COVID-19: 1 death, 16 new cases in London and Middlesex Saturday – London

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

The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported a new COVID-19-related death along with 16 new cases on Saturday.

The total number of cases now stands at 14,623, with 98 active cases (an increase of three), 14,278 recoveries (an increase of 12) and 247 total deaths (an increase of one).

The latest death involves a man in his 80s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home.

Of the 98 active cases, 24 involve kids aged 11 or under at a rate of 37.3 cases per 100,000 population. That cohort is not yet eligible for vaccination.

The age group with the largest number of active cases is the 40-64 age group with 34 active cases, though the rate of active cases per 100,000 population is less than those under 12, at 21.2 per 100,000 population.

Of the 98 active cases, 78 are in London.

Information on local variant of concern data can be found by visiting the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London page and clicking on the “Case Status” tab.

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) does not update COVID-19 data on the weekend.

As of Friday, LHSC was caring for nine in-patients with COVID-19.

There were five or fewer in-patients in adult critical care or the intensive care unit.

There were five or fewer in-patients with COVID-19 in Children’s Hospital and zero in paediatric critical care.

Five or fewer staff have currently tested positive for COVID-19.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) reported two non-outbreak cases involving health-care workers.

Outbreaks

The MLHU is reporting two facility-wide outbreaks.

One is at Richmond Woods retirement home, declared Nov. 9.

The other is at Village of Glendale Crossing, declared Nov. 10.

Outbreaks are also active at the following schools:

• École élémentaire catholique Frère André
• Notre Dame Catholic School
• St. Nicholas Senior Catholic School

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Schools

The following schools have active cases associated with them, according to the MLHU:

• Ashley Oaks Public School (one case)
• Blessed Sacrament Catholic School (one case)
• C. C. Carrothers Public School (one case)
• École élémentaire catholique Frère André (three case)
• Emily Carr Public School (one case)
• J. S. Buchanan French Immersion Public School (one case)
• Kensal Park French Immersion Public School(one case)
• Mary Wright Public School (one case)
• Matthews Hall Independent School (one case)
• Notre Dame Catholic School (three cases)
• Oakridge Secondary School (one case)
• St. Anne’s Catholic School (one case)
• St. Bernadette Catholic School (one case)
• St. John French Immersion School (one case)
• St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School (two cases)
• St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School (one case)
• Westminster Secondary School (one case)
• Wilfrid Jury Public School (one case)

The following child-care and early years centres have active cases associated with them, according to the MLHU:

• Faith Day Nursery (one case)
• Sir John A Macdonald YMCA Childcare (one case)

The health unit says at least 230 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, as well as child-care and early years centres.

Vaccinations and testing

The latest vaccination update was issued on Nov. 6.

As of end of day, Nov. 6, 89.5 per cent of eligible residents (12 and older) have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 86.2 per cent are fully immunized.

Since Oct. 1, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 56.3 per cent of all cases (or 268 of 445 cases) and 76.9 per cent of all hospitalizations (10 of 13).

Of the six COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, four involved people who were unvaccinated, one involved an individual who was fully vaccinated and one involved someone who was partially vaccinated.

On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies; guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country; transportation support for those in need; and more.

Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about the locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.

The latest COVID-19 test positivity rate in the region was 1.0 per cent for the week of Oct. 31, down from 1.6 per cent for the week of Oct. 24.

“Our incident rates in Middlesex-London continue to be favourable, however, when we look to other parts of the province and the province as a whole, there are warning signs on the dashboard regarding the COVID-19 cases,” said Dr. Alex Summers, associated medical officer of health for the MLHU.

“The incident rates amongst individuals who are unvaccinated are five to 10 times higher than what we would see amongst those that are vaccinated.”

Ontario

Ontario reported 661 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total case count in the province to 606,507. It’s the highest daily case count in the last month.

The seven-day average has climbed to 559 compared to last Saturday where the average was recorded at 426.

Six more deaths were recorded on Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 9,927.

The province also reported 469 cases were deemed resolved Saturday. The total number of resolved cases in this province is recorded at 591,994.

Within the last 24 hours, 26,456 tests were completed. Test positivity hit 2.4 per cent. This is a slight decrease from Friday’s rate of 2.5 per cent.

In Ontario, more than 11.5 million people among the eligible population (85.4 per cent) age 12 and higher are fully vaccinated.

At least 88.7 per cent of the eligible population have received at least one dose. More than 22.6 million doses have been administered since the rollout of vaccines began last year.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) does not update COVID-19 data on the weekend.

On Friday, SWPH reported:

• 4,925 total cases
• 154 active cases
• 4,676 resolved cases
• 95 deaths to date

Further details can be found on SWPH’s COVID-19 dashboard.

The most recent death was reported Tuesday and involved a woman in her 50s from Elgin County. It was the first death reported this week but the fourth death reported in the last two weeks.

Of the 154 active cases in the region, 69 were in Elgin County (including 34 in Aylmer) and 85 were in Oxford County (including 37 in Woodstock).

SWPH does not disclose the vaccination status of individuals but told Global News that roughly 78 per cent of active cases involve individuals who are not fully vaccinated.

Twelve people were hospitalized with COVID-19 with six in the ICU as of Thursday. There were no active institutional outbreaks.

In a release issued Friday afternoon, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) reported it is at capacity and facing a “dire situation,” with COVID-19 case numbers in the region rapidly rising.

“We have reached our capacity to care for critically ill patients and our hospital is operating above capacity — both of which are the direct result of COVID-19,” said Dr. Waleed Chehadi, Chief of Staff at STEGH.

The president and CEO of STEGH
, Karen Davies, told 980 CFPL the hospital was treating 13 COVID-19 patients as of Saturday and that its level three intensive care unit is full.

“It might seem that 13 extra patients shouldn’t be enough to tip a hospital over, but it is when you’re already at capacity,” she said.

According to Davies, none of the COVID-19 patients are vaccinated.

She says in the past 18 hours, the hospital has referred two patients to another hospital due to the capacity issue.

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Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 5.1 per cent for the week of Oct. 31, up from 3.6 per cent for the week of Oct. 24.

On Nov. 11, 83.9 per cent of those aged 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 86.9 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on where and how to get vaccinated can be found on the health unit’s website.

Huron and Perth

Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) does not update COVID-19 data on the weekend.

As of Friday, HPPH reported:

• 2,425 total cases
• 60 active cases
• 2,299 recoveries
• 67 deaths to date

Among the 60 active cases, 17 were reported in Stratford and 13 in Perth East. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

There were two people hospitalized with COVID-19 and three active cases involving health-care workers, as of Friday.

HPPH reported four outbreaks, though there were no long-term care home, retirement home or hospital outbreaks as of Friday.

An outbreak at Milverton Public School in Perth East was declared Oct. 27 and involves one staff case and 16 student cases.

The other three outbreaks involve workplaces. No further information was provided.

Data on school cases can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 2.7 per cent for the week of Oct. 31, up from 2.3 per cent for the week of Oct. 24.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Nov. 8, 82.1 per cent of those aged 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 85.2 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.

Sarnia and Lambton

On Saturday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:

• 4,268 total cases (an increase of four)
• 44 active cases (a decrease of three)
• 4,151 resolved cases (an increase of eight)
• 73 deaths (unchanged)

LPH does not update specific COVID-19 data on the weekend.

Seven COVID-19 patients were in the care of Bluewater Health as of Friday.

LPH reported four active outbreaks on Friday:

• Brigden Public School, declared Nov. 4 and involving seven cases
• Bluewater Health hospital, declared Nov. 5 and involving fewer than five patient cases and fewer than five staff cases
• a workplace outbreak declared Oct. 31, involving four cases
• a workplace outbreak declared Nov. 9, involving three cases

All active cases at schools within the Lambton Kent District School Board can be found online, as can cases at schools within the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

The test positivity rate for the week of Oct. 31 was 3.8 per cent, up from 2.5 per cent the week prior.

Among area residents aged 12 and older, 80.9 per cent are fully vaccinated and 84 per cent have had at least one 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 call 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’ Sawyer Bogdan, Jacquelyn LeBel and Kabi Moulitharan