Four additional people have died from COVID-19 in the London area since Monday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit confirmed Thursday three men in their 80s and a woman in her 90s are the latest people to succumb to the virus in the region. One of the men was associated with a retirement home, the health unit said. These latest deaths bring the local COVID-19 death toll up to 419. Seven of those deaths occurred since the start of the month.
The health unit also reported 176 new cases have been confirmed in the area since Monday. The health unit now only updates its COVID-19 dashboard twice a week and daily case tallies are believed to be an underestimate of community spread since the provincial government limited eligibility for PCR testing at the end of December. The total number of cases locally since March of 2020 is now 40,700, according to the health unit.
The number of resolved cases is up to 39,700. Currently, there are 581 known active cases in the region, up from 517 a week ago.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) confirmed it currently has 38 inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, up three since Monday. At this time last week, there were 46 people with COVID admitted to the LHSC. Of those currently hospitalized, there are 14 being treated for COVID-19 and 24 being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive.
There are currently five or fewer COVID infected patients listed in the intensive care unit, unchanged from Monday. Children’s Hospital also has five or fewer inpatients with the virus, but none are listed in paediatric critical care.
The number of hospital employees who have contracted COVID-19 also jumped on Thursday. The LHSC said it has 130 infected staffers, an increase of 28 since Monday.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, reported 145 more COVID-19 cases this week, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 14,747. There has not been a rise in the local death toll in three weeks with 173 COVID-19 deaths confirmed since March 2020. Resolved cases rose to 14,401 and there are now 173 known active cases in the two counties.