Pharmacy technicians drawing up doses of COVID vaccines. (File photo by Colin Gowdy, BlackburnNews)Pharmacy technicians drawing up doses of COVID vaccines. (File photo by Colin Gowdy, BlackburnNews)
London

Single-digit rise in COVID-19 cases in London-area

The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the London region dropped back below ten on Monday, ending a five day stretch of double-digit daily increases.

The Middlesex London Health Unit reported five new infections over the past 24 hours, down from 15 on Sunday and 16 on Saturday. The last time the region saw a single-digit rise in cases was last Tuesday when seven new infections were logged.

The area’s total case count stands at 14,642 since the pandemic began.

There has not been an additional COVID-19 related death locally since Saturday, when a man in his 80s succumbed to the virus. The death toll remains at 247.

Resolved cases in the city and county are up by eight to 14,294. Currently, there are 101 active cases in the region, down four since the previous day.

There are outbreaks at two London seniors' facilities (The Village of Glendale Crossing and Richmond Woods Retirement Village) and four local schools (École élémentaire catholique Frère-André, Notre Dame Catholic, St. Nicholas Senior Catholic, and St Vincent De Paul Catholic Elementary). All four schools remain open.

The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is reporting 12 patients with COVID-19 in its care, up three from Friday. It is believed at least two of those patients were transferred from the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, which has been struggling with a surge of COVID-19 infected individuals. Seven of the patients in the care of the LHSC are listed in intensive care and none are at Children’s Hospital. The LHSC currently has seven staffers who have tested positive for the virus.

Of the 461 people in the London region who have contracted the virus over the past six weeks, 55.5 per cent were not vaccinated, 4.7 per cent were partially vaccinated, 1.7 per cent had received the vaccine but it had not yet taken effect, and 38 per cent were fully vaccinated. The unvaccinated or partially vaccinated account for 83.3 per cent of local hospitalizations.

The number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Elgin and Oxford counties was 66 on Monday. That number includes infections identified both Saturday and Sunday, as Southwestern Public Health does not update its COVID-19 dashboard on weekends. The latest cases bring the two counties total case count to 4,991. There were no additional deaths recorded, leaving the death toll unchanged at 95. The health unit said the total number of resolved cases in the area is 4,737, leaving 159 known active cases. As of Sunday, 158,475 residents in the two counties have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 153,248 residents have been given both shots.

Provincially, the number of new COVID-19 cases fell back below 600 for the first time since Friday.

Public health officials reported 552 new infections on Monday. That is down from 666 on Sunday and 661 on Saturday. The latest put Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic to 607,725.

Of the 552 cases recorded over the past 24 hours, 286 were reportedly among unvaccinated people, 23 involved partially vaccinated people, and 212 were fully vaccinated people. There were 31 COVID-positive individuals whose vaccination status was not known.

Three additional COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Monday, increasing the death toll to 9,937.

At hospitals in Ontario, there are 138 patients with COVID-19, up 12 from Sunday. The total number of patients in the intensive care unit is up by eight to 141 and the number of patients on ventilators is up by six to 107.

The number of resolved cases rose by 342 to 592,803. There are currently 4,985 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.

The province has administered 22,720,151 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Sunday night. Nearly 89 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of the vaccine, while 85.5 per cent have been given their second dose to be considered fully inoculated.

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