Just five days into April, the Middlesex London Health Unit has recorded its third COVID-19 death of the month.
A man in his 80s is the latest person in the region to succumb to the virus, the health unit confirmed on Tuesday. His death is associated with a long-term care home. On Saturday, the health unit said two women, one in her 80s, the other in her 20s, were the first two COVID deaths recorded this month. The local death toll for London and Middlesex County is up to 364.
There were 75 new COVID-19 infections logged in London and Middlesex County on Tuesday. Those cases bring the total case count since March 2020 to 34,493. Daily case tallies have been considered an underestimate of community spread because of limits placed on testing eligibility at the end of last year.
The health unit said there are 895 known active cases of the virus in the region, down seven from Monday.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported 253 of its staffers are currently infected. That is an increase of 24 since Monday. At this time last week there were 193 COVID positive hospital employees.
Hospitalizations at the LHSC dipped slightly over the past 24 hours. There are currently 36 inpatients in the hospital’s care, down 11 from Monday. Admissions to the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer. Children’s Hospital currently has six COVID-19 positive patients in its care, down two over the past 24 hours.
LHSC officials specified that 19 of the COVID-19 positive patients are being treated for the virus. The other 17 are being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive for COVID-19.
Dr. Alex Summers, the region’s medical officer of health, has acknowledged the upward trend in COVID-19 indicators. He confirmed the sixth wave has arrived in the city and county on Monday and anticipates increased spread throughout the rest of the month and into the start of May.
Local vaccination figures released Tuesday showed no change from last week. There are 93.6 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older who have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 91.6 per cent in the same age bracket have had two doses.
As of Saturday, there have been 1,118,428 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. Its next update will be released on Wednesday.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ontario saw a sharp increase on Tuesday.
According to public health officials, there are 1,091 COVID-19 positive inpatients being treated in hospitals across the province. That is up by 234 compared to figures released on Monday and is the highest hospitalizations have been in the province since February. At this time last week, there were 790 people hospitalized with the virus, showing hospitalizations have jumped by 38 per cent over the past seven days.
The provincial breakdown of hospitalization numbers shows roughly 45.9 per cent were admitted to hospital because of COVID-19. The remaining 54.1 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, five more COVID-19 positive people were admitted to intensive care for a total of 173.
Ontario logged 1,991 new cases Tuesday. However, the single-day tally is 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 1,176,677.
There were nine additional deaths from the virus reported over the past 24 hours. six of those deaths occurred over the past month, while three occurred more than a month ago. The total death toll from the virus in Ontario now stands at 12,479.
Public health officials confirmed there were 14,474 COVID-19 tests processed over the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate is now 18 per cent, up from 14.4 per cent a week ago and 12.2 per cent two weeks ago.
To date, the province has administered 32,103,995 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 90.9 per cent of people 12 and older having received two doses. More than 7.1 million people, or 55.5 per cent, have received a booster shot.
