COVID-19: Middlesex-London Health Unit adds 10 cases Friday

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 added another 10 COVID-19 cases to end the week, though the total case count increased by nine, likely due to data cleanup. Six recoveries were also added to the tally.

As of Friday, the total case count is 12,729 with 54 active cases, 12,446 recoveries and 229 deaths locally.

The most recent death involved a partially vaccinated woman in her 80s reported July 15.

The total number of cases involving a variant of concern sits at 3,563, unchanged from Thursday.

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.
• 105 cases of the Gamma (P.1) variant, first identified in Brazil
• 73 cases of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, first identified in India
• 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 11,510 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 373 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 five or fewer inpatients with COVID-19, with five or fewer of those patients in the intensive care unit, as of Thursday.

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.

There are currently zero LHSC employees who 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

The MLHU is not reporting any institutional outbreaks.

On Thursday, the health unit said an outbreak tied to indoor gatherings at Christ Embassy Church at 1472 Dundas St., in London that involved six cases was now “under control.”

Vaccinations and testing

The MLHU provided updated vaccination data on Tuesday, showing that as of the end of day July 17, 79.0 per cent of residents aged 12 and older have had at least one dose, while 56.6 per cent are 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.

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.

Ontario

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Ontario reported 192 COVID-19 cases Friday and one new death, for a total of 548,986 cases with 9,308 deaths.

According to Friday’s report, 43 cases were recorded in Toronto, 25 in Peel Region, 18 York Region and Waterloo and 11 in Hamilton and Durham Region.

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

The province says 66.0 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated while 80.5 per cent have had at least one dose.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health reported no new COVID-19 cases on Friday.

The total case count stands at 3,932 with 17 active cases, 3,831 recoveries and 84 deaths.

Of the 17 active cases, nine are in Woodstock and four 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 is unchanged at 863, with 762 of those listed as the Alpha variant, 51 the Beta variant and 50 the Delta variant.

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 22, SWPH says 77.8 per cent of its residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 57.6 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.

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

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

Huron and Perth

Huron Perth Public Health reported one new COVID-19 case and two recoveries on Friday.

The total number of cases in the region is now 1,936 with 14 active cases, 1,865 recoveries, and 57 deaths. There are 345 cases confirmed to involve a variant of concern.

Of the 14 active cases, eight are in Stratford. Case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

HPPH reports that one person is hospitalized with COVID-19.

There are 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 reported that 76.8 per cent of those aged 12 and older have had at least one vaccine dose, while 59.6 per cent are fully vaccinated, as of Friday.

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

Sarnia and Lambton

Lambton Public Health reported no new cases on Friday, bringing the total to 3,633 with four active cases, 3,562 recoveries and 67 total deaths.

The most recent death was reported Wednesday and involved someone in their 80s who died in hospital.

The number of confirmed variant of concern cases is again 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 Friday, 75.1 per cent of adults have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 63.0 per cent are fully vaccinated.

A walk-in clinic for anyone age 12-plus in need of a first dose will be held Saturday, July 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dow Centre for Youth in Sarnia. More information can be found on the health unit’s website.

LPH is also 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’ Jessica Patton