU is reporting the following active institutional outbreaks:

• Ashwood Manor, facility-wide, declared Feb. 22
• Dorchester Terrace, second floor, declared Feb. 19
• Horizon Place, facility-wide, declared Feb. 24
• Kensington Village Retirement, eighth avenue, declared Feb. 18

Vaccinations

The MLHU’s mass vaccination clinic at Earl Nichols Recreation Centre will close March 4 due to decreased demand combined with a pivot towards increasing mobile operations.

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.

The MLHU provided updated vaccination data on Tuesday, showing that as of the end of day Feb. 26, 90.7 per cent of residents age five and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 87.3 per cent have had two doses, up from 90.6 per cent and 86.9 per cent, respectively, a week prior.

The percentage of people aged five and older who have received third doses is 49.8 per cent, up from 49.2 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 59.8 per cent, up from 59.5 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.

Ontario

The province reported 847 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 273 in ICUs, compared with 1,106 hospitalizations with 319 in ICUs last Wednesday.

Of the 847 in hospital with COVID-19, 44 per cent were admitted because of the virus while the rest were admitted for another reason but tested positive.

Of the 273 in ICUs, 82 per cent were admitted because of the virus.

Ontario also reported 1,959 cases Wednesday, though that is considered an under-estimate due to widespread transmission and restrictions on testing.

The death toll in the province has risen to 12,478 as 27 more virus-related deaths were added.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health reported no new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, and 33 new lab-confirmed cases.

The health unit issues updates Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, barring holidays.

There were at least five COVID-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday, with three in intensive care. That’s down from 11 hospitalizations and four ICU inpatients last Wednesday.

The most recent death to be reported was on Friday involving a woman in her 60s from Oxford County.

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 20 was 13.1 per cent, up from11.7 per cent the week prior.

SWPH reported:

• 11,244 cases (an increase of 33 cases with one case removed due to data cleanup).
• 222 active cases (a decrease of 17 from Monday).
• 10,873 resolved cases (an increase of 49 from Monday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome).
• 149 total deaths to date (unchanged).
  

No active institutional outbreaks were reported due to COVID-19 on Wednesday.

As of Feb. 28, 80.7 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 83.6 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 Wednesday, Huron Perth Public Health reported four patients in hospital due to COVID-19, with three cases considered active. Last Wednesday, HPPH said there were five COVID inpatients with four cases considered active.

In total, HPPH has reported 5,680 cases (an increase of 15) and 93 deaths to date (unchanged).

For the week of Feb. 20, the test positivity rate was 7.7 per cent, down from 9.0 per cent the week prior.

HPPH reported 693 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of three from Tuesday.

As of Feb. 27, 84.2 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 80.9 per cent have received two.

Third-dose coverage stands at 52 per cent of those five and older. It should be noted, however, that 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.

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Sarnia and Lambton

Bluewater Health reported six patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19 as of Wednesday, with one in the ICU. Last Wednesday, Bluewater Health had nine patients in hospital with COVID-19 with none in the ICU.

Lambton Public Health reported Monday that the region’s average occupancy sat at 50 per cent for the week of Feb. 20, down from 55 per cent a week earlier and 67 per cent the week of Feb. 6. The average number of inpatients with COVID-19 is 10.

Health unit officials have reduced the amount of information they release about daily COVID-19 figures, and no longer issue the number of active and resolved cases. Data is released on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

On Wednesday, LPH said there were 9,821 total cases (an increase of 36 from Monday) and 127 deaths (unchanged).

Two active outbreaks have been reported in “congregate settings,” both declared active on Feb. 25.

The outbreaks involve St. Francis Advocates, a congregate living setting in Port Franks, and Trillium Villa, a long-term care home in Sarnia. Both outbreaks involve fewer than five resident cases and fewer than five staff or visitor cases.

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 20 was 14.7 per cent, down from 18.1 per cent the week prior.

Among area residents aged five and older, 83 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, 80 per cent have had two doses and 49 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