For the first time in a week, the Middlesex London Health Unit has recorded a COVID-19 death.
The health unit said on Wednesday a man in his 80s, who was not associated with a seniors’ facility, has succumbed to the virus. His death comes exactly one week after the region recorded its highest single day death toll, when eight COVID-19 deaths were logged on February 23. Over the six days that followed the health unit reported no one died from the virus. making Wednesday’s death the first one of the month. The total death toll for London and Middlesex County now stands at 350.
The health unit also confirmed 79 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, up from 42 the previous day. Resolved cases increased to 30,952, leaving the number of active cases locally at 576. 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 five fewer patients with COVID-19 in its care than the previous day, for a total of 42 inpatients with the virus. The number of people with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer for a second consecutive day. Children’s Hospital has five or fewer patients with COVID-19, unchanged from Tuesday.
The LHSC specified that, of the 42 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals, 14 are being treated for COVID-19, while 28 were admitted for other reasons but also have the virus.
The hospital network again did not provide an updated number of workers who have tested positive for the virus, stating it is ”
currently validating its data.” On Monday, the LHSC reported that it had 232 COVID positive staffers, a number that had been on a steady rise for more than a week.
Southwestern Public Health reported 33 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 11,244. The death toll was unchanged at 149. Resolved cases rose to 10,873 and there are now 222 known active cases in the two counties.
The number of hospitalizations at Ontario hospitals fell back below 900 on Wednesday.
A total of 847 people infected with the virus are currently in hospitals across the province. That is down 67 from Tuesday. Forty-four per cent of the 847 people in hospital on Wednesday were admitted because of the virus, while 56 per cent were there for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those in hospital, 273 are in the ICU, down five 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 1,959 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 1,105,146.
According to public health officials, there were 27 additional deaths related to the virus recorded Wednesday. Twenty-four of the latest deaths occurred over the past 30 days. Three other deaths occurred more than a month ago. The official death toll now stands at 12,478.
Resolved cases across the province are up by 2,411 to 1,075,692.
In the last 24 hour period, 18,094 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 11.8 per cent, up from 10.8 per cent a week ago.
The province has administered 31,719,533 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. About 90.6 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received both doses of the vaccine. There are more than 7 million people in the province who have now received the booster shot.
