A man in his 80s has become the region’s latest COVID-19 victim in what has been a very deadly month for the virus in London and Middlesex County.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported theman’s death on Thursday. The man, who was not associated with a seniors’ facility, is the 36th person to succumb to the virus this month. His death increases the local death toll since the pandemic began to 295.
The health unit also logged 220 new cases on Thursday. That is up 40 from the previous day’s 180 new cases. However, daily infection tallies aren’t as meaningful since the provincial government limited who can receive a free PCR test at the end of December.
The total number of cases locally since March of 2020 is now 28,418, according to the health unit.
The number of resolved cases is up to 26,059. Currently, there are 2,064 known active cases in the region, down 23 from the previous day.
There are 20 seniors’ facilities dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks locally.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) confirmed on Thursday there are 166 people with COVID-19 admitted to its facilities. That is up by three from 163 on Wednesday. Of the 166, there are 94 being treated for COVID-19 and 72 being treated for other ailments but who have also tested positive for the virus.
There was a slight decrease in the number of COVID-19 positive patients in the intensive care unit. The LHSC reported 19 in the ICU on Thursday, down from 20 the previous day. There are fewer than five COVID-19 patients in the care of Children’s Hospital.
The number of hospital staff who have contracted the virus has gone up by eight to 200, from 192 on Wednesday.
Outbreaks remain on nine units at Victoria and University hospitals.
Beginning on Monday, the health unit will hold the first of ten school-based COVID-19 walk-in vaccination clinics in London. Anyone five and older will be able to get a first or second dose at these clinics, without an appointment or health card. The first clinic will be held at Wilfrid Jury Public between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
There were 85 new COVID-19 cases logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload has now increased to 9,980. The death toll went up by one to 137. The health unit reported the death of a man in his 70s from Elgin County on Thursday. The total number of resolved cases stands at 9,111 and there are 732 known active cases locally.
Provincially, there was a decline in hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
The latest figures released by the province on Thursday show there are 3,645 people with COVID-19 admitted to hospitals in Ontario. That is down 371 since Wednesday. Of the COVID-19 positive people in hospital, roughly 56 per cent were admitted because of the virus, while around 44 per cent were initially brought in for some other reason and tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 599 people in intensive care units across the province, down nine from Wednesday. Eighty-two per cent of the 599 patients in ICU are there because of the virus.
Public health officials said there were 5,852 new cases in Ontario on Thursday. That is up from 5,368 infections logged on Wednesday. Public health officials cautioned those numbers are an underestimate of the spread of the virus though, as changes made late last month limit who can get a free PCR test in Ontario.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 1,016,099.
Seventy additional deaths related to the virus were reported on Thursday, to bring the death toll up to 11,230. The province noted the 70 of the deaths occurred over the past 19 days.
The number of resolved cases rose by 8,637 to 950,795.
In the last 24 hour period, 33,560 tests COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now around 14.1 per cent, down from 15.9 per cent a week ago.
The province has administered 30,325,181 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. Nearly 92 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of the vaccine, while 89.1 per cent have been given a second dose to be considered fully inoculated. Over 6.2 million booster shots have been administered.
