COVID-19: 2 new cases in Middlesex-London, 23 more variant cases confirmed

Jump to: Hospitalizations – Outbreaks – Vaccinations and testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton

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The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) added two new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as well as three more recoveries, bringing the local totals to 12,754 cases with 49 active cases, 12,476 recoveries and 229 deaths.

The number of cases involving a variant of concern jumped by 23 to 3,592.

The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:

• 3,379 cases of the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), first identified in the U.K.
• 116 cases of the Gamma (P.1) variant, first identified in Brazil
• 91 cases of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, first identified in India
• 2 cases of the Beta (B.1.351) variant, first identified in South Africa
• 1 case of the Kappa (B.1.617.1) variant, first identified in India
• 1 case of the Zeta (P.2) variant, first identified in Brazil

There is also one case listed only as B.1.617 and one case listed as B.1.617.3.

A total of 11,530 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 374 have been in Middlesex Centre and 334 in Strathroy-Caradoc.

Further information can be found on the health unit’s Summary of COVID-19 Cases in Middlesex-London page.

Hospitalizations

The London Health Sciences Centre says it is caring for eight inpatients with COVID-19, with five or fewer of those patients in the intensive care unit, as of Wednesday.

In an effort to protect the privacy of patients, LHSC only provides specific numbers when there are more than five.

LHSC is not reporting any patients from outside of the region.

Fewer than five LHSC employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the organization is reporting no cases involving patients, residents or health-care workers.

Institutional outbreaks

LHSC reported an outbreak at Victoria Hospital’s B7-200 Adult Inpatient Mental Health/PICU unit on Monday, involving fewer than five cases as of Monday.

Vaccinations and testing

The MLHU released updated vaccination data on Tuesday as of the end of the day, July 24.

Of residents aged 12 and older, 80.1 per cent have had at least one dose while 62.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The health unit has begun providing information on cases reported since June 15, by vaccination status: fully vaccinated, a case that occurred 14 or more days after a second dose of vaccine; partially vaccinated, a case that occurred 14 or more days after a first dose or less than 14 days after a second dose; not yet protected from vaccination, a case that occurred less than 14 days after the first dose; and not vaccinated, a case involving a person who has not received any dose of vaccine.

According to the MLHU, all deaths reported in that time involved people who were entirely unvaccinated.

All hospitalizations involved people who were unvaccinated, not yet protected from vaccination, or partially vaccinated.

Of all cases reported since June 15, only 4.3 per cent involve people who were fully vaccinated.

The health unit is also now accepting walk-ins for first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine at its mass vaccination clinics from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Hours and days of operation at many of the mass clinics will reduce starting next month. Full details can be found on our website.

Information on how to book and cancel appointments can be found on the health unit’s website.

Information on local pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the province’s website.

Several pop-up walk-in clinics are scheduled throughout the region. A full list can be found on the health unit’s website.

Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.

Ahead of the holiday weekend, officials say the Carling COVID-19 Assessment Centre will operate as usual on Monday, Aug. 2, but telephone booking will be unavailable that day.

The test positivity rate in the region was 1.1 per cent for the week of July 11, up from 1.0 per cent for the week of July 4.

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Ontario

Ontario added 158 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a slight increase from the day prior, as well as four deaths.

The provincial case total now stands at 549,734 with 1,378 active cases, 539,031 listed as resolved and 9,325 deaths.

According to Wednesday’s report, 25 cases were recorded in Toronto, 19 in York Region, 16 in Waterloo Region, 15 in Hamilton, 13 in Durham Region, 10 in Peel Region and fewer than 10 in all other local public health units.

Of those aged 12 and older, 67.3 per cent are fully immunized while 80.0 per cent have had at least one dose.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health reported two new cases and two recoveries on Wednesday.

The total case count stands at 3,939 with 15 active cases, 3,840 recoveries and 84 deaths.

Of the 15 active cases, 10 are in Woodstock and three are in St. Thomas. Per-municipality case counts can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

One person is currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to SWPH, but is not in the ICU.

The number of variant of concern cases increased by one to 866, with 763 of those listed as the Alpha variant, 53 the Delta variant and 50 the Beta variant (a decrease of one).

There are no active institutional outbreaks reported in the region.

The region’s test positivity rate was 1.1 per cent for the week of July 11, down slightly from 1.2 per cent for the week of July 4.

As of July 27, SWPH says 78.5 per cent of its residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 61.5 per cent have had two doses.

As of July 19, walk-in appointments are available at all of SWPH’s mass vaccination clinics.

Appointments can be booked or re-booked through the online booking portal or by phone at 1-800-922-0096 ext. 9.

Anyone who re-books an earlier appointment should make sure they cancel their existing appointment. Appointments at SWPH’s Tillsonburg, Woodstock or St. Thomas mass immunization clinics can be cancelled online.

The health unit is also still encouraging people to add their names to a same-day vaccination list.

Select pharmacies in the region are also continuing to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Huron and Perth

Global News is awaiting Huron Perth Public Health’s COVID-19 case data for Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Huron Perth Public Health added no new cases but did report three additional recoveries.

The case count stood at 1,937 with 1,875 recoveries, five active cases and 57 total deaths.

The number of cases involving a confirmed variant of concern was 345.

Of the five active cases, three are in Stratford and one each is reported in North Perth and Perth South. Case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

No one is currently hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday.

There were no active institutional outbreaks reported in the region but one unidentified workplace outbreak is ongoing.

The region’s test positivity rate was 0.9 per cent for the week of July 11, up from 0.6 per cent for the week of July 4.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Wednesday, 77.3 per cent of those aged 12 and older have had at least one vaccine dose, while 63.9 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Information on vaccine eligibility and booking an appointment can be found on HPPH’s website.

HPPH says beginning next week, it will be providing more options to get vaccinated, including walk-in clinics, evening hours, pop-up locations and a drive-thru clinic.

More information on where to get a vaccination can be found on the health unit’s website.

Sarnia and Lambton

Lambton Public Health reported four cases on Wednesday.

The total case count stands at 3,637 with six active cases, 3,563 listed as recovered and 68 deaths.

The most recent death was reported Monday and involved someone in their 70s.

The number of confirmed variant of concern cases remains unchanged at 675.

According to Bluewater Health, there are currently no patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Lambton Public Health is not reporting any active outbreaks in the region.

The region’s test positivity rate was just 0.34 per cent for the week of July 11, down from 0.95 per cent for the week of July 4.

As of Wednesday, 75.7 per cent of adults have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 65.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

LPH is asking everyone who has already received a first dose to book their second dose appointment as soon as possible as the region prepares to wind down mass immunization clinics next month.

Residents who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.

Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.

Some pharmacies are also continuing to offer Pfizer or Moderna shots.

—With files from Global News’ Kelly Wang and Gabby Rodrigues