The Middlesex London Health Unit has recorded four additional COVID-19 related deaths over the past week.
A man in his 80s and three women in their 80s and 90s are the latest people in the city and county to succumb to the virus, the health unit said on Tuesday. There have now been six COVID-19 deaths reported in the region this month, including that of a man in his 30s. The four latest deaths increase the local death toll to 477.
There have also been 342 new COVID-19 cases confirmed by the health unit since it last updated its COVID-19 dashboard last Tuesday. However, public health officials caution that single-day case numbers are an underestimate of community spread due to eligibility changes that limit who can receive a test. The area’s total case count stands at 45,440 since the pandemic began.
The number of active cases locally decreased to 572 in the last week.
The health unit’s next scheduled COVID-19 update will be next Tuesday.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported it has 64 patients with the virus in its care. That is an increase of one since Monday. According to hospital officials, 14 of the current inpatients are being treated for the virus, while the remaining 50 are being treated for other ailments but have tested positive for COVID.
The intensive care unit has nine infected patients. There are also five or fewer patients with COVID-19 at Children’s Hospital, but none are listed in paediatric critical care.
The number of hospital workers who have tested positive is currently at 75.
There are two level two COVID-19 outbreaks at the LHSC’s two hospitals. One is at University Hospital on the B9-100 General Surgery unit, while the other is at Victoria Hospital's U9 Orthopaedics unit.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit that covers Elgin and Oxford counties, only updates its COVID-19 cases dashboard on Wednesdays, while the province issues its weekly updated numbers on Thursdays.