London and Middlesex County returned to double-digit COVID-19 case increases after just a one day drop below ten.
Fourteen new infections were reported by the Middlesex London Health Unit on Tuesday, up from seven the previous day. Monday's case tally was the first time in a week daily case increases had been in the single-digits.
The area’s total case count since the pandemic began stands at 14,425.
The area death toll is unchanged at 245, with no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported since last Thursday.
Resolved cases are up by eight to 14,056. There are currently 124 active cases locally, up from 116 on Monday.
Clara Brenton Public, Covenant Christian School, and St. Nicholas Senior Catholic in London and Our Lady of the Pillar Academy in Strathroy continue to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks. Covenant Christian School has the most active cases of the virus linked to its outbreak with six confirmed cases. The other three schools have fewer than four active cases. All four schools remain open with only those considered to be close contacts of the infected isolating at home.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has six inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, down one since Monday. 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 five or fewer hospital employees who have tested positive for the virus.
No additional cases have been identified as variants of concern, leaving the local total at 4,295. There have been 780 cases involving the B.1.617 (Delta) strain since the health unit began tracking variants. There have also been a total of 3,385 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 788,169 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 88.8 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 84.9.
Of the 637 people who have contracted the virus locally since September 14, approximately 64.1 per cent were not vaccinated, 5 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 30.5 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 3.1 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection. Of those who were hospitalized with the virus over the past six weeks, 77.8 per cent were either unvaccinated or had received one dose. Just over 22 per cent had received both doses.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, 19 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic to 4,623. There has not been a COVID-19 related death in the two counties in a week, leaving the death toll unchanged at 90. Resolved cases rose to 4,449 with 84 known active cases remaining in the area. As of Sunday, 86.2 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 82.5 per cent have received both doses.
Ontario logged its lowest number of new COVID-19 cases since the start of August on Tuesday.
Public health officials recorded 269 new infections over the past 24 hours. That is down from 326 Monday, 370 Sunday, and 373 Saturday. The last time daily case increases were below 300 in Ontario was on August 5 when 213 infections were confirmed.
The unvaccinated accounted for the bulk of new cases across the province Tuesday, with 142 of the infections reported among those who have not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated makeup 11 of the new cases, and there were 93 cases involving the fully vaccinated. Another 23 of the cases involved individuals whose vaccination status is unknown.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 598,110.
There were six additional deaths reported, bringing the provincial death toll from the virus to 9,852. One of the deaths recorded on Tuesday actually occurred a month ago but was not added to the total until now.
There are currently 233 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, up 70 from Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to intensive care units are unchanged at 138 and there are 107 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, a decrease of two. Of those on general hospital wards with the virus, 121 are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. Thirty are fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 427 to 585,207. There are currently 3,051 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 21,827 COVID-19 tests were processed. The province’s positivity rate is now 1.5 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 22,413,315doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 10.9 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.