The number of new COVID-19 cases in the London-area has dropped back below ten after a one day double-digit increase.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported seven new infections on Thursday, down from 12 the previous day. So far this month, there have been 18 days in which the number of new infections recorded were under ten. There have been four days with double-digit daily increases.
The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 12,720, according to the health unit.
It has now been one week since a COVID-19 related death was reported locally. That leaves the death toll unchanged at 229.
Hospitalizations in the area are down with five or fewer COVID-19 patients admitted to the London Health Sciences Centre. On Wednesday there were seven inpatients with the virus. There are currently fewer than five COVID-19 patients listed in intensive care and no hospital staffers have tested positive.
Area medical institutions, seniors’ facilities and day care centres remain outbreak free. There have been ten recoveries reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of resolved cases up to 12,438. Currently, there are 53 active cases in the region.
The number of cases involving variants of concern in London and Middlesex County has gone up by three to 3,563. The majority of variants identified in the area are the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain from the U.K. However, the three latest variants of concern to be identified were of the Delta variant for a total of 73.
Zero new COVID-19 cases were logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload remains at 3,932. The death toll was held at 84, with no additional COVID-19 deaths in the region in a week. The total number of resolved cases stands at 3,831 and there are 17 known active cases locally.
Provincially, the daily number of COVID-19 cases rose back above 150 for the first time in four days.
Public health officials said there were 185 new cases on Thursday. That is up from the 135 infections logged on Wednesday, 127 on Tuesday and 130 on Monday.
Regions with the most new cases over the past 24 hours were Grey Bruce with 22, Toronto with 18, and Hamilton with 17.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 548,794.
According to the province’s daily epidemiologic summary, Ontario identified 99 new cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant over the past 24 hours for a total of 145,021. Sixty-nine more cases of the P.1 (Gamma) variant were found for a total of 5,096, while the number of new cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) variant went up by five for a total of 1,479. There were 101 new cases involving the B.1.617 (Delta) variant for a total of 3,754.
Seven deaths were reported on Thursday, to increase the province’s death toll to 9,307.
At hospitals in Ontario, one additional person was admitted with COVID-19. Of those in hospital, 141 are in intensive care and 84 are on ventilators.
The number of resolved cases rose by 149 to 538,124. There are currently 1,363 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 19,599 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 0.9 per cent.
The province has administered 18,604,169 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. There are 8,272,485 adults in Ontario who have now received the second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully inoculated.