Health
Coronavirus: 2 deaths, 43 new cases in London-Middlesex; UH outbreak continues to grow – London
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Two more people have died and 43 others have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) said Thursday.
It marks the fourth day in a row that the region has recorded at least one COVID-19-related death, and is the fourth day in a row the single-day case increase has been 30 or higher. (It’s also the second day in a row the increase has been above 40, after a record 46 cases were reported on Wednesday).
Thursday’s update brings the region’s total case count to 1,737, of which 1,414 have recovered — 10 more than the day before — and 74 have died. There are at least 249 active cases of the virus in the region, according to health unit figures.
According to the health unit, the two deaths reported involved two men in their 80s who were not associated with a long-term care or retirement home.
At least one appears to be linked to a large outbreak at University Hospital.
Speaking with 980 CFPL on Wednesday, Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said that an additional death, the tenth, had been confirmed that afternoon in connection with the outbreak — a death that would not be reflected in the data until Thursday.
Three of the four deaths reported by the health unit on Wednesday, and the two deaths reported Tuesday were linked to the outbreak.
Of the 43 cases reported Thursday by the health unit, at least 40 are from London. Two have their location pending, while one is from Thames Centre.
As was the case in previous days, those infected span every age group tracked by the health unit.
Seven are aged 19 or under, nine are in their 20s, three are in their 30s, six are in their 40s, five are in their 50s, four are in their 60s, three are in their 70s, and six are 80 or older.
At least 38 people have their exposure source listed as “outbreak,” while two contracted the virus through close contact, and one through travel. Two cases are pending or undetermined.
It’s not clear how many cases may be linked to the University Hospital outbreak. Of Wednesday’s 46 cases, 42 had their exposure source listed as “outbreak,” however, only 13 cases were said to be directly linked to the hospital, according to the health unit. On Tuesday, at least 14 of the 38 cases reported were linked to the hospital.
Mackie had implied during his interview Wednesday that several new cases had been confirmed in the outbreak that would not be added to the region’s tally until Thursday, however a specific number was not immediately available.
An update is expected during Thursday’s media briefing.
At least 155 cases have been added to the health unit’s dashboard since Monday, more than was reported during the months of May, June, July, August, and September each.
The recent surge in cases has raised questions over whether a possible shift to orange or red on the province’s colour-coded restrictions framework should be expected.
The region is currently in the yellow-protect tier of the province’s restrictions framework.
“I think there is a good chance with these case counts that we’ll move into orange. That decision is a cabinet-level decision, and that would be announced Friday and implemented Monday, if that’s the direction that cabinet supports based on the local numbers,” Mackie said Wednesday.
“I’m not sure that orange will be definitive here. If we keep with the current case counts over the last three days, then you may actually see the London-Middlesex area move into the red zone the following week.”
The region’s seven-day average for new cases stands at 29.85 as of Thursday, up from 26.28 on Wednesday. The 14-day average stands at 23.21, up from 21.85 on Wednesday.
According to the health unit, 1,611 cases have been reported in London since the pandemic began, while 38 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 35 in Middlesex Centre and 31 in Thames Centre.
Lucan Biddulph has seen nine, North Middlesex eight, Southwest Middlesex two and Newbury one.
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Hospitalizations
At least 46 inpatients with COVID-19 are in the care of London Health Sciences Centre as of Thursday, an increase of one from the day before, according to the organization.
It appears the number of patients in critical care/intensive care has dropped under five, as LHSC removed the tally from their website on Thursday. On Wednesday, five patients had been critical care/intensive care.
At the same time, at least 45 LHSC staff are currently positive with the virus, one higher than Wednesday.
Thursday marks the highest number of COVID-19 inpatients in the care of LHSC at any one given time.
Most of those infected are tied to the University Hospital outbreak.
At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, no COVID-19 patients were in the care of any of its local facilities. The organization said three staff cases had been reported since Nov. 4.
As of Nov. 18, St. Joseph’s Health Care London has not seen more than four COVID-19 patients in their care at any given time.
The health unit says at least 183 people have been hospitalized due to the virus since the pandemic began, including at least 41 who have needed intensive care.
Institutional outbreaks
An outbreak in Perth 2 at Parkwood Institute remains active, linked to at least one case.
Meantime, a large outbreak at University Hospital continues to grow, according to officials with London Health Sciences Centre and the health unit.
LHSC reported Thursday that the outbreak, which first originated in 4IP General Medicine on Nov. 10, has been linked to at least 10 deaths and 108 cases.
Of those, LHSC says 62 cases involve patients while 46 involve staff and health-care workers.
The outbreak is now by far the largest to be recorded in the London and Middlesex region.
Since March, the region has seen at least 54 institutional outbreaks in London and Middlesex, including at least 40 at local seniors’ facilities.
Read more:
What went wrong? 10 dead, more than 100 infected in University Hospital COVID-19 outbreaks
The University Hospital outbreak currently impacts a total of six units at the facility, most recently 4TU Multi-Organ Transplant Unit and 6IP Cardiovascular Surgery, which were declared Nov. 27. Outbreaks in 6IP Acute/Decant Medicine, 9IP Sub-Acute Medicine and 10IP Palliative Care/Sub-Acute Medicine were all declared on Nov. 24.
The hospital was also the scene of a separate, smaller outbreak in 9IP Orthopedics that was declared Nov. 11. That outbreak, linked to six cases, is no longer active.
In total, since Nov. 10, at least seven University Hospital units have been hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, with 10 dead and at least 114 cases confirmed.
Officials with LHSC implemented additional measures on Friday to combat the outbreak.
Non-urgent and non-emergent surgeries have been postponed at the hospital, and ambulatory or outpatient activity has been reduced to only urgent and emergent appointments, procedures and diagnostic services.
All patients admitted to LHSC are also being tested for COVID-19, and all adult inpatients are being masked.
LHSC stresses that the hospital remains open and that those needing urgent care should not delay seeking care.
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London, Ont., police arrest woman wanted for allegedly posing as PSW, stealing from seniors
Speaking with 980 CFPL on Wednesday, Dr. Adam Dukelow, LHSC’s chief medical officer, said officials were still investigating how the outbreak began and has continued to spread.
He said the organization was also still looking into an unsubstantiated rumour, first raised publicly during Monday’s health unit media briefing, that a potluck had been held at a hospital involving staff from different floors of the facility.
“The first that our team, at least as far as I’m aware, our team had heard that that was even a rumour was earlier on Monday, and as soon as we were alerted to that, started a line of investigation,” he said. “We have no further information to confirm that (there) was a potluck at any point in time that would be related to the outbreak, but (we’re) actively investigating it.”
Read more:
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Mackie was also asked about the rumour during his interview with 980 CFPL on Wednesday.
“I certainly continue to hear about that sort of rumour. I think the investigation at the University Hospital is ongoing, so it’s probably, you know, best that they comment,” Mackie said.
“We certainly don’t have anything definitive, but if it was a situation where potlucks or house parties or, you know, other social gatherings were contributing to the spread, it would help explain what we’re seeing.”
Asked whether he would have liked to see the measures implemented on Friday by LHSC put in place sooner, Mackie replied:
“I can tell you that we have been giving LHSC advice on this Nov. 22, Nov. 26 — we’ve given lots of documented advice so it’s not as if nothing was happening in that meantime. But absolutely, it would have been really helpful to understand the extent of this earlier so that we could have taken, you know, more definitive measures,” he said.
“I’m very happy with the measures that have been put in place. We’re working with LHSC to make sure that they continue to be in place. And if staff are able to follow those, then I think we will be definitely seeing a turn around the corner of this outbreak.”
Schools
The number of school cases in the region has risen by one after the Thames Valley District School Board reported a case late Wednesday at Stoney Creek Public School.
It’s not clear yet if the case involves a staff member or student. The school remains open and buses continue to operate, the school board says.
The Stoney Creek case is one of at least seven active school cases in London and Middlesex, according to the local school boards.
- Two student cases are active at St. Marguerite d’Youville School. A class outbreak has since been declared by the health unit.
- Two student cases are active at Catholic Central High School.
- One student case is active at Lord Dorchester Secondary School.
- One student case is active at John Paul II Catholic Secondary School.
Since the start of the school year, the London and Middlesex region has recorded at least 49 school-linked cases. Of those, at least 37 have involved students, and only eight have been outside of London.
Elsewhere, two student residence outbreaks at Perth Hall and Saugeen-Maitland Hall at Western University remain active as of Thursday.
Recent resolved school cases by date they were reported on:
- Nov. 13 at Académie de la Tamise involving one staff member.
- Nov. 14 at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School involving one student.
- Nov. 19 at Saunders Secondary School involving one student.
- Nov. 20 at Providence Reformed Collegiate.
- Nov. 20 at Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School involving one student.
Testing
At least 8,055 people were tested for the coronavirus during the week of Nov. 22, according to new testing figures issued by the health unit.
The tally is slightly higher than the 7,624 reported the week prior.
The region’s test per cent positivity rate stood at 1.6 per cent as of the week of Nov. 22, up from 1.3 per cent the week before.
Both of the city’s assessment centres, Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, are continuing to operate by appointment only. Appointment testing for certain asymptomatic people is also continuing at eight local pharmacies.
Carling Heights reported a five-day average of 381 visits from Nov. 23 to 27, compared to 318 at Oakridge Arena.
Ontario is reporting 1,824 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, and 14 new deaths due to the virus.
The jump is due to a data error for one local public health unit — the Middlesex-London Health Unit. The province reported that 127 cases had been reported by the health unit, however the figure reflects cases over the last three days.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 592 new cases in Peel Region, 396 cases in Toronto, and 187 cases in York Region.
The province also reported 122 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 94 among students.
Read more:
Ontario reports more than 1,800 new coronavirus cases, uptick due to data processing error
Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 755 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools.
In the province’s long-term care homes, 707 residents currently have COVID-19 and eleven new deaths have been reported.
The province says 116 of its 626 long-term care homes are experiencing an outbreak.
This article will be updated with figures from neighbouring health units.
–With files from The Canadian Press
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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