COVID-19: Middlesex-London Health Unit welcomes November with 14 new cases

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

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The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 14 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, though the total case count climbed by 13.

In total, there have been 14,505 cases to date, including 129 active cases (a decrease of seven), 14,131 recoveries (an increase of 20) and 245 deaths (unchanged).

The most recent death was reported Oct. 21 and involved a man in his 70s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home and who was fully vaccinated, but eligible for a third dose due to a suppressed immune system.

Of the 129 active cases, 46 involve kids aged 11 or under, a cohort that is not yet eligible for vaccination. Meanwhile, 35 involve people age 40 to 64 and 22 cases are among those 25 to 39.

Since Sept. 19, the MLHU says all of the variant of concern cases in the region have been the Delta variant except for one case in which they were unable to generate sequencing. Total counts by the type of variant of concern can be found on the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London page and clicking the “Case Status” tab.

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) was caring for eight inpatients with COVID-19 as of Monday, up from six on Friday.

There were five or fewer inpatients in adult critical care or the intensive care unit.

There were zero in patients with COVID-19 in Children’s Hospital and, as a result, zero in pediatric critical care.

Five or fewer staff have currently tested positive for COVID-19.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) reported three non-outbreak cases involving health-care workers.

Outbreaks

The MLHU is not reporting any active outbreaks in the region involving long-term care homes, retirement homes or hospitals.

The MLHU is reporting that the following schools are experiencing outbreaks:

• Clara Brenton Public School, declared Oct. 23
• St. Nicholas Senior Catholic School, declared Oct. 24
• Wilberforce Public School, declared Oct. 28

Wilberforce P.S. has actually closed in-person learning due to the extent of the outbreak. Students will have virtual learning until at least Nov. 8.

The MLHU is also reporting an outbreak at Waddling Duck Daycare, declared Oct. 30, involving two cases.

Schools

The following schools have active cases associated with them, according to the MLHU:

• Clara Brenton Public School (one case)
• John P. Robarts Public School (one case)
• Lord Dorchester Secondary School (one case)
• Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School (one case)
• Oakridge Secondary School (one case)
• Providence Reformed Collegiate (one case)
• Saunders Secondary School (one case)
• St. Nicholas Senior Catholic School (three cases)
• W. Sherwood Fox Public School (one case)
• Wilberforce Public School (15 cases)
  

As previously mentioned, there are two cases at Waddling Duck Daycare, where an outbreak has been declared.

The health unit says at least 198 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, as well as child-care and early years centres.

Vaccinations and testing

The MLHU is expected to provide its next vaccination update on Nov. 2.

As of the end of day on Oct. 23, the most recent update available, 84.9 per cent of eligible residents were fully vaccinated while 88.8 per cent have had at least one dose.

When it comes to COVID-19 cases, MLHU data shows most cases involve individuals who have not been vaccinated, even though they make up a smaller proportion of the population.

Since Sept. 20, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 60.77 per cent of all cases (or 364 of 599 cases) and 69.57 per cent of all hospitalizations (16 of 23).

The rest of the cases and hospitalizations involved individuals who were fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or not yet protected by vaccination.

Of the seven COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, three involved people who were unvaccinated, two involved individuals who were fully vaccinated and two involved people who were partially 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 the locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.

The latest COVID-19 test positivity rate in the region was 1.8 per cent for the week of Oct. 17, up from 1.1 per cent for the week of Oct. 10.

Ontario

The province report 422 cases Monday, of which 255 involved unvaccinated people, 13 were partially vaccinated, 161 were fully vaccinated and 23 people had an unknown status.

According to Monday’s report, 61 cases were recorded in Toronto, 47 in Peel Region, 41 in York Region, 38 in Ottawa, 25 in Simcoe Muskoka, 21 in Southwestern, and 20 in Hamilton. All other health units had fewer than 20 cases.

Three more deaths were reported.

Among those 12 and older, 84.5 per cent is fully immunized against COVID-19.

Elgin and Oxford

In its first update since Friday, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) added 53 cases to its tally on Monday, for a total of:

• 4,706 total cases (an increase of 53 from Friday)
• 95 active cases (an increase of 16)
• 4,519 resolved cases (an increase of 36)
• 92 deaths to date (an increase of one)
  
• 1,522 variant of concern cases (an increase of 44, all Delta), with 775 Alpha, 693 Delta and 54 Beta or Gamma

The death reported Monday involved an 85-year-old man from Aylmer.

Of the 95 active cases in the region, 45 were in Elgin County (including 25 in Aylmer) and 50 were in Oxford County (including 22 in Woodstock).

Eight people were hospitalized with COVID-19 with three cases in the ICU, as of Monday. There are no active institutional outbreaks.

Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 3.9 per cent for the week of Oct. 17, up from an adjusted 3.5 per cent for the week of Oct. 10.

On Oct. 28, 83.2 per cent of those aged 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 86.6 per cent have had at least one dose.

SWPH said Friday that appointments will be required for all public health mass immunization clinics starting the week of Nov. 1 as the health unit begins to prepare to welcome children age five to 11 as well as expanded third doses, as those groups become eligible.

Information on where and how to get vaccinated can be found on the health unit’s website.

Huron and Perth

Global News is awaiting data from Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) for Saturday through Monday.

As of Friday, HPPH reported:

• 2,331 total cases
• 37 active cases
• 2,227 recoveries
• 67 deaths to date

Among the 37 active cases, 26 were in Perth East. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

There was one patient hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday and there was one active case involving a health-care worker.

HPPH reported two outbreaks, though there were no long-term care home, retirement home or hospital outbreaks as of Friday.

The outbreaks involve:

• Huron Christian School in Clinton, declared Oct. 8 and involving seven student cases.
• Milverton Public School in Perth East, declared Oct. 27 and involving one staff case and nine student cases.

Data on school cases can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 1.2 per cent for the week of Oct. 17, down from 2.2 per cent for the week of Oct. 10.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Oct. 24, 81.0 per cent of those aged 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 84.7 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.

Sarnia and Lambton

On Monday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:

• 4,185 total cases (an increase of eight from Sunday)
• 40 active cases (a decrease of five)
• 4,074 resolved cases (an increase of three)
• 71 deaths to date (unchanged)

The most recent death was reported Oct. 28 and involved someone who was in their 90s.

LPH reported a total of 623 variant of concern cases on Monday, an increase of 13 from Friday, all Delta. Of those, 439 have been Alpha, 166 have been Delta and 18 have been Gamma.

Three COVID-19 patients were in the care of Bluewater Health as of Monday.

LPH reported one active outbreak at Queen Elizabeth II Public School in Petrolia, declared Oct. 22 and involving fewer than five cases.

There are also two active workplace outbreaks, declared Oct. 29 and 31, respectively, and each involving two cases. The workplaces involved have not been named.

All active cases at schools within the Lambton Kent District School Board can be found online, as can cases at schools within the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

The test positivity rate for the week of Oct. 17 was 3.8 per cent, down from 5.2 per cent the week prior.

Among area residents aged 12 and older, 80.2 per cent are fully vaccinated and 83.6 per cent have had at least one dose.

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

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

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