There was a jump in the number of hospital workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 in London on Tuesday.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported 167 of its staffers are currently infected. That is an increase of eight since Monday and matches the number confirmed last Friday. At this time last week there were 158 COVID positive hospital employees, up from 130 two weeks ago.
Hospitalizations at the LHSC went up by one over the past 24 hours to 22, according to Tuesday’s figures. At this time last week there were 35 hospitalizations reported. Admissions to the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer. Children’s Hospital currently has five or fewer COVID-19 positive patients in its care.
LHSC officials specified that 12 of the COVID-19 positive patients are being treated for the virus. The other 10 are being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive for COVID-19.
There were 40 new COVID-19 infections logged in London and Middlesex County on Tuesday. Those cases bring the total case count since March 2020 to 33,212. Daily case tallies have been considered an underestimate of community spread because of limits placed on testing eligibility at the end of last year.
For the third consecutive day, there were no additional deaths related to the virus recorded. The death toll for London and Middlesex County remains unchanged at 356.
Resolved cases are up to 32,212 and there are currently 644 known active cases locally.
Local vaccination figures released Tuesday show no change from last week. There are 93.5 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older who have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 91.5 per cent in the same age bracket have had two doses.
As of Saturday, there have been 1,114,036 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.
There was a large jump in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario on Tuesday.
According to public health officials, there are 639 COVID-19 positive inpatients being treated in hospitals across the province. That is up by 88 compared to figures released on Monday. The provincial breakdown of hospitalization numbers shows roughly 46 per cent were admitted to hospital because of COVID-19. The remaining 54 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, two fewer COVID-19 positive people were admitted to intensive care for a total of 179.
Ontario logged 1,447 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 1,140,865.
There were seven additional deaths from the virus reported over the past 24 hours. The total death toll from the virus in Ontario now stands at 12,343.
Public health officials confirmed there were 10,433 COVID-19 tests processed over the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate is now 12.2 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 31,983,452 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 90.8 per cent of people 12 and older having received two doses. More than 7.1 million people, or 55.4 per cent, have received a booster shot.
