COVID-19 testing in a laboratory. (Photo from Pxhere)COVID-19 testing in a laboratory. (Photo from Pxhere)
London

London-area reports 32 new COVID-19 cases

The London region's daily case count dropped slightly on Friday.

The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 32 new infections over the past 24 hours. That is a slight decline from 49 on Thursday and 46 on Wednesday. Daily case numbers have been in the double-digits for nearly three straight weeks, after spending much of April in the triple-digits.

The region has recorded a total of 12,157 cases since the pandemic began 15-months ago.

There were no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported on Friday, leaving the London and Middlesex County death toll at 218. On Thursday, the health unit reported an unvaccinated 24-year-old man had succumbed to the virus. He is among the three youngest people to die from the virus locally.

Recoveries rose by 87 since Thursday for a total of 11,563. There are currently 376 known active cases in the region, down from 616 a week ago.

Hospitalizations in the city and county fell by three on Friday to leave 33 COVID-19 positive patients in the care of the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). Of those, 10 are listed in the intensive care unit. Fewer than five staff members are isolated after contracting the virus.

The number of cases involving variants of concern identified in the area has risen by 14 to 2,960. There have been 2,913 cases involving the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the U.K., 44 cases of the P.1 variant from Brazil, one case of the B.1.351 variant from South Africa, and two cases of the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India.

There are three ongoing outbreaks at area seniors’ facilities – Kensington Village, Kensington Village Retirement, and McGarrell Place. There is also an outbreak at one child care centre and one high school.

In Elgin and Oxford counties, the number of new cases hit its lowest level since mid-March. Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for the region, said there were just four new COVID-19 infections recorded Friday, down from ten on Thursday. The region’s total number of cases is now 3,765 with 3,623 resolved. The death toll was unchanged at 80. Currently, there are 62 active cases in the two counties. An outbreak continues at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital where 19 people have been infected and three died. As of last Saturday, 45.1 per cent of local residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 2.5 per cent have been given both doses.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario has risen for a second consecutive day.

Public health officials confirmed 1,273 new infections across the province on Friday. That is up from 1,135 on Thursday. Daily case counts on Wednesday and Tuesday were 1,095 and 1,039.

Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases on Friday with 269, followed by Peel with 268, Ottawa with 101, Hamilton with 78, and Durham with 72.

Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 528,453.

There have been another 837 new cases of the variant originating from the U.K. in Ontario. That brings the province’s total number of B.1.1.7. cases to 123,186. Cases of the B.1.351 and P.1 variants are up by 74 and 72 for a total of 914 and 2,616.

There were 14 additional deaths reported over the past 24 hours. The provincial death toll is now 8,711.

Hospitalizations in Ontario are down with 1,023 COVID-19 positive patients admitted. Of those, 645 are in intensive care and 458 are on ventilators.

The number of resolved cases rose to 504,304. There are currently 15,438 active cases of the virus in Ontario.

In the last 24 hour period, 40,900 COVID-19 tests were processed, up from 37,705 the previous day. Ontario’s current positivity rate is 3.6 per cent.

To date, the province has administered 8,690,473 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 624,920 people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.

The provincial government announced plans on Friday to shorten the interval between doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. As of Monday, people 80 and older can begin booking earlier second dose appointments. In some cases the wait between the first and second dose could be as short as 28 days.

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