The number of active COVID-19 cases in the London region has dropped to below 100 for the first time since the fall.
The Middlesex London Health Unit said Thursday there were 93 known active infections in the area. Active cases have not been below 100 since early November. Local spread of the virus has been in a downward trend since mid-January, with 440 cases including eight on Thursday, reported so far this month. That is a significant decrease from the 2,375 cases confirmed in the area during the first month of the year.
The region's total case count since the start of the pandemic stands at 6,133.
There has not been a COVID-29 related death since February 13, leaving the death toll unchanged at 181.
The number of COVID-19 positive inpatients in the care of the London Health Sciences Centre has dropped to nine, with fewer than five in the intensive care unit. It has been weeks since the hospital has had under ten patients be treated for the virus.
The low hospitalization level will be taken into consideration as the province contemplates moving Middlesex-London from the red-control level of the COVID-19 framework to the orange-restrict or yellow-protect zones. A move to either of the two colours would mean an easing of public health restrictions. A decision on that could come as soon as Friday.
Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence joins five other local seniors facilities in dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19. That outbreak was declared late Wednesday. Outbreaks also remain at St. Anne’s Catholic School and Pinetree Montessori School.
Recoveries in the region are up to 5,859.
Following a zero case day, Elgin and Oxford counties reported 15 new infections Thursday. Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for the region, said that brings its total caseload since March of last year to 2,478. There were no additional deaths linked to the virus recorded over the past 24 hours. That leaves the death toll at 67. There are three area long-term care or retirement homes dealing with cases of the virus – Aylmer Retirement Residence, Valleyview Nursing Home in St. Thomas, and Caressant Care Retirement Home Woodstock. Four deaths are associated with the three outbreaks. Resolved cases have increased to 2,371. There are now 40 known active cases in the two counties.
Ontario’s daily case count remained above 1,000 for the second consecutive day.
Public health officials logged 1,138 new infections across the province Thursday. That is up from 1,054 cases Wednesday and 975 Tuesday.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 339, that was followed by Peel with 204, and York Region with 106.
Ontario has confirmed 20 more cases of the variant first discovered in the U.K., known as B.1.1.7, for a total of 449. There were two more cases of the variant first associated with South Africa, known as B.1.351. for a total of 11. The province also now has two cases of the variant first found in Brazil, known as P.1.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 297,311.
There were 23 additional deaths reported over the past 24 hours, four of which were in long-term care homes. The province’s death toll is now 6,916.
At hospitals in Ontario, there are 687 patients with COVID-19. Of those, 283 are in intensive care and 182 are on ventilators.
The number of resolved cases rose to 280,324. There are currently 10,071 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 66,351 COVID-19 tests were processed. The province’s positivity rate is roughly 2 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 621,960 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 255,449 people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.