The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, infected hospital workers, and the death toll in the London region all saw increases on Wednesday.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported that it has two additional patients with COVID-19 in its care than when it last reported on Monday, for a total of 29 inpatients with the virus. That is also up from this time last week when there were 23 COVID positive inpatients at the LHSC. The number of people with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer and Children’s Hospital had five or fewer patients with COVID-19, an increase from none on Monday.
The LHSC specified that, of the 29 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals, 14 are being treated for COVID-19, while 15 were admitted for other reasons but also have the virus.
The hospital network reported on Wednesday that it currently has 208 employees who have tested positive for the virus. That is up from 193 on Tuesday and 172 a week ago.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 72 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, down from 79 the previous day. The death toll increased by one to 360. The latest person to succumb to the virus was a man in his 70s who was not linked to a seniors’ facility. Resolved cases increased to 32,783, leaving the number of known active cases locally at 752. 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 68 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 11,965. The death toll was unchanged at 155. Resolved cases rose to 11,518 and there are now 292 known active cases in the two counties.
The number of people in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19 remained above 750 for a second straight day.
A total of 788 people infected with the virus are currently in hospitals across the province. That is down by 12 from Tuesday. At this time last week, there were 611 COVID-19 positive people in the hospital. Half of the 788 people in hospital on Wednesday were admitted because of the virus, while 50 per cent were there for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those in hospital, 165 are in the ICU, unchanged from the previous day.
According to public health officials, there were 13 additional deaths related to the virus on Wednesday. Twelve of the deaths occurred within the last month, while one occurred more than a month ago. The official death toll now stands at 12,427.
The province recorded 2,814 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 1,159,470.
Resolved cases across the province are up by 2,419 to 1,127,307.
In the last 24 hour period, 17,309 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is currently 15.1 per cent.
The province has administered 32,054,772 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. About 90.9 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.
