The COVID-19 death toll in London and Middlesex has gone up by two.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported on Thursday two women, one in her 50s, the other in her 90s, succumbed to the virus. The woman in her 50s was linked to a long-term care home, while the elderly woman was associated with a retirement home. These are the first two COVID-19 related deaths to be reported since late last week. The death toll for London and Middlesex County now stands at 411.
There were 175 new cases logged locally since Monday. The health unit now only updates its COVID-19 dashboard twice a week and daily case tallies are believed to be an underestimate of community spread since the provincial government limited eligibility for PCR testing at the end of December. The total number of cases locally since March of 2020 is now 39,634, according to the health unit.
The number of resolved cases is up to 38,731. Currently, there are 492 known active cases in the region, up from 386 a week ago.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) saw a slight increase in hospitalizations. There are 23 inpatients with COVID-19 in the hospital network’s care, up one since Monday. Of those hospitalized, there are seven being treated for COVID-19 and 16 being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive.
There are currently five or fewer COVID infected patients listed in the intensive care unit, unchanged from Monday. Children’s Hospital also has five or fewer inpatients with the virus, five or fewer of them are listed in paediatric critical care.
The number of hospital employees who have contracted COVID-19 also saw a rise on Thursday. The LHSC said it has 136 infected staffers, an increase of 16 since Monday. At this time last week there were also 136 hospital employees who had tested positive for the virus.
It was announced on Thursday, that in one week online appointment bookings for the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to five years will open. Kids in that age bracket will be given slightly modified, lower dose than children who are six and up. Appointments can be made in London and Middlesex through the health unit’s online vaccine booking system at www.covidvaccinelm.ca as of 8 a.m. July 28.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, reported 120 more COVID-19 cases this week, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 14,404. There were three additional deaths recorded, increasing the death toll to 173. Resolved cases rose to 14,065 and there are now 166 known active cases in the two counties.
Read original story from London Ontario – BlackburnNews.com