For a third consecutive day, the London region’s daily COVID-19 case count has been in the single digits.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported just six new infections on Tuesday. That is down one from the seven logged on Monday and matches the six cases recorded on Sunday.
The health unit dropped two days worth of data on Tuesday as it does not report COVID-19 figures on statutory holidays.
The area’s total case count since the pandemic began stands at 14,226.
The area death toll is unchanged at 243, with no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported since Sunday.
Resolved cases are up by 36 to 13,825. There are currently 158 active cases locally, down from 179 since Friday.
The COVID-19 outbreak that forced the temporary closure of Lord Elgin Public School has been deemed over. It was originally declared on September 26, with all students switched to online learning three days later. Nineteen infections were linked to the school. Lord Elgin reopened to in-person learning on Tuesday. Outbreaks remain at four other schools in London - Ryerson Public School, London Christian High, St. Catherine of Siena Elementary School, and St. Kateri Elementary School. The Thames Valley District School Board currently has 28 active cases at 21 schools, while the London District Catholic School Board has nine cases at seven schools.
An outbreak also remains at the Dearness Home in the 5E area. It is the only seniors' facility in the region dealing with an outbreak.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has 13 inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, up three since Friday. Five or fewer of those patients are listed in intensive care and five or fewer are in the care of Children’s Hospital. There are currently no hospital employees who have tested positive for the virus.
No additional cases have been identified as variants of concern, leaving the local total at 4,266. There have been 752 cases involving the B.1.617 (Delta) strain since the health unit began tracking variants. There have also 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.
As of Saturday, there have been 776,705 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 87.9 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 83.2.
Of the 756 people who have contracted the virus locally since August 31, approximately 64.3 per cent were not vaccinated, 7.5 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 24.3 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 3.8 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection. Of those who died from the virus over the past six weeks, 80 per cent were either unvaccinated, had received one dose or had not yet reached immunity. Twenty per cent had received both doses.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, 53 new COVID-19 cases were recorded since Friday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,435. The death toll is unchanged with 87 deaths. There has not been a death linked to the virus in the two counties since last Tuesday. Resolved cases rose to 4,261 with 87 known active cases remaining locally. As of Monday, 86.1 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 81.6 per cent have received both doses.
Ontario logged 848 new COVID-19 cases over the past 48 hours.
Public health officials recorded 390 new infections on Tuesday and 458 new cases on Monday. The province released two days worth of data on Tuesday, after taking a one day break for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Of Tuesday's 390 cases, 215 were unvaccinated, 15 were partially vaccinated, and 130 were fully vaccinated. There were 30 cases involving individuals whose vaccination status was unknown.
Of Monday's 458 cases, 279 were among unvaccinated individuals, 21 were people who were partially vaccinated, 125 were fully vaccinated individuals, and 30 had an unknown vaccination status.
Tuesday's single-day case numbers are the lowest logged in Ontario since mid-August. On August 17, there were 348 cases reported.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 48 hours with 221, followed by York Region with 129, and Peel Region with 125.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 592,714.
The Delta variant, B.1.617, continues to be the fastest spreading strain in the province. According to the daily epidemiology report, there were 76 more cases identified as being the Delta variant for a total of 19,418. There are a total of 146,487 cases of the Alpha variant B.1.1.7., 1,503 of the Beta variant B.1.351 and 5,229 of the Gamma variant P.1.
There were two additional deaths reported Monday and none on Tuesday, bringing the provincial death toll from the virus to 9,792.
There are currently 155 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, down ten from the previous day. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are down by six to 149 and there are 121 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, a decrease of four. Of those on general hospital wards with the virus as of Saturday, 106 were not fully vaccinated. Thirty-nine were fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 512 to 578,553. There are currently 4,369 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
Since Sunday, nearly 40,000 COVID-19 tests have been processed, fewer than normal due to the holiday. The province’s positivity rate is now 1.9 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 22,089,455 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 10.7 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.