For a sixth straight day, the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the London region was in the double-digits.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 15 new infections on Tuesday. That comes after 17 cases were recorded Monday, 21 cases were reported Sunday, and 20 cases were confirmed Saturday. Last Friday and Thursday also saw single-day case numbers of 17 and 15. The area has not seen this many consecutive days of double-digit increases since the start of June. The local total number of cases since the pandemic began is now 12,988.
The area death toll is unchanged at 232, with no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported since Saturday.
Recoveries are up by eight to bring the total number of resolved cases to 12,635. There are currently 121 active cases locally, the second day in a row the number of active cases surpassed 100.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has eight inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, the same number as was reported on Monday. Five of those patients are listed in intensive care and fewer than five hospital workers have become sick.
Another 18 cases have been identified as variants of concern for a total of 3,681. There are 3,381 variants of concern that have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain and 122 have tested positive as the P.1. (Gamma) variant. The region has also had 172 cases of the B.1.617 (Delta) variant and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) strain. There are 189 cases that have tested positive for a mutation.
As of Saturday, there have been 695,285 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 82 per cent of all area residents aged 12 and older having received at least one dose. The percentage of the local population to receive both doses is currently 72.6.
Of the 368 people who have contracted the virus locally since July 6, approximately 62 per cent were not vaccinated, 23.1 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 12.5 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 2.64 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection. None of the people who died during that six-week period had received a single dose of the vaccine.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there were three new cases reported Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,028. There has not been a COVID-19 related death in the region since July 14, leaving the death toll unchanged at 84. Resolved cases rose to 3,917 with 27 known active cases in the two counties remaining. Roughly 80.4 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 70.7 per cent have received both doses.
Both the Middlesex London Health Unit (MLHU) and Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) received additional one-time funding from the province Tuesday to help cover increased costs associated with the pandemic. The Middlesex London Health Unit will get $1.36 million, while Southwestern Public Health is being given $1.49 million.
“Public health units across Ontario have incurred additional expenses throughout the pandemic, including those related to COVID-19 monitoring, case and contact management, and local vaccination efforts,” said Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek. “I am proud of the work the MLHU and SWPH are undertaking to keep our community safe and will continue to advocate that our region receive the healthcare resources it needs and deserves.”
Ontario’s daily COVID-19 caseload dropped below 500 for the first time in six days.
Public health officials logged 348 new infections on Tuesday. That is a decrease from 526 cases on Monday, 511 cases on Sunday, 578 infections on Saturday, 510 cases last Friday and 513 cases last Thursday.
The unvaccinated continue to account for the bulk of the new cases across the province, with 67 per cent of the infections reported Tuesday among those who have not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated account for 11 per cent of the new cases, and the fully vaccinated made up 22 per cent.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 85, followed by Peel Region with 45, and Windsor-Essex with 41.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 556,435.
There were ten additional deaths reported Tuesday, however, six of those deaths happened more than two months ago and were just added as part of a data cleanup. The provincial death toll is now 9,428.
There are currently 163 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, an increase of 55 since Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are up by eight to 127 and there are 98 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. Of those in general hospital wards with the virus, 149 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
The number of resolved cases rose by 280 to 543,077. There are currently 3,930 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 17,408 COVID-19 tests were processed. That is up from 15,784 the previous day and brings the province’s positivity rate to 2.6 per cent.
To date, the province has administered over 20.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 9.6 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated. On Tuesday, the province announced it will begin offering a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to those considered to be at highest-risk. That includes transplant patients, people with hematological cancers such as lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia, individuals undergoing chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy treatment, long-term care and retirement home residents, and those in First Nations elder care lodges.
According to the provincial officials, the third dose will provide "an extra layer of protection against the Delta variant."