The number of people with COVID-19 in London hospital fell to a low not seen since the end of last year.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported that it has six fewer patients with COVID-19 in its care than on Tuesday, for a total of 29 inpatients with the virus. The last time the hospital network had this few COVID-19 positive patients in its care was on December 31, when there were 28. The number of people with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer and Children’s Hospital has five or fewer patients with COVID-19, unchanged from Tuesday.
The LHSC specified that, of the 29 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals, 12 are being treated for COVID-19, while 17 were admitted for other reasons but also have the virus.
The hospital network reported on Wednesday that it currently has 155 COVID positive staffers, down three from the previous day.
For the second time this week, the Middlesex London Health Unit recorded a COVID-19 death.
A man in his 80s, who was not associated with a seniors’ facility, has succumbed to the virus, the health unit confirmed on Wednesday. One day earlier, the death of a woman in her 90s was linked to COVID-19. The total death toll for London and Middlesex County stands at 354 with seven of those deaths occurring this month.
The health unit also confirmed 87 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, up from 50 the previous day. Resolved cases increased to 31,816, leaving the number of known active cases locally at 673. 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.
Southwestern Public Health reported 34 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 11,553. The death toll increased to 153, as another COVID-19 related death was recorded. Resolved cases rose to 11,190 and there are now 210 known active cases in the two counties.
Ontario’s COVID-19 hospitalizations went down on Wednesday.
A total of 649 people infected with the virus are currently in hospitals across the province. That is down 29 from Tuesday. Forty-seven per cent of the 649 people in hospital on Wednesday were admitted because of the virus, while 53 per cent were there for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those in hospital, 204 are in the ICU, down 16 from the previous day. Roughly 79 per cent of those in the ICU were admitted because of COVID-19, while the remaining 21 per cent are there for other reasons but also have the virus.
According to public health officials, there were 16 additional deaths related to the virus on Wednesday. Fifteen of the latest deaths occurred over the past 30 days and one occurred more than a month ago. The official death toll now stands at 12,288.
The province recorded 2,011 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 1,129,543.
Resolved cases across the province are up by 2,060 to 1,101,842.
In the last 24 hour period, 15,702 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 12 per cent, up from 10.9 per cent a week ago.
The province has administered 31,915,294 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. About 90.8 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received both doses of the vaccine. There are more than 7.1 million people in the province who have now received the booster shot.
