The London region saw a double-digit increase in COVID-19 cases for the third straight day on Thursday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 11 new infections over the past 24 hours, up from 13 the previous day and 14 on Tuesday. Thursday’s new case count marks the 23 day this month single-day case increases have climbed above nine.
The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 14,451, according to the health unit.
The death toll is unchanged at 245, with no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported in London or Middlesex County in a week.
The number of resolved cases is up by 12 to 14,067. Currently, there are 127 active cases in the region, down one from the previous day.
The London Health Sciences Centre has six patients in its care with COVID-19, up one from Wednesday. Five or fewer of those patients are listed in intense care and none are admitted to Children’s Hospital. There are five or fewer hospital staffers who have tested positive for the virus.
There are ongoing outbreaks at four area schools - Clara Brenton Public, Covenant Christian School, and St. Nicholas Senior Catholic in London and Our Lady of the Pillar Academy in Strathroy. All schools remain open. The Thames Valley District School Board currently has 56 active cases at 39 of its schools. The London District Catholic School Board has six active cases at three schools.
Of the 611 new COVID-19 cases to be reported in the region over the past six weeks, 68.3 per cent were among people who were not yet fully vaccinated against the virus or had not reached full immunity. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 79.1 per cent were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated and 20.8 per cent had received both shots.
Ten new COVID-19 cases were logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties, down from 12 new infections recorded on Wednesday. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload has now increased to 4,644. The death toll remained at 91, with no additional COVID-19 deaths reported. The total number of resolved cases stands at 4,465 and there are 88 known active cases locally.
Provincially, the daily number of COVID-19 cases jumped back above 400 for the first time this week.
Public health officials said there were 409 new cases on Thursday. That is up from 321 infections logged on Wednesday, 269 new cases recorded on Tuesday, and 326 new cases confirmed on Monday.
Of the 409 new cases identified on Thursday, 220 were among unvaccinated individuals, 16 were people who were partially vaccinated, 144 were fully vaccinated individuals, and 29 had an unknown vaccination status.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 598,840.
Three additional deaths related to the virus were reported on Thursday. The province’s death toll is currently 9,865.
At hospitals in Ontario, there are 197 people with COVID-19 on general wards, down from 18 the previous day. The number of people in the intensive care unit went down by two to 132 and there are 104 people on ventilators – a decrease of one since Wednesday.
Of those on general hospital wards with COVID-19, 103 are not fully vaccinated and 28 have received both doses.
The number of resolved cases rose by 366 to 585,957. There are currently 3,018 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 31,383 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 1.3 per cent.
The province has administered just over 22.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. There are 10,977,572 people in Ontario who have now received the second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully inoculated.
