The number of London-area residents who have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has surpassed another milestone on the way to herd immunity.
The Middlesex London Health Unit released new figures on Tuesday that show 85.6 per cent of those 12 and older living in the city and county are now considered fully vaccinated. Just under 90 per cent of those in the same age bracket have received one dose. In total there have been 793,474 doses administered locally since December.
The highest vaccination rate is reportedly among those in the 60 plus crowd. That age group is showing more than 90 per cent are doubled vaccinated. People 18 to 24 continue to trail with only 78 per cent having received both doses and 84.2 per cent given one dose.
The latest vaccination data comes as the daily COVID-19 case increase dropped to single-digits for the first time in a week.
Four new infections were reported by the health unit over the past 24 hours. That is down from fourteen cases on Monday and 11 cases on Sunday and ends a seven day stretch of single-day case jumps above ten.
The area’s total case count since the pandemic began stands at 14,509.
There was a COVID-19 related death in the region for the first time in nearly two weeks. A woman in her 70s succumbed to the virus. The health unit stated she was not associated with a seniors' facility, but did not release her vaccination status. Her death brings the local death toll to 246.
Resolved cases are up by 16 to 14,147. There are currently 116 active cases locally, down from 129 on Monday.
COVID-19 outbreaks at Clara Brenton Public and St. Nicholas Senior Catholic in London have now been declared over. That leaves just one outbreak at Wilberforce Public School in Lucan. There are 16 cases linked to the school. The Thames Valley District School Board has temporarily closed the school and shifted students to online learning for the week.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has eight inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, unchanged from Monday. Five or fewer of those patients are listed in intensive care and none are in the care of Children’s Hospital. There are currently five or fewer hospital employees who have tested positive for the virus.
Of the 574 people who have contracted the virus locally since September 21, approximately 60.1 per cent were not vaccinated, 4.8 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 32.6 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 2.4 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection. Of those who were hospitalized with the virus over the past six weeks, 78.3 per cent were either unvaccinated or had received one dose. Just over 21 per cent had received both doses.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there has been another COVID-19 death. An Elgin County woman in her 80s has succumbed to the virus, bringing the death toll up to 93. The death comes a day after Southwestern Public Health recorded the death of an 85-year-old Aylmer man. There were seven more infections confirmed on Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic to 4,711. Resolved cases rose to 4,530 with 88 known active cases remaining in the area. As of Sunday, 86.6 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 83.2 per cent have received both doses.
Ontario logged fewer than 350 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
Public health officials recorded 331 new infections over the past 24 hours. That is down from 422 Monday, 340 Sunday, and 356 Saturday.
The unvaccinated accounted for the bulk of new cases across the province Tuesday, with 225 of the infections reported among those who have not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated makeup 13 of the new cases, and there were 161 cases involving the fully vaccinated. Another 23 of the cases involved individuals whose vaccination status is unknown.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 600,708.
There were seven additional deaths reported, bringing the provincial death toll from the virus to 9,881.
There are currently 230 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, up 96 from Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to intensive care units are up by three to 136 and there are 111 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, an increase of three. Of those on general hospital wards with the virus, 106 are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. Forty-five are fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 382 to 587,727. There are currently 3,100 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 20,148 COVID-19 tests were processed. The province’s positivity rate is now 1.5 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 22,535,918 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 11 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
