COVID-19: 7 cases in Middlesex-London, 9 in Elgin and Oxford on Wednesday

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 seven new cases to its tally on Wednesday for a total of 12,813.

The health unit also reported 12 recoveries for a total of 12,524. There are currently at least 58 active cases.

The number of deaths is unchanged at 231 since two deaths were reported on Friday.

The number of confirmed variant of concern cases has climbed by 15 to 3,636, with 10 of those the Delta variant.

The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:

• 3,381 cases of the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), first identified in the U.K.
• 129 cases of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, first identified in India
• 120 cases of the Gamma (P.1) variant, first identified in Brazil
• two cases of the Beta (B.1.351) variant, first identified in South Africa
• one case of the Kappa (B.1.617.1) variant, first identified in India
• one 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 11,583 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 379 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. As of Wednesday, it involves fewer than five cases.

LHSC said Tuesday that it believes the outbreak is now contained.

Vaccinations and testing

The MLHU released updated vaccination data on Tuesday as of July 31.

Of residents aged 12 and older, 80.8 per cent have had at least one dose, while 66.9 per cent have received two doses.

According to the MLHU, all deaths reported in the region since June 23 involved people who were entirely unvaccinated.

All hospitalizations involved people who were unvaccinated, not yet protected from vaccination (infection occurred less than 14 days after first dose), or partially vaccinated (infection occurred more than 14 days after first dose but less than 14 days after second dose).

Of all cases reported since June 23, just 5.3 per cent (or 15 cases) involve people who were fully vaccinated.

On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies; guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country; transportation support for those in need; and more.

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

The test positivity rate in the region was 1.0 per cent for the week of July 18, down from 1.1 per cent for the week of July 11.

Ontario

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On Wednesday, the province reported 139 new COVID-19 cases and 11 more deaths, seven of which were from 2020 based on data cleaning, for a total of 551,125 with 9,360 deaths.

According to Wednesday’s report, 26 cases were recorded in Toronto, 19 in Waterloo Region, 18 in Peel Region, 15 in York Region, 12 in Hamilton, 11 in Durham Region and 10 in Windsor-Essex.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 10 new cases in the provincial report.

Ontario says 70.1 per cent of residents 12 and older are fully immunized with 80.6 per cent having had at least one dose.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health added nine cases to its tally on Wednesday and two recoveries.

The total case count sits at 3,972 with 38 active cases, 3,850 resolved and 84 deaths.

Of the 38 active cases, 15 are in Woodstock, 10 are in St. Thomas and six are in Blandford-Blenheim. Per-municipality case counts can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

No one is currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to SWPH.

The number of variant of concern cases decreased by one on Wednesday to 883, with 766 of those listed as the Alpha variant, 66 the Delta (a decrease of one), and 51 the Beta.

There are no active institutional outbreaks reported in the region.

The region’s test positivity rate was 0.4 per cent for the week of July 18, down from 1.1 per cent for the week of July 11.

As of Aug. 3, SWPH says 79.2 per cent of its residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 65.2 per cent have had two doses.

Information on where to get vaccinated, vaccine eligibility, and booking and cancelling appointments can be found on the health unit’s website.

People can also add their names on a weekly basis to the health unit’s same-day vaccination list, also known as the Cancellation List.

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

Huron and Perth

Huron Perth Public Health reported one COVID-19 case on Wednesday for a total of 1,945 cases with eight listed as active, 1,880 recoveries and 57 deaths.

Six of the eight active cases are in Stratford and there is one each in South Huron and Perth South. Case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

The number of confirmed variant of concern cases has risen by five to 362.

No one was listed as hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday and there were no active outbreaks reported in the region.

The region’s test positivity rate was 1.0 per cent for the week of July 18, up from 0.9 per cent for the week of July 11.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Wednesday, 78.0 per cent of those aged 12 and older have had at least one vaccine dose, while 68.0 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Starting this week, HPPH is providing “more options to make it easier for residents to get vaccinated, including walk-ins, evening hours, pop-up locations and a drive-thru clinic.” Further information can be found on the health unit’s website.

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

Sarnia and Lambton

Lambton Public Health’s total case count actually decreased by one on Wednesday to 3,638 with one active case, 3,569 recoveries and 68 deaths.

The most recent death, involving someone in their 70s, was reported last Monday.

LPH confirmed four more variant of concern cases for a total of 685.

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 0.36 per cent for the week of July 18, up from 0.34 per cent for the week of July 11.

As of Wednesday, 76.4 per cent of adults have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 69.2 per cent are fully vaccinated.

LPH says mass vaccination clinics will begin winding down this month and appointments scheduled for after Aug. 10 will be cancelled.

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.

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

—With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues