An unvaccinated man in his 60s is the latest person in the London region to succumb to COVID-19.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported the man's death on Tuesday. He was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home. His death is the second one linked to the virus this month and brings the local death toll up to 233. The only other person to die from COVID-19 this month, a woman in her 60s, was also not vaccinated. Her death was reported on August 14.
Thirteen new COVID-19 cases were logged on Thursday. That is down quite a bit from the 30 new cases recorded each day Monday and Sunday and the 49 infections reported on Saturday. Double-digit daily case counts have been the norm since August 12.
"The fourth wave has definitively arrived in the Middlesex London region and in Ontario," the region's associate medical officer of health Dr. Alex Summers said during a briefing at the start of the week. "Case counts are rising rapidly... Our incident rate over the last week has risen to 40 cases per 100,000. This is an incident rate of COVID-19 that is consistent with what was previously called the 'red zone' at the provincial level."
The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 13,192, according to the health unit.
Recoveries are up by 19 to bring the total number of resolved cases to 12,728. There are currently 231 active cases locally, the second day in a row the number of active cases surpassed 200.
Another 26 cases have been identified as variants of concern for a total of 3,748. There are 3,385 variants of concern that have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain and 124 have tested positive as the P.1. (Gamma) variant. The region has also had 233 cases of the B.1.617 (Delta) variant and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) strain. There are 190 cases that have tested positive for a mutation.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has ten inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, up two from Monday. Five of those patients are listed in intensive care and fewer than five hospital workers have become sick.
As of Saturday, there have been 707,270 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 82.5 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 74.6.
Of the 505 people who have contracted the virus locally since July 13, approximately 65.9 per cent were not vaccinated, 18.8 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 13.5 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 1.8 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.
"It is critical that vaccination is the number one priority for all in our community. Not just for yourself, but for all of those around you," added Summers.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there was one new case reported Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,054. 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 3,943 with 27 known active cases in the two counties remaining. Roughly 81.1 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 73.1 per cent have received both doses.
Ontario’s daily COVID-19 caseload fell below 500 for the first time in five days.
Public health officials logged 486 new infections on Tuesday. That is down significantly from 639 cases on Monday, 722 cases on Sunday, and 689 infections on Saturday.
The unvaccinated continue to account for more than half of the new cases across the province, with 279 of the infections reported Tuesday among those who have not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated makeup 41of the new cases, and there are 114 cases involving the fully vaccinated. There are 52 cases among individuals whose vaccination status is unknown.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 128, followed by Peel Region with 83, and Windsor-Essex with 47.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 560,637.
The province has confirmed 95 more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, known as Alpha, for a total of 145,839. The number of cases of the B.1.351 variant, known as Beta, is unchanged leaving the total at 1,500. There are two new cases involving the P.1. variant, known as Gamma, for a total of 5,221. The total number of cases identified as the B.1.617 variant, known as Delta, went up by 291 to 7,665.
There were 18 additional deaths reported Tuesday, however, 16 of those deaths occurred more than two months ago and were just added to the total as part of a data cleanup. The provincial death toll is now 9,471.
There are currently 295 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, an increase of 91 since Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are up by five to 156 and there are 125 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. Seven are fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 541 to 546,113. There are currently 5,053 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 17,369 COVID-19 tests were processed. That is down from the more than 19,800 the previous day and brings the province’s positivity rate up to 3 per cent.
To date, the province has administered over 20.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 9.7 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
The province announced on Tuesday it is rejigging its vaccination strategy to reach eligible individuals who have yet to receive a first or second dose. Health units across Ontario are being directed to shift focus to mobile clinics and community-based pop-ups, dedicated clinic days for families with people with disabilities, and townhall meetings in multiple languages.
“Vaccines are the best protection against COVID-19 and the Delta variant,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott. “Working with our public health partners we are continuing to make it easier and more convenient to receive the vaccine. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet and have questions, I encourage you to reach out to your pharmacy, family doctor or primary care provider.”
The province is also proactively calling Ontarians who have not yet booked their second dose appointment. More than 110,000 second dose appointments have been booked using this strategy, according to the Ministry of Health.