Half a dozen new COVID-19 cases, including at least two involving Western University students, have been reported in London and Middlesex County.
The Middlesex London Health Unit said on Monday there were six more people who tested positive for the virus. They bring the region's total case count up to 756, with 21 cases listed as active.
There were no new resolved cases on Monday, leaving the number of recoveries at 678.
The death toll remains unchanged at 57, with no new deaths reported in more than three months.
The London-area is starting to see a slight spike in new cases of COVID-19 as university and college students return to the city. Over the weekend, public health officials said five Western University students had been infected. While the students hadn't been in class or taken part in campus activities, they had been to downtown bars and restaurants and socialized with those in neighbouring housing units. The news has prompted a surge of concerned residents to flock to London's two COVID-19 assessment centres at Oakridge Arena and Carling Heights to get tested. On Monday morning, wait times ranged from three to four hours.
An assessment centre on campus at Western also saw a long line of students on Monday. The centre is located within a trailer in the Social Science Centre parking lot and is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, two more people tested positive for COVID-19. Southwestern Public Health, the health unit over the two counties, said Monday the pair of new cases brings its total number of cases up to 258. There were no new recoveries reported over the past 24 hours. That leaves the number of resolved cases at 248.
There have been a total of five COVID-19 related deaths in the region since the pandemic began with zero additional deaths since July 3.
There are just five active cases in the area.
Provincially, public health officials are reporting the highest number of new infections since the start of June.
Ontario recorded 313 new cases on Monday. That is up from 204 on Sunday and 232 on Saturday.
Health Minister Christine Elliott stated the bulk of the new cases are located in the Toronto-area and the nation's capital.
"Seventy-eight per cent of today's cases are from three regions, with 112 in Toronto, 71 in Peel and 60 in Ottawa. All other PHUs [public health units] have fewer than 10 new cases, except for York with 13 cases. 15 PHUs have no new cases," tweeted Elliott.
Of the new cases, 67 per cent are in people under the age of 40, Elliott added.
Ontario's total case count is now 44,817.
There was one additional death reported since Sunday, bringing the province's death toll up to 2,816.
Recoveries now stand at 39,974.
Currently, 47 infected Ontarians are in hospital receiving treatment, with 17 in the intensive care unit.
Over the past 24 hours, the province has conducted roughly 30,000 additional COVID-19 tests.