The number of people infected with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization and ICU care in the London area has risen since last Thursday.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported on Tuesday it has 56 patients admitted to hospital with the virus. That is an increase of 15 since numbers were last released to the public five days ago. It is also the first time since February 23, hospitalizations in London have risen above 50.
LHSC officials specified that 25 of the COVID-19 positive patients currently admitted are being treated for the virus. The other 31 are being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive for COVID-19.
Admissions to the intensive care unit increased to six, up from five or fewer last Thursday. Children’s Hospital currently has six COVID-19 positive patients in its care, including five or fewer in paediatric critical care.
The only area that saw a decrease within the hospital network was in the number of workers who have tested positive. The LHSC reported 261 infected staffers, down 60 since late last week.
There were 412 new COVID-19 infections logged in London and Middlesex County since last Thursday, according to the Middlesex London Health Unit. That breaks down into 33 new cases Tuesday, 57 infections Monday, 52 cases Sunday, 117 infections Saturday, and 153 cases confirmed Friday. Those cases bring the total case count since March 2020 to 35,880. Daily case tallies have been considered an underestimate of community spread because of limits placed on testing eligibility at the end of last year.
There was one additional COVID-19 death recorded in London or Middlesex County over the past five days. The local death toll currently stands at 367.
The health unit said there are 971 known active cases of the virus in the region, down 104 from last Thursday.
There was a slight increase in the local vaccination rate. The latest figures released by the health unit show 93.7 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older who have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 91.7 per cent in the same age bracket have had two doses. Third doses have been administered to 56 per cent of area residents.
As of Saturday, there have been 1,132,743 doses administered locally since December 2020.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, does not update its COVID-19 cases dashboard on Tuesdays. Its next update will be released on Wednesday.
The number of people with COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals has hit its highest level since mid-February.
According to public health officials, there are 1,486 COVID-19 positive inpatients being treated in hospitals across the province. That is up by 185 compared to figures released on Monday and is the highest hospitalizations have been in the province since February 15. At this time last week, there were 1,366 people hospitalized with the virus, showing hospitalizations have increased by 9 per cent over the past seven days.
The provincial breakdown of hospitalization numbers shows roughly 45 per cent were admitted to hospital because of COVID-19. The remaining 55 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, four more COVID-19 positive people were admitted to intensive care for a total of 206.
Ontario logged 1,218 new cases Tuesday. However, the single-day tally is less relevant since the provincial government restricted eligibility for publicly-funded COVID-19 tests. Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 1,223,461.
There was one additional death from the virus reported over the past 24 hours. The total death toll from the virus in Ontario now stands at 12,633.
Public health officials confirmed there were 15,322 COVID-19 tests processed over the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate is now 17.9 per cent, down from 18.7 per cent a week ago.
To date, the province has administered 32,420,377 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 91 per cent of people 12 and older having received two doses. More than 7.2 million people, or 59.2 per cent, have received a booster shot.