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London

Three new cases of COVID-19, no deaths reported in London-area

For the first time this week, there were no additional COVID-19 related deaths in London and Middlesex County.

The Middlesex London Health Unit reported the death toll in the region remained at 52 on Thursday. Up until now, there had been a single death reported each day this week - two in retirement homes and one in a long-term care facility.

Three new cases of the virus were confirmed by public health officials over the past 24 hours. That brings the area's total number of confirmed cases since the start of the virus to 512. None of the three new cases have been linked to long-term care or retirement homes.

There are 13 infected patients in the care of the London Health Sciences Centre. The hospital no longer specifies which hospital site is treating COVID-19 patients in order to protect the privacy of the individuals.

The number of people to recover from the virus in the London-area has increased to 369, up from 367 on Wednesday.

As the number of people requesting novel coronavirus testing in the region goes up, the health unit announced it will now provide the current wait times at the city's two assessment centres four times a day. The wait times will be shared on Twitter daily at 10:50 a.m., 12:50 p.m., 2:50 p.m., and 4:50 p.m. London's COVID-19 assessment centres are located at Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre at 656 Elizabeth St. and Oakridge Arena at 825 Valetta St.

Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, had a second day with no new cases or deaths being reported. The total number of confirmed cases is still 73, with four deaths. Sixty of the cases have been resolved.

Provincial public health officials reported another 383 cases and 34 more deaths on Wednesday. The jump in daily COVID-19 cases recorded comes after two days where the number had dipped below 300. On Wednesday there were 292 new cases confirmed, while Tuesday saw 287 new cases across the province.

The total number of confirmed cases in Ontario since the start of the outbreak is now 26,866, while the death toll has reached 2,189. More than half of the deaths (1,377) have been among residents in long-term care homes.

Outbreaks of the virus have been reported at 289 long-term care facilities in Ontario.

Health-care workers across the province account for 4,577 of the total number of cases of COVID-19.

Hospitalization among those with COVID-19 sits at 12.5 per cent with 833 people currently in hospital. Of those, 137 are listed in the intensive care unit, 94 with a ventilator helping them to breathe.

Public health officials have said 20,673 of the cases have been resolved.

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