The London region saw another double-digit increase in COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 13 new infections over the past 24 hours, down from 15 the previous day and matching the 13 recorded on Monday. So far this month there have only been six days in which single-day COVID-19 case counts have been below ten.
The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 14,684, according to the health unit.
For the first time in three days, there were no additional COVID-19 deaths reported locally. The death toll is unchanged at 249.
The number of resolved cases is up by nine to 14,320. Currently, there are 115 active cases in the region, up five from the previous day.
The London Health Sciences Centre has 16 patients in its care with COVID-19, up two from Wednesday. Eight of those patients are listed in intensive care and five or fewer are admitted to Children’s Hospital. There are five or fewer hospital staffers who have tested positive for the virus.
There are now four COVID-19 outbreaks at area schools. Mary Wright Public School in Strathroy was added to the outbreak list late Wednesday night. There are five active cases linked to the school. Other schools with outbreaks include Notre Dame Catholic, St Vincent De Paul Catholic Elementary, and St. Nicholas Senior Catholic. All schools remain open.
The outbreak at the Village of Glendale Crossing has been deemed resolved, leaving Richmond Woods Retirement Village as the only seniors' facility in London and Middlesex County with an active outbreak.
Of the 446 new COVID-19 cases to be reported in the region over the past six weeks, 60.1 per cent were among people who were not yet fully vaccinated against the virus or were not two weeks removed from their second dose. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 69.2 per cent were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated and 30.8 per cent had received both shots.
Sixteen new COVID-19 cases were logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties, down from 26 new infections recorded on Wednesday. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload has now increased to 5,056. The death toll remained at 95, with no additional COVID-19 deaths reported. The total number of resolved cases stands at 4,817 and there are 144 known active cases locally.
Provincially, the daily number of COVID-19 cases hit a high not seen in nearly two months.
Public health officials said there were 711 new cases on Thursday. That is up from 512 infections logged on Wednesday, 481 new cases recorded on Tuesday, and 552 new cases confirmed on Monday. The last time daily COVID-19 cases soared above 700 was on September 24 when there were 727 confirmed cases.
Of the 711 new cases identified on Thursday, 322 were among unvaccinated individuals, 28 were people who were partially vaccinated, 314 were fully vaccinated individuals, and 47 had an unknown vaccination status.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 609,429.
Five additional deaths related to the virus were reported on Thursday. The province’s death toll is currently 9,955.
At hospitals in Ontario, there are 278 people with COVID-19 on general wards, up four from the previous day. The number of people in the intensive care unit went down by four to 129 and there are 104 people on ventilators – a decrease of four since Wednesday.
Of those on general hospital wards with COVID-19, 104 are not fully vaccinated and 72 have received both doses.
The number of resolved cases rose by 575 to 594,602. There are currently 4,872 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 34,347 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now around 2 per cent.
The province has administered 22,762,199 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. There are more than 11.1 million people in Ontario who have now received the second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully inoculated.