COVID-19: MLHU reports 2 new cases, lowest daily case count since Aug. 3 | Globalnews.ca

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The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported just two COVID-19 cases on Monday, the lowest daily case count since zero cases were reported Aug. 3.

The region’s case count has risen to 14,293, with 13,946 recoveries (an increase of 17), 104 active cases (a decrease of 15) and 243 deaths (unchanged).

The total number of cases involving a variant of concern increased by six, all Delta, and is now at 4,280. The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:

• 3,384 cases of the Alpha variant
• 766 cases of the Delta variant
• 124 cases of the Gamma variant
• two cases of the Beta variant
• one case of the Kappa variant
• one case of the Zeta variant

There are also two cases listed using the old code numbers, one described as B.1.617 and another listed as B.1.617.3.

Further information can be found on the health unit’s summary of COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London.

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is caring for 10 inpatients with COVID-19 as of Monday, an increase of one from Friday.

There are five or fewer inpatients in adult critical care or the intensive care unit.

There are five or fewer inpatients with COVID-19 in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care. That’s up from zero patients in Children’s Hospital on Friday.

Five or fewer staff have currently tested positive for COVID-19.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) reported one non-outbreak case involving a health-care worker.

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Outbreaks

As of Sunday, there were no active outbreaks in the region involving long-term care homes, retirement homes or hospitals.

The latest outbreak, declared Oct. 6 at Dearness Home, was declared over Saturday.

There are outbreaks reported at the following schools:

• St. Kateri Catholic School, declared Oct. 7
• Providence Reformed Collegiate, declared Oct. 14

A previous outbreak at Ryerson Public School, declared Oct. 10, was listed as over as of Oct. 17.

Schools

The following schools have cases associated with them, according to the MLHU:

• C.C. Carrothers Public School (one case)
• Caradoc Public School (one case)
• Catholic Central High School (one case)
• Covenant Christian School (one case)
• Our Lady of the Pillar Academy (one case)
• Providence Reformed Collegiate (three cases)
• Saunders Secondary School (one case)
• St. Francis Catholic School (two cases)
• Wilfrid Jury Public School (one case)

There is one active COVID-19 case associated with child-care or early years centres, at London Children’s Connection: Caradoc – Before and After School.

The health unit said at least 122 cases have been reported since the start of the school year involving elementary and secondary schools, as well as child-care and early years centres.

Vaccinations and testing

The latest vaccination update says as of Oct. 9, 83.2 per cent of residents aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 87.9 per cent have had at least one dose. An update is expected on Tuesday.

Since Sept. 6, unvaccinated individuals have accounted for 64.24 per cent of all cases (or 442 of 688 cases) and 62.96 per cent of all hospitalizations (17 of 27).

Meanwhile, 26.31 per cent of all cases (or 181 of 688 cases) involved those who were fully vaccinated while 33.33 per cent of all hospitalizations (nine of 27) involved individuals who were fully vaccinated.

The rest of the cases involved individuals who were partially vaccinated or not yet protected by vaccination.

Of the eight COVID-19-related deaths reported in the last six weeks, three involved people who were unvaccinated, two involved individuals who were fully vaccinated, two involved people who were partially vaccinated, and one involved someone who was not yet protected by vaccination.

On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies; guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country; transportation support for those in need; and more.

Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about the locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.

The latest COVID-19 test positivity rate in the region was 1.8 per cent for the week of Sept. 26, unchanged from the week of Sept. 19.

Ontario

The province reported 373 cases on Monday — the eighth consecutive date with fewer than 500 cases. Two more deaths were also recorded.

Of the 373 cases, 214 were among unvaccinated individuals, 17 were partially vaccinated, 108 were fully vaccinated and for 34 people the status was unknown.

According to Monday’s report, 71 cases were recorded in Peel Region, 62 in Toronto, 36 in Ottawa, 26 in Hamilton and 18 each in Windsor-Essex and York Region. All other health units had fewer than 15 new cases.

Among those 12 and older, 83.1 per cent are fully immunized.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) provided its first update since Friday, adding 30 cases to its tally on Monday.

SWPH is reporting:

• 4,513 total cases
• 88 active cases (a decrease of four from Friday)
• 4,336 resolved cases (an increase of 34)
• 89 deaths to date (unchanged)
• 1,369 variant of concern cases (an increase of 24, all Delta), with 774 Alpha, 541 Delta and 54 Beta or Gamma

Of the 88 active cases in the region, 37 were in Elgin County (including 12 in St. Thomas, 11 in Bayham and 10 in Aylmer) and 51 were in Oxford County (including 15 in Tillsonburg and 14 in Norwich Township).

Five people are hospitalized with COVID-19 with one case in the ICU as of Monday, up from three patients hospitalized with none in the ICU on Friday.

One outbreak, declared Oct. 3, is ongoing at Elgin Manor in St. Thomas. The outbreak is tied to two resident cases and two staff cases.

Information on school cases can be found on the websites of the Thames Valley District School Board and the London District Catholic School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 2.9 per cent for the week of Oct. 3, up from 2.5 per cent a week earlier.

As of Oct. 17, 82.5 per cent of those aged 12 and older in the region were fully vaccinated while 86.5 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on where and how to get vaccinated can be found on the health unit’s website.

Huron and Perth

Global News is awaiting Monday’s data from Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH).

HPPH does not update COVID-19 case data over the weekend. As of Friday, HPPH reported:

• 2,275 total cases
• 40 active cases
• 2,170 recoveries
• 66 deaths to date

Among the 40 active cases, eight were in North Perth and seven in Central Huron. Full case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

There were no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday. There was one active COVID-19 case involving a health-care worker.

HPPH reported five outbreaks, though there were no long-term care home, retirement home or hospital outbreaks.

Two of the outbreaks involved schools:

• Huron Christian School in Clinton (six student cases)
• Stratford District Christian School in Stratford (two student cases)

The other outbreaks were listed as a community outbreak, a congregate living setting outbreak and a workplace outbreak. No further details were provided.

Data on school cases can be found on the websites of the Avon-Maitland District School Board and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board.

The region’s test positivity rate was 2.3 per cent for the week of Oct. 3, down from 2.6 per cent the week of Sept. 26.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Oct. 18, 80.3 per cent of those aged 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 84.4 per cent have had at least one dose.

Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.

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Sarnia and Lambton

On Monday, Lambton Public Health (LPH) reported:

• 4,072 total cases (an increase of eight)
• 78 active cases (an increase of one)
• 3,924 resolved cases (an increase of seven)
• 70 deaths to date (unchanged)
  

LPH reported three more variant of concern cases over the weekend, all involving the Delta variant, for a total of 585. Of that total, 439 have been Alpha, 128 have been Delta and 18 have been Gamma.

Six COVID-19 patients were in the care of Bluewater Health, up from five on Friday.

LPH reported active outbreaks at two unidentified workplaces, declared on Oct. 3 and Oct. 8, linked to four and two cases, respectively.

Three outbreaks linked to schools are active, one at Confederation Central Public School, declared Oct. 12, and linked to fewer than five cases.

The two other active outbreaks were declared on Oct. 14 at Cathcart Boulevard Public School and Gregory A Hogan Catholic School, both linked to fewer than five cases.

All active cases at schools within the Lambton Kent District School Board can be found online, as can cases at schools within the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

The test positivity rate for the week of Oct. 3 was 3.6 per cent, down from 3.7 per cent the week prior.

Among those aged 12 and older, 78.7 per cent are fully vaccinated and 82.7 per cent have had at least one dose.

Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments or find information on vaccine availability at pharmacies using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.

Those who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.

—with files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues and Kelly Wang.