COVID-19: LHSC caring for 46 COVID patients, MLHU reports 173 cases from Saturday to Monday

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

Hospitalizations

LHSC was caring for 46 COVID-19 inpatients on Monday, with five or fewer in adult critical care. Last Monday, LHSC was caring for 44 patients with five or fewer in adult critical care.

There are five or fewer COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital with zero in pediatric critical care. The same figures were reported last Monday.

LHSC says of its 46 COVID-19 inpatients, 13 are being treated for COVID-19, while 33 are being treated with COVID-19, meaning they were admitted for a different reason and were found to have an incidental COVID-19 infection.

For the first time in a week, LHSC reported updated data on the number of active cases among staff. LHSC said there were 136 active cases among staff as of March 7, down from 232 on Feb. 28, the last time data was provided.

“We don’t test all our staff, we have screening criteria. That screening criteria then leads to a test if one of our staff members need it,” LHSC executive VP and chief nursing executive Carol Young-Ritchie explained when asked about the delay in reporting.

“As the screening criteria changed, we also changed our data collection for that. So we’ve just made sure our processes are correct and we’re reporting that now daily.”

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, 43 cases were reported active among health-care workers and three cases were reported among patients or residents (all patient/resident cases are at Parkwood Institute Main Building).

Last Monday, St. Joseph’s reported 47 cases among health-care workers and one patient or resident case.

Cases and testing

Young-Ritchie announced Monday that the Carling Heights Assessment Centre will now offer COVID therapeutics, including Paxlovid, on an outpatient basis to those at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19.

“This therapy is recommended for a select patient population and we advise those who believe they are eligible to visit our website for additional information,” she said Monday.

“Those who are at higher risk should contact a health care professional as soon as possible or self-refer at our Carling Heights Assessment Centre for a clinical assessment.”

The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported no new deaths and 173 cases from Saturday to Monday, with 50 cases reported Monday, 64 on Sunday and 59 on Saturday.

So far, two deaths have been reported in March.

A week ago, the MLHU reported no deaths and a total of 164 cases with 50 cases last Monday and 57 each last Sunday and Saturday.

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 32,181 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. At least 575 cases are currently active (an increase of 21) while 31,255 have resolved (an increase of 153) and 351 deaths have been reported (unchanged).

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 100/200/300, declared Feb. 28, 12 patient cases and 10 staff cases
• Victoria Hospital
  • C6 100 Geriatric Behavioural Unit, declared Feb. 21, involving six patient cases and five or fewer staff cases.

A previous outbreak in University Hospital’s U9 300 – Medicine unit, declared Feb. 17, involving nine patient cases, is no longer listed as active.

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
• Chelsey Park, fourth floor – A Wing, declared March 4
• Chelsey Park Retirement Community, facility-wide, declared March 4
• Horizon Place, facility-wide, declared Feb. 24
• Kensington Village Retirement, eighth avenue, declared Feb. 18

An outbreak at Dorchester Terrace, second floor, declared Feb. 19, is listed as over as of March 5.

Vaccinations

Updated vaccination data is expected on Tuesday.

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.

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 reported 693 people in hospital with COVID on Monday, with 249 in ICUs. Last Monday, there were 849 hospitalizations, with 279 in ICUs.

Ontario also reported 1,074 new lab-confirmed cases on Monday, though that is an underestimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to testing restrictions. The provincial case total now stands at 1,114,284.

Four more virus-related deaths were also reported, for a pandemic total of 12,574.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health reported no new COVID-19 deaths on Monday and 60 additional lab-confirmed cases from Friday’s total. Last Monday, SWPH reported no deaths and 71 cases.

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

There were at least nine COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, with four in intensive care. Last Monday, SWPH reported eight hospitalizations with two in the ICU.

The most recent death to be reported was Feb. 25 and involved a woman in her 60s from Oxford County.

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 20 was 13.1 per cent, up from 11.7 per cent the week prior.

SWPH reported:

• 11,356 cases (an increase of 60 cases from Friday with three cases removed due to data cleanup).
• 200 active cases (a decrease of 42 from Friday)
• 10,873 resolved cases (an increase of 134 from Friday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome).
• 149 total deaths to date (unchanged).

SWPH reported one active institutional outbreak on Monday at Chartwell Oxford Gardens in Woodstock. The outbreak was declared March 2 and involves eight resident cases and one staff case.

As of March 2, 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. Those figures are unchanged from Feb. 28.

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 Monday’s data from Huron Perth Public Health.

On Friday, Huron Perth Public Health reported three patients in hospital due to COVID-19, with one case considered active. Last Friday, HPPH reported six patients in hospital with COVID-19, with three cases considered active.

In total, HPPH has reported 5,711 cases (an increase of 18) and 94 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 702 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of three from Thursday.

As of Feb. 27, the most recent data available, 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 five patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19 as of Monday, with zero in the ICU. Last Monday, the hospital had 11 COVID-19 patients with one in intensive care.

Lambton Public Health reported that the region’s average ICU occupancy sat at 63 per cent for the week of Feb. 27, up from 50 per cent for the week of Feb. 20.

LPH case information is released on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The health unit reported two deaths and 50 cases from Saturday to Monday. However, while the total number of cases did increase by 50 to 9,914, the total number of deaths actually decreased by three to 126, as a result of new reporting requirements from Public Health Ontario and Ontario’s Ministry of Health.

The health unit noted that as of March 7, the dashboard no longer includes “cases where COVID-19 did not cause the death or exacerbate the clinical condition that caused the death,” for example if someone was positive for COVID-19 at the time of a death caused by drug toxicity or trauma. As a result, five previously-recorded deaths were removed.

Two active outbreaks have been reported in “congregate settings,” at St. Francis Advocates in Port Franks and Trillium Villa long-term care home in Sarnia. Both were declared Feb. 25 and involve fewer than five cases among residents and fewer than five cases among staff or visitors.

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