Three more people have died from COVID-19 in London and Middlesex County since Friday as hospitalizations and ICU admissions related to the virus also saw a rise.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) said Monday it has 155 inpatients with COVID-19, an increase of ten over the past 72 hours. According to the LHSC, 89 of its COVID positive inpatients are being treated for the virus, while the remaining 66 are being treated for other ailments but have tested positive for COVID.
The intensive care unit has 26 inpatients with COVID-19, up by four since Friday. This is the first time in three weeks ICU admissions have been above 25.
There are 197 hospital workers who have tested positive for COVID-19, up from 189 on Friday. The slight increase is still significantly lower than the record 512 active cases among hospital workers that was recorded on January 12. For the most part, positive cases among hospital staff have been on the decline since that date.
The Middlesex London Health Unit recorded three deaths and 483 new infections over the weekend .
There were 83 new cases recorded on Monday, 190 new cases on Sunday, and 210 new cases on Saturday. 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 29,150 since the pandemic began.
Two men, one in his 80s, the other in his 60s, are the latest people to succumb to the virus, the health unit said Monday. The men’s deaths are in addition to one other in London and Middlesex County on Saturday and brings the death toll since the pandemic began up to 300.
Resolved cases are up by 646 to 26,954. The number of active cases locally went down by 147 since Friday to 1,894 on Monday.
As of Monday, appointments are no longer required to get a first, second, or third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at vaccination clinics run by the health unit. That includes pop-up school-based clinics, the first of which runs Monday from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Wilfrid Jury Public School. The health unit believes accepting walk-ins will make getting the vaccine even easier for those still in need of the shot.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit that covers Elgin and Oxford counties, reported 188 new cases since Friday. The latest cases bring the two counties total case count to 10,240. There was one additional death recorded, bringing the death toll to 139. The health unit said the total number of resolved cases in the area is 9,425, leaving 676 known active cases.
Provincially, another 32 COVID-19 deaths were recorded on the same day pandemic restrictions began to ease.
Public health officials confirmed 31 of the deaths reported on Monday occurred over the past 17 days, while one death happened more than a month ago and was added after a data cleanup. The provincial death toll since the pandemic began nearly two years ago now stands at 11,444.
There are currently 2,983 people with the virus in hospital, down 36 since Sunday. Intensive care unit (ICU) admissions are down by four to 583. Those figures could be higher than reported as not all hospitals release current numbers over the weekend, Health Minister Christine Elliott reminded.
Ontario logged 3,043 new infections over the past 24 hours. However, single-day case counts are considered to be an underestimation of community spread as the Ford government restricted eligibility for publicly-funded COVID-19 tests at the end of December. The latest cases put Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic to 1,033,294.
The number of resolved cases are up by 5,098 to 976,987.
In the last 24 hour period, 15,008 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 14.7 per cent, down from 18.4 per cent at this time last week.
There have been 30,649,731 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Ontario as of Sunday night. Nearly 92 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of the vaccine, while 89.2 per cent have been given their second dose to be considered fully inoculated. To date, more than 6.3 million Ontarians have received a booster shot.
The latest figures come as the province entered step one of a three step reopening plan. As of 12:01 a.m. Monday, indoor dining, gyms, shopping malls, and movie theatres are allowed to reopen at 50 per cent capacity. Social gathering limits increased to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
Ontario will remain in step one for the next 21 days.
