COVID-19: MLHU reports 12 cases Friday, SWPH adds 32 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 12 COVID-19 cases on Friday, though the total cases to date climbed by 14 to 14,533.

Of that total, there are 102 active cases (an increase of seven), 14,185 recoveries (an increase of seven) and 246 deaths.

The latest death, reported Nov. 2, involved a woman in her 70s and is not associated with a long-term care or retirement home. Based on the MLHU’s data on deaths within the past six weeks, she was unvaccinated.

Of the 102 active cases, 37 involve kids aged 11 or under, a cohort that is not yet eligible for vaccination.

Information on local variant of concern data can be found by visiting the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London page and clicking on the “Case Status” tab.

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) was caring for five or fewer inpatients with COVID-19 as of Friday, a decrease from eight Thursday.

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

There were zero 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 two 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 health unit is reporting an outbreak at Wilberforce Public School, declared Oct. 28. The Lucan school has been closed to in-person learning since Nov. 1 but the Thames Valley District School Board reaffirmed on Friday that it will be reopening on Monday, Nov. 8.

There is also an outbreak at Waddling Duck Daycare, declared Oct. 30, involving one active case.

Schools

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

• Byron Somerset Public School (one case)
• Saunders Secondary School (one case)
• St. Nicholas Senior Catholic School (two cases)
• Valleyview Central Public School (one case)
• W. Sherwood Fox Public School (one case)
• Wilberforce Public School (11 cases)

As previously mentioned, there is one case at Waddling Duck Daycare, where an outbreak has been declared.

The health unit says at least 203 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

As of end of day Oct. 30, 89.2 per cent of eligible residents (12 and older) have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 85.6 per cent are fully immunized.

Since Sept. 23, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 59.04 per cent of all cases (or 320 of 542 cases) and 72.22 per cent of all hospitalizations (13 of 18).

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

Of the eight COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, four 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 1.6 per cent for the week of Oct. 24, down from 1.8 per cent for the week of Oct. 17.

Ontario

The province reported 563 cases on Friday, the first time the case count surpassed 500 since 535 cases were reported Oct. 10.

Of the 563 cases, 259 involved unvaccinated individuals.

According to Friday’s report, 52 cases were recorded in York Region, 49 in Simcoe Muskoka, 44 each in Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa, 37 in Windsor-Essex, 29 in Southwestern and 28 in North Bay. All other local public health units reported fewer than 25 new cases.

Five new deaths were reported.

Among those eligible, 84.9 per cent are fully immunized against COVID-19.

Elgin and Oxford

On Friday, Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported:

• 4,779 total cases (an increase of 32)
• 121 active cases (an increase of 26)
• 4,564 resolved cases (an increase of six)
• 94 deaths to date (unchanged)

Further details can be found on SWPH’s COVID-19 dashboard.

The most recent death was reported Wednesday and involved a woman in her 70s from Elgin County. It was the third death reported this week, with SWPH reporting the death of a woman in her 80s from Elgin County on Tuesday and the death of an 85-year-old Aylmer man on Monday.

Of the 121 active cases in the region, 63 were in Elgin County (including 33 in Aylmer) and 58 were in Oxford County (including 27 in Woodstock).

Thirteen people were hospitalized with COVID-19 with four in the ICU as of Friday. 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 3.6 per cent for the week of Oct. 24, up from an adjusted 3.9 per cent for the week of Oct. 17.

On Nov. 4, 83.5 per cent of those aged 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 86.7 per cent have had at least one dose.

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

Huron and Perth

On Friday, Huron Perth Public Health reported:

• 2,367 total cases (an increase of seven)
• 42 active cases (unchanged)
• 2,258 recoveries (an increase of seven)
• 67 deaths to date (unchanged)

Among the 42 active cases, 19 were in Perth East and six were in Stratford. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

There are three people hospitalized with COVID-19 and there are no active cases involving health-care workers, as of Friday.

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

An outbreak at Milverton Public School in Perth East was declared Oct. 27 and involves one staff case and 16 student cases.

A previously-reported outbreak at Huron Christian School in Clinton, declared Oct. 8 and involving seven student cases, is now over.

The other two outbreaks involve workplaces. No further information was provided.

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 2.3 per cent for the week of Oct. 24, up from 1.2 per cent for the week of Oct. 17.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Nov. 1, 81.6 per cent of those aged 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 85.0 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 Friday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:

• 4,218 total cases (an increase of nine)
• 47 active cases (an increase of six)
• 4,100 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.

Four COVID-19 patients were in the care of Bluewater Health as of Friday.

LPH reported four active outbreaks in total.

Two involve schools:

• Brigden Public School, declared Nov. 4 and involving fewer than five cases
• 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 Oct. 31, involving two and three cases respectively.

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. 24 was 2.5 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent the week prior.

Among area residents aged 12 and older, 80.4 per cent are fully vaccinated and 83.7 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’ Gabby Rodrigues