A man in his 40s is the latest in the London-area to die from COVID-19.
The Middlesex London Health Unit confirmed the additional death on Friday. There have now been 43 deaths related to the virus in the area. Two new cases of COVID-19 were also reported over the last 24 hours. Both cases involve a retirement home, with one resident and one staff member becoming infected. Retirement homes now accounted for 50 of the local cases – 35 among residents and 15 among employees. There have been 86 cases at long-term care facilities across the region – 53 among residents and 33 among staff members.
Since the outbreak began, London and Middlesex County have had 438 cases in total. Of those, 405 have been in London, 17 in Strathroy-Caradoc, seven in Middlesex Centre, four in North Middlesex, four in Thames Centre, and one in Southwest Middlesex.
Twenty-four people with COVID-19 are in the care of the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), with seven listed in the intensive care unit. There have been no new cases involving hospital workers in London. A total of 39 LHSC employees have been diagnosed with the virus since the outbreak began, but not all of those cases can be linked back to the hospital.
To date, 287 of those diagnosed with COVID-19 in the area have recovered.
There were no new cases or deaths in Elgin and Oxford counties. Southwestern Public Health, that region’s health unit, reported the number of confirmed cases is holding at 62. There have only been four deaths from the virus between the two counties. Forty-five of the confirmed cases have since been resolved.
Provincially, the number of people to die from the virus has surpassed 1,500.
There were 63 additional COVID-19 related deaths on Friday, bringing the total to 1,540.
The number of new cases in Ontario spiked over the last 24 hours with 477 people testing positive. The total number of cases in the province now sites at 19,598.
According to the latest epidemiological summary, 1,028 people have been hospitalized with 166 currently in intensive care on ventilators.
The virus continues to spread in Ontario long-term care homes with 234 outbreaks reported. The number of residents to died from COVID-19 now stands at 1,150. Long-term care homes in London with confirmed outbreaks include Earls Court Village, Elmwood Place, Henley Place, Kensington Village, Meadow Park, and PeopleCare Oakcrossing London.
Provincial public health officials note 13,990 of the people who contracted the virus have since recovered.
