There is a new outbreak of COVID-19 at a London hospital.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) confirmed on Monday the level two outbreak at Victoria Hospital’s D6-100 medicine unit was declared over the weekend. The hospital network had been outbreak free after its last outbreak of the virus on University Hospital’s U6 CVT unit was resolved last Tuesday.
In addition to the outbreak, the LHSC confirmed the number of inpatients infected with COVID-19 went up since Friday. There are now 12 COVID positive patients admitted, an increase of two. At this time last week, there were 20 inpatients with COVID-19 at the LHSC. According to hospital officials, half of the current inpatients are being treated for the virus, while the remaining six are being treated for other ailments but have tested positive for COVID.
The intensive care unit and Children’s Hospital have zero infected inpatients, the same as was reported on Friday.
The number of hospital workers who have tested positive for the virus dropped on Monday. There are 52 infected staffers at the LHSC, down four since Friday. At this time last week, 51 hospital employees had contracted the virus.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported 32 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend. However, public health officials caution that single-day case numbers are an underestimate of community spread due to eligibility changes that limit who can receive a test. The area’s total case count stands at 38,520 since the pandemic began.
There has not been a COVID-19 death in the region since last Tuesday, leaving the local death toll at 401. Resolved cases are up to 37,981. The number of active cases locally went down by ten since Friday to 138 on Monday.
Monday marked the start of a change in the frequency in which the health unit updates the COVID-19 dashboard for the region. Instead of posting the latest figures five days a week, the dashboard will now only be updated twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. The health unit made the change stating that the old five-day-a week schedule “no longer aligns with the current level of COVID-19 activity in the community.”
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit that covers Elgin and Oxford counties, will not be updating its COVID-19 cases dashboard until Wednesday, while the province won’t issue updated numbers until Thursday.
