A woman is given a nasal swab test for COVID-19. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / dolgachovA woman is given a nasal swab test for COVID-19. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / dolgachov
London

18 new COVID-19 cases in London-Middlesex

As London-Middlesex recorded another 18 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, Elgin-Oxford reported its first death linked to the virus since the summer.

For the second day in a row, the Middlesex London Health Unit said there were 18 newly confirmed infections in the region. The new cases include a staff member at the London Health Sciences Centre.

Currently, there are 20 hospital employees who have tested positive for the virus. There are also another four COVID-19 infected patients under the hospital's care for a total of 27. The increase comes a day after an outbreak on two units at University Hospital was expanded to all medical floors. The original outbreaks on the fourth-floor medicine unit and the ninth-floor Orthopaedic unit were declared on November 10.

A reported outbreak on a unit at the Parkwood Institute and within two residences at Western University also continues.

The region has now seen a total of 1,512 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 1,309 resolved and 64 deaths. That leaves 139 active cases in the city and county.

Public health officials with Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, reported one additional death on Wednesday. This is the first COVID-19 related death in the region since the start of July, and brings the death toll up to six. There were also seven new cases reported in the two counties, increasing the total case count to 507.

An outbreak has been declared at Woodingford Lodge in Woodstock where an employee has contracted the virus. As a result, the long-term care home is no longer accepting new admissions and is closed to visitors.

A total of 447 cases have been resolved in Elgin and Oxford and 54 cases remain active.

Provincially, there were another 1,373 new infections reported on Wednesday. That is up from 1,009 on Tuesday.

Of the new cases, 996 were in the COVID-19 hotspots of Toronto (445), Peel (415) and York Region (136).

The total number of cases in the province has risen to 107,883.

There were an additional 35 deaths linked to the virus across the province, the highest number since the second wave of the pandemic arrived in September. Ontario's death toll is now 3,554.

The number of resolved cases rose to 91,550 with 1,476 additional recoveries reported.

There are currently 523 COVID-19 infected patients in hospitals across the province, including 159 in the intensive care unit and 106 on ventilators to breathe.

In the last 24 hour period, nearly 36,100 COVID-19 tests were processed.

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