Public health officials in London and Middlesex County reported one additional COVID-19 death and 33 new cases on Friday.
The latest death was a woman in her 70s who was not connected with a long-term care or a retirement home, the Middlesex London Health Unit said. Her death brings the area's death toll to 78.
Leading up to Friday's 33 new infections, the city and county had seen two straight days of record-high cases -- 47 Wednesday and 52 Thursday.
With the latest case, the London region's total case count since the start of the pandemic has surpassed 2,000 to 2,013.
The driving force behind the spike in cases cannot be attributed to one event or location, the region's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie has said. He said the cases stem from a combination of outbreaks, including the one at University Hospital, some international travel, and household contact with a confirmed case.
The outbreak at University Hospital is currently affecting nine units, with 73 patients and 71 staff having tested positive since early November. There have been 14 deaths linked to the outbreak.
A new outbreak was also declared at London long-term care home Chelsey Park. That is in addition to outbreaks at two other seniors' facilities -- McCormick Home in London and Country Terrace in Komoka.
A new outbreak was also declared Friday at a high school in the region. St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary is the fifth school in the area this week to confirm an outbreak. The health unit said the outbreak was declared after it was determined the virus had spread between close contacts at the school. Other schools currently dealing with outbreaks are Sir Arthur Currie Public, Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary, Westminster Secondary, Ashley Oaks Public, and St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic. All schools remain open.
Thirty-two more people have recovered from the virus, increasing the number of resolved cases to 1,619 and leaving 316 active cases.
The province announced on Friday, London-Middlesex will move from the orange-control to the red-restrict level of its COVID-19 Response Framework at 12:01 on Monday.
Elgin and Oxford counties are reporting their highest number of new cases in a single day since the pandemic began. Southwestern Public Health said there were 30 new infections on Friday, up from 19 on Thursday. The latest numbers break the region's previous record high of 22 set on October 29.
The total case count for that region now stands at 709. Resolved cases have risen to 593 with 16 more recoveries reported since Thursday. The death toll is unchanged at eight. Currently, there are 108 active cases in the two counties.
Ontario recorded a second wave record number of new COVID-19 related deaths on Friday.
Public health officials said 45 people succumb to the virus over the last 24 hours. There have not been this many deaths in a single day since June 4, when the same number was recorded. Of the 45 deaths, 29 were among residents in long-term care facilities.
The province's death toll now stands at 3,916
Ontario logged more than 1,800 new cases Friday as another record number of COVID-19 tests were processed.
There were 1,848 across the province, bringing the total number of cases to 136,631
Of the new cases, 469 were in Toronto, 386 were in Peel, 205 were in York Region, and 106 were in Windsor-Essex.
The number of resolved cases rose to 116,432 with 1,753 additional recoveries reported.
There are currently 808 COVID-19 infected patients in hospitals across the province, including 235 in the intensive care unit and 124 on ventilators to breathe.
In the last 24 hour period, 63,051 COVID-19 tests were processed, a new record high. Ontario’s positivity rate is currently at 3.2 per cent.
