The number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in London and Middlesex County so far this month has doubled.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported on Tuesday that two women in their 80s have succumbed to the virus. The latest deaths raise the monthly death toll to four with one death recorded on March 2, the other on March 4. Tuesday also marked the first time in nearly two weeks multiple deaths were logged in one day.
The local death toll stands at 353.
The number of people in London hospitals with COVID-19 went down by one to 45 over the past 24 hours, according to figures from the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). That is still relatively unchanged from the number of hospitalizations reported at this time last week. Admissions to the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer. Children’s Hospital currently has five or fewer COVID-19 positive patients in its care.
LHSC officials specified that 14 of the COVID-19 positive patients are being treated for the virus. The other 31 are being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive for COVID-19.
For the first time in more than a week the hospital network updated the number of staffers who have tested positive for COVID-19. As of Tuesday, there are 130 infected employees, that is down from 232 on February 28.
There were 62 new COVID-19 infections logged in London and Middlesex County on Tuesday. Those cases bring the total case count since March 2020 to 32,243. Daily case tallies have been considered an underestimate of community spread because of limits placed on testing eligibility at the end of last year. Resolved cases are up to 33,306 and there are currently 584 active cases locally, up from 558 a week ago.
New figures released by the health unit on Tuesday show 93.5 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have now received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 91.4 per cent in the same age bracket have had two doses. People aged 70 to 74 continue to lead for most booster shots received with 85 per cent having got their third dose.
As of Saturday, there have been 1,108,549 doses administered locally since December 2020.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, does not update its COVID-19 cases dashboard on Tuesdays. It’s next update will be released on Wednesday.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario rose above 700 for the first time in two days.
According to public health officials, there are 779 COVID-19 positive inpatients being treated in hospitals across the province. That is up from 693 on Monday and 684 on Sunday. The provincial breakdown of hospitalization numbers shows roughly 44 per cent were admitted to hospital because of COVID-19. The remaining 56 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, three fewer COVID-19 positive people were admitted to intensive care for a total of 246.
Ontario logged 1,208 new cases Tuesday. However, the single-day tally has become less relevant since the provincial government restricted eligibility for publicly-funded COVID-19 tests. Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 1,115,492.
There were 20 additional deaths from the virus reported over the past 24 hours. Those deaths occurred over the past 26 days. Three other deaths were removed from the total count. The total death toll from the virus in Ontario now stands at 12,591.
Public health officials confirmed there were 11,128 COVID-19 tests processed over the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate is now 11.2, up from 10.3 per cent a week ago.
To date, the province has administered 31,807,255 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 90.7 per cent of people 12 and older having received two doses. More than 7 million people, or 54.5 per cent, have received a booster shot.
