Coronavirus: 20 new cases in London-Middlesex, 13 in Sarnia-Lambton – London

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

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Twenty new coronavirus cases were confirmed in London and Middlesex, local health officials reported Wednesday.

In addition, the number of screened variant positive cases in the region has risen by one to 22.

As of Wednesday, the pandemic case tally for London-Middlesex stands at 6,338, of which 6,009 have resolved, an increase of 16 from the day before.

At least 185 virus-related deaths have been reported in the region during the pandemic, with the most recent on Monday.

The number of active cases locally stands at 144, according to the Middlesex-London Health Unit.

Health unit figures show that at least 156 cases and two deaths have been reported so far this month.

The region is currently in the orange-restrict level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework.

Of the 20 new cases Wednesday, 18 are from London while two are pending location data.

Sixteen of those positive with the virus are under the age of 30, health unit data shows.

Seven are aged 19 or younger, nine are in their 20s, and one each are in their 30s, 50s, 60s, and 80 or older.

Ten cases are pending exposure source data, while seven cases are listed as being due to close contact. Three cases have no known link.

As previously mentioned, the region has recorded 22 cases that have screened positive as a variant, including one Wednesday.

Four cases have been confirmed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K., while the rest are undergoing genomic sequencing to determine the variant of concern.

During Monday’s media briefing, Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said between 20 to 30 per cent of cases seen over the previous week involved variants, up from zero to five per cent a few weeks earlier.

Mackie also noted that recent upward trends in local and provincial case jumps, and the increasing presence of more contagious variants, suggests a possible third wave is on the way.

He added that local data also suggested more people have been gathering indoors maskless, with contact tracing data showing the number of contacts-per-case on the rise.

More information is expected to be made public during Thursday’s media briefing.

The region’s seven-day case average stood at 17.85 on Tuesday while the 14-day average was 16.85 up from 14.71.

At least 5,513 cases have been confirmed in the city of London since the pandemic began, while 248 have been in Middlesex Centre.

Elsewhere, 208 have been in Strathroy-Caradoc, 96 in Thames Centre, 54 in Lucan Biddulph, 38 in Southwest Middlesex, 33 in North Middlesex, 14 in Adelaide Metcalfe and two in Newbury.

At least 112 cases have pending location information.

Hospitalizations

The number of COVID-19 inpatients in the care of London Health Sciences Centre stood at five as of Wednesday, a decrease of one from the day before.

At the same time, the number of inpatients in critical or intensive care remained unchanged at fewer than five.

Active staff cases also number fewer than five, the same as Tuesday.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, no active patient or staff cases were reported at any of the organization’s facilities as of late Monday, its most recent update.

At least 365 people have required hospitalization for COVID-19 during the pandemic, the health unit says. At least 67 have needed intensive care.

Institutional outbreaks

No new outbreaks have been declared in London-Middlesex and no outbreaks have been listed as resolved.

Six remain active in the region as of Wednesday according to the health unit.

Since the start of the pandemic, at least 107 institutional outbreaks have been declared in the region, with at least 80 at seniors’ facilities.

The health unit says institutional outbreaks have been linked to at least 780 of the region’s cases and 106 of its deaths.

Elsewhere, a non-institutional outbreak is still active at the city’s jail.

Declared on Jan. 18, the outbreak at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre has been tied to at least 29 staff and 27 inmate cases.

No inmate cases were listed as being active at the jail as of Monday, according to provincial data. A spokesperson with the Ministry of the Solicitor General said Wednesday that it was not aware of any active staff cases at the jail.

Elsewhere, another non-institutional outbreak is active at Western University’s Essex Hall residence, declared March 2. It was initially tied to at least seven cases.

Schools

No new school cases were reported Wednesday by either the Thames Valley District School Board or London District Catholic School Board.

Wednesday marks the first day of voluntary asymptomatic testing by the Thames Valley District School Board.

Testing will take place at East Elgin Secondary School in Aylmer between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., with testing set to take place Thursday at Westminster Secondary School.

Information on testing site updates can be found on the school board website.

Ten school cases are listed as active in the region according to the health unit, including three at Bonaventure Meadows Public School, two at St. Mark Catholic School, and one at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School, all of which have active outbreaks as well.

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A full list of active school cases can be found on the health unit’s website.

At least 233 school and child care cases have been reported in London and Middlesex since the pandemic began last March, the health unit says.

One child care centre case was listed as being active on Wednesday, located at Bonaventure Meadows Children’s Centre.

Elsewhere, in post-secondary, an outbreak remains active at Western University’s Essex Hall residence, declared on March 2. It has been tied to at least seven cases.

Vaccinations and testing

An update regarding the region’s vaccination campaign is expected during Thursday’s scheduled media briefing.

On Tuesday, health officials announced that second dose appointments were being delayed “up to 112 days from the date the first dose was administered” in a bid to get first shots into more arms.

The change impacts upwards of 10,200 people who had gotten initial doses at the Western Fair District Agriplex and at Caradoc Community Centre, and comes after Ontario health units were notified by the province Monday to extend the time between doses to 16 weeks.

“Individuals whose appointments are being rescheduled will be notified by text message or email, based on how they booked their first appointment,” the statement said.

Roughly 44,571 doses have been administered in the region since Dec. 23, including at least 9,735 between March 1 and March 7.

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Health officials are continuing to ask anyone aged 80 or older who has not gotten a vaccine to book an appointment. Under provincial eligibility rules, people born in 1941 or prior are eligible to be vaccinated, even if they aren’t technically 80 yet.

During Monday’s media briefing, Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said eligibility was being expanded within the ‘very high priority‘ health-care worker designation, with additional age groups set to be added into the eligibility queue sometime over the next two to three weeks.

Health Canada expects more than two million doses of vaccine to be delivered from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna in two weeks.

Pfizer alone will ship more than a million doses a week between March 22 and April 18.

Pfizer recently said it would increase its planned shipments to Canada by 1.5 million doses before the end of March, and send an extra million doses in both April and May.

The company has now confirmed its delivery schedule through mid-April, shipping 1.2 million doses the weeks of March 22 and March 29, and one million doses the weeks of April 5 and April 18.

The region’s two main assessment centres, located at Carling Heights and Oakridge Arena, remain open and operating by appointment.

The Carling Heights site has seen an average of 395 visits per day over the last nine days. Oakridge Arena, which is not open on weekends, has seen an average of 334 per day since the month began.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at 1.1 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, up from 0.7 the week before.

At least 8,819 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 10,490 the week prior.

Ontario

Ontario is reporting 1,316 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 428 new cases in Toronto, 244 in Peel Region and 149 in York Region.

The province says that 1,212 more cases were resolved since Tuesday’s report.

More than 54,100 tests were completed since the last daily update.

Ontario reports that 35,264 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered since Tuesday’s update.

A total of 978,797 doses of vaccine have been given in the province so far.

There have been 312,428 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, 294,018 of which have been resolved and 7,099 that have been fatal.

Elgin and Oxford

Six new coronavirus cases were reported on Wednesday by officials with Southwestern Public Health.

The update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,584, of which 2,474 have resolved, an increase of seven from the day before. At least 67 deaths have been reported in the region, most recently on Feb. 20.

As of Wednesday, at least 43 cases are active in Elgin-Oxford, with 14 located in Aylmer and nine in Woodstock.

The region has seen at least five screened positive cases involving a variant of concern as of Tuesday.

Two have been confirmed to involve the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K. Genomic sequencing is underway to determine others.

The region is in the orange-restrict level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.

Vaccination bookings opened Tuesday morning for eligible residents in Elgin and Oxford counties and the City of St. Thomas.

The first block of appointments for those aged 80 and older were booked up by late Tuesday morning, officials said. It’s expected that 5,000 new slots will soon be available for the week of March 22.

The health unit says eligible residents should visit covidvaccinelm.ca or call 226-289-3560 on March 15 starting at 8 a.m. to book into the next block of appointments.

More information on the local vaccination campaign can be found on the health unit’s website.

One new school case was reported late Tuesday night in the region, located at Emily Stowe Public School in Norwich, according to the Thames Valley District School Board.

The case is the only one active at a school in Elgin-Oxford.

Elsewhere, a new outbreak was declared in Woodstock at the Arches Transitional Bed Program. The case involves one staff member.

Two other outbreaks remain active in the region, located at Bethany Care Home in Norwich and Maples Retirement Home in Tavistock, both linked to one resident case each.

The health unit says a total of 509 cases have been reported in Woodstock during the pandemic, while 432 have been in Aylmer, 432 in St. Thomas, and 336 in Tillsonburg.

Elsewhere, 206 cases have been in Norwich, 162 in Bayham, 116 in Ingersoll, 108 in East Zorra-Tavistock, 57 in Zorra, 57 in Blandford-Blenheim, 47 in South-West Oxford, 45 in Central Elgin, 25 in Southwold, 23 in Dutton/Dunwich, 20 in West Elgin and eight in Malahide.

The region’s test positivity rate stood at 0.9 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, down from 1.6 per cent as of the week before.

At least 3,739 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 4,773 the week before.

Huron and Perth

For a second day, health officials with Huron Perth Public Health reported just one new coronavirus case on Wednesday, along with six new resolved cases.

The update brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 1,366, of which 1,299 have recovered and 50 have died. The most recent death was reported on March 1.

Wednesday’s lone case was reported in Huron East, health unit figures show.

The region has 17 active cases, with at least 10 in Stratford and four in North Perth. At least two people are currently hospitalized in the region.

The region has seen at least one case with a presumptive positive screen for a variant of concern. Genomic sequencing is underway.

The region is in the yellow-protect level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.

Huron Perth Public Health said Wednesday that it would follow provincial direction and extend the time interval for second doses of the coronavirus vaccine up to 16 weeks to allow first doses to more people.

“If you are scheduled for a second dose, it will likely be cancelled; you will receive a cancellation email or phone call from HPPH,” read a health unit statement.

Long-term care home, retirement home, Elder Care Lodge and Assisted Living facility residents will continue to receive a second dose between 21 to 42 days after their first.

The health unit opened up vaccination appointments to adults aged 80 and older and Indigenous adults 55 and older last week, and on Monday, said slots for March 8 to 21 had been filled with more than 5,500 appointments booked.

“Because our vaccine supply is confirmed for the following two weeks, we are setting up additional clinics and will make those bookings available as soon as we can,” the health unit said in an online update.

“We ask that people not call their primary care provider or pharmacy for further information. Appointments are being booked through HPPH.”

Those looking to book an appointment can do so via the health unit’s booking website, or by calling 1-833-753-2098. Caregivers and spouses under 80 years of age are not eligible for the vaccine, the health unit says.

More information on the local vaccination campaign can be found on the health unit’s website.

No new school cases were reported in the region Wednesday.

Two are active, with one at St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School and one at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School, both in Stratford.

Elsewhere, no institutional outbreaks have been declared. None are currently active. One outbreak remains active at a congregate living setting in the region.

Health unit figures show at least 553 cases have been reported in Perth County during the pandemic, including 348 in North Perth and 138 in Perth East.

Elsewhere, 451 cases have been reported in Huron County, including 100 in South Huron and 99 in Huron East, while at least 330 cases have been reported in Stratford and 32 in St. Marys.

The local test positivity rate stood at 0.7 per cent the week of Feb. 21, the same as the week before. Updated figures are expected this week.

Roughly 3,266 people were tested the week of Feb. 21, up from 2,899 a week earlier.

Sarnia and Lambton

Thirteen new cases have been reported in Lambton County, officials with Lambton Public Health said.

It brings the region’s pandemic case tally to 2,272, of which 2,089 have resolved, an increase of 17 from the day before. At least 46 deaths have been reported, most recently on Feb. 17.

As of Wednesday, 137 cases were listed as active in Lambton. Bluewater Health reported four COVID-19 patients in its care, the same as the day before.

The region remains in red-control of the province’s COVID-19 response framework.

Information on the local vaccination campaign can be found on the health unit’s website.

At least three new school cases were reported Wednesday, with two in Sarnia.

One is located at Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School in Sarnia, one is located at Sacred Heart Catholic in Sarnia, and one is located at Sir John Moore Public School in Corunna.

As many as 32 school-related cases are active in Lambton County under the Lambton-Kent District School Board and St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

Full lists can be found on their respective websites, linked above.

The health unit says the county’s test positivity rate was 3.1 per cent as of the week of Feb. 28, up from 1.7 per cent the week prior.

At least 3,959 people were tested the week of Feb. 28, down from 4,438 a week earlier.

–With files from The Canadian Press

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