The London region recorded its fifth COVID-19 death of the month on Tuesday, as the number of new cases of the virus rose slightly.
The Middlesex London Health Unit said the latest death involved a partially vaccinated man in his 40s. He was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home. His death comes one week after an unvaccinated man in his 60s succumbed to the virus. Other COVID-19 deaths recorded in September involved a man in his 50s, a woman in her 30s and a woman in her 80s. Of those four, all but the elderly woman were unvaccinated.
The region’s death toll is now 238.
Seventeen new infections were logged on Tuesday, up from 12 on Monday. However, the latest cases are lower than the 22 recorded on Sunday and the same as the 17 logged on Saturday.
The area’s total case count since the pandemic began stands at 13,834.
Resolved cases are up by 22 to 13,407. There are currently 189 active cases locally.
The number of active cases within schools across the region continues to go up. There are currently 36 active cases of the virus in 25 schools, with an outbreak declared at one. Most of the active cases are within schools in the Thames Valley District school board - 22 infections at 18 schools. Four of those cases were reported Monday night at three schools in London, Lambeth, and Ilderton. London District Catholic school board has eight cases at five of its schools and the the Conseil Scolaire Viamonde has six cases at two schools. Four of those cases are at École élémentaire La Pommeraie where the outbreak was declared on September 17.
There is one long-term care home in the region that is continuing to deal with an outbreak. The health unit said it affects the first two floors at Earls Court Village in London.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has nine inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, up two since Monday. Five or fewer of those patients are listed in intensive care and none are in the care of Children’s Hospital. Fewer than five employees are in isolation after testing positive for the virus.
Another 46 cases have been identified as variants of concern for a total of 4,219. All of the new variants identified were of the B.1.617 (Delta) strain for a total of 705, up 100 since last Tuesday. Since the health unit began tracking variants there have been a total of 3,384 of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain, 124 of the P.1. (Gamma) variant, and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) strain. There are 188 cases that have tested positive for a mutation.
As of Saturday, there have been 747,840 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 85.5 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 79.4.
Of the 884 people who have contracted the virus locally since August 10, approximately 67.2 per cent were not vaccinated, 12.1 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 17.1 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 3.6 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there were three new cases recorded on Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,236. The death toll is unchanged with 85 deaths. Resolved cases rose to 4,083 with 68 known active cases in the two counties remaining. As of Sunday, 84.5 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 78.8 per cent have received both doses.
Ontario logged less than 600 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours.
Public health officials recorded 574 new infections on Tuesday. Single-day case numbers have seen a steady decline over the past four days now. There were 610 cases logged on Monday, 715 reported on Sunday, and 821 confirmed on Saturday.
The unvaccinated continue to account for more than half of the new cases across the province Tuesday, with 351 of the infections reported among those who have not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated makeup 33 of the new cases, and there were 140 cases involving the fully vaccinated. Another 50 of the cases involved individuals whose vaccination status is unknown.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 104, followed by Peel Region with 80, Ottawa with 58, and York Region with 44.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 580,768.
The Delta variant, B.1.617, continues to be the fastest spreading strain in the province. According to the daily epidemiology report, there were 189 more cases identified as being the Delta variant for a total of 16,944.
There were eight additional deaths reported Tuesday, bringing the provincial death toll from the virus to 9,663.
There are currently 330 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, up 97 from Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are up by two to 179 and there are 154 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, a decrease of one. Of those on general hospital wards with the virus, 132 are not fully vaccinated. Twenty-seven are fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 764 to 564,927. There are currently 6,178 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 23,631 COVID-19 tests were processed, down slightly from 23,864 the previous day. The province’s positivity rate is now 2.4 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 21,434,434 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 10.3 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
As of Wednesday, Ontarians will need to show proof of vaccination to access non-essential services like gyms, movie theatres or indoor restaurant dining. To get a copy of your COVID-19 vaccine receipt click here.