The number of active COVID-19 cases in London and Middlesex County is quickly approaching the 1,000 mark as the daily case count hit a high not seen since mid-April on Tuesday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit confirmed 169 new infections over the past 24 hours. That is up from 118 on Monday, 85 on Sunday, and 149 on Saturday. It is the fourth time this month daily case numbers have been in the triple digits. The last time single-day cases were this high was on April 14 when 176 new infections were logged.
The area’s total case count since the pandemic began stands at 16,264.
The region’s death toll remained at 257 on Tuesday, unchanged from the previous day.
Resolved cases are up by 48 to 15,036. There are currently 971 active cases locally, up 114 from Monday.
There are ongoing outbreaks at 20 area schools, the latest of which were declared at Notre Dame Catholic, A.B. Lucas Secondary, Emily Carr Public, and John Dearness Public in London. The YMCA St. Patrick Catholic School before and after school program also has an active outbreak.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has 14 inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, down two since Monday. Six of those patients are listed in intensive care and five or fewer are in the care of Children’s Hospital. There are currently 31 hospital employees who have tested positive for the virus.
As of Saturday, there have been 881,050 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 91.1 per cent of all area residents aged 12 and older having received at least one dose. The percentage of the local population to receive both doses is currently 88.7. Since eligibility for the shot opened up to kids aged 5 to 11 late last month, 40.5 per cent of children in that age group have received their first dose.
Of the 1,644 people who have contracted the virus locally since November 9, approximately 30.3 per cent were not vaccinated, 2.9 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 62.7 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 4.1 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection. Of those who were hospitalized with the virus over the past six weeks, 51.8 per cent were either unvaccinated, had received one dose, or had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there were 35 more infections confirmed on Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic to 5,997. There were two additional COVID-19 related deaths, to bring the death toll up to 110. Resolved cases rose to 5,569 with 318 known active cases remaining in the area.
Ontario has hit a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot milestone as cases, driven by the Omicron variant continue to soar.
Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted Tuesday that more than two million Ontarians have now received a booster dose. That comes as eligibility for the shot was expanded to include everyone 18 and older as of Monday.
Public health officials recorded 3,453 new infections over the past 24 hours. That is down from 3,784 Monday and 4,177 Sunday.
Of the 3,453 new cases, 673 of the infections reported were among those who had not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated makeup 132 of the new cases, and there were 2,500 cases involving the fully vaccinated. Another 148 of the cases involved individuals whose vaccination status is unknown.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 657,180.
There were ten additional deaths reported, bringing the provincial death toll from the virus to 10,123.
There are currently 412 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, up 123 from Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to intensive care units are up by one to 165 and there are 153 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, up one from the previous day. Of those on general hospital wards with the virus, 157 are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. More than 100 are fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 1,332 to 621,355. There are currently 25,702 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 49,285 COVID-19 tests were processed. The province’s positivity rate is now 9.9 per cent, its highest level since the end of April.
To date, the province has administered 25,629,533 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 11.3 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
Read original story from London Ontario – BlackburnNews.com