For the eighth day in a row, the London and Middlesex region saw no new deaths related to the coronavirus along with a daily case increase that's below 20.

"This kind of anti-Chinese rhetoric is inflammatory and unwelcome in our increasingly diverse city," said NDP MPPs Teresa Armstrong, Terence Kernaghan and Peggy Sattler.

The initiative will see Western researchers utilize thousands of frozen bat tissue samples to develop a bank of ready-made vaccines in the event of another coronavirus pandemic.

A second COVID-19 vaccination site will be ready to open in the London and Middlesex region at the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges later this month.

No new deaths, 46 new coronavirus cases and 20 recoveries were reported by the Middlesex-London Health Unit one year after the region reported its first COVID-19 case. 

The Middlesex-London Health Unit announced its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 31, 2020. It involved a post-secondary school student who had recently returned from Wuhan, China.

Health officials in London-Middlesex said the two deaths reported Friday involved two women in their 70s and 90s who were both associated with a long-term care home.

The health unit plans to create three more mass vaccination clinics in the region to reach a goal of 3,000 vaccinations per day.

Thirty-nine new cases were reported Thursday, the same as the day before, bringing the region's case tally to 5,561. At least 3,771 people have recovered, an increase of seven.

The death reported Wednesday involved a woman in her 80s who was associated with a long-term care home. No other information has been released.