No additional COVID-19 deaths were recorded in the London region on Wednesday, only the fourth day this month the single-day death toll has been zero.
The Middlesex London Health Unit has reported 35 deaths linked to the virus in February, including a record matching seven deaths on February 10. Other than Wednesday, the only other dates this month where no deaths were logged were February 7, 9, and 14. The total death toll in London and Middlesex County since the pandemic began is currently 335.
The health unit also confirmed 85 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, up from 53 the previous day. Resolved cases increased to 29,447, which helped lower the number of active cases locally to 1,222. However, public health officials have said current case numbers are likely an underestimation of the true number of people with the virus due to eligibility changes for lab-based PCR testing.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported on Wednesday that it has eight fewer patients with COVID-19 in its care than yesterday, for a total of 71 inpatients with the virus. The number of people with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit was down one to 16 and at Children’s Hospital there were seven patients with COVID-19, down two from Tuesday.
The LHSC specified that, of the 71 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals, 35 are being treated for COVID-19, while 36 were admitted for other reasons but have the virus.
The number of hospital workers who have tested positive for the virus was down by one on Wednesday to 134. That is relatively the same as a week ago.
Southwestern Public Health reported 53 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 10,913. The death toll actually decreased by two to 145 as two cases were shifted to another health unit’s jurisdiction. Resolved cases rose to 10,425. There are now 343 active cases in the two counties.
The number of hospitalizations and intensive care admissions at Ontario hospitals were down again on Wednesday.
A total of 1,403 people infected with the virus are currently in hospitals across the province. That is down 147 from Tuesday. Fifty-four per cent of the 1,403 people in hospital on Wednesday were admitted because of the virus, while 46 per cent were there for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those in hospital, 364 are in the ICU, down 20 from the previous day. Roughly 82 per cent of those in the ICU were admitted because of COVID-19, while the remaining 18 per cent are there for other reasons but also have the virus.
The province recorded 2,532 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which is considered an underestimate of community spread. Daily case numbers are no longer thought to be a true reflection of spread of the virus in the province as the government has limited who is eligible for a free PCR test.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 1,078,610.
According to public health officials, there were 47 additional deaths related to the virus recorded Wednesday. Forty-six of those deaths occurred over the past 30 days and one occurred more than a month ago but was just added to the official count as part of a data cleanup. The official death toll now stands at 12,167.
Resolved cases across the province are up by 3,537 to 1,042,481.
In the last 24 hour period, 19,839 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 10.2 per cent.
The province has administered 31,360,818 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. More than 90 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received both doses of the vaccine. There are more than 6.7 million people in the province who have now received the booster shot.
