The London region saw a single-digit increase in COVID-19 cases for the third straight day on Thursday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged eight new infections over the past 24 hours, up from three the previous day and four on Tuesday. Despite the slight uptick, Thursday’s new case count marked the first time since early October daily cases were below ten for three consecutive days. There were six cases recorded on October 10, seven cases on October 11, and six cases confirmed on October 12.
The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 14,519, according to the health unit.
The death toll is unchanged at 246, with no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported in London or Middlesex County since Tuesday.
The number of resolved cases is up by 24 to 14,178. The number of active cases in the region fell below 100 for the first time in two weeks. Currently, there are 95 active cases, down 17 from the previous day.
The London Health Sciences Centre has eight patients in its care with COVID-19, down one from Wednesday. Five or fewer of those patients are listed in intense care and five or fewer are admitted to Children’s Hospital. There are five or fewer hospital staffers who have tested positive for the virus.
Only one outbreak remains at an area school. Wilberforce Public School in Lucan has 16 cases linked to the outbreak, which was declared on October 28. The school is currently closed to in-person learning. It is expected to reopen on Monday. There is also an outbreak at a London daycare. Two cases have been confirmed at Waddling Duck Daycare on Griffith Street.
Of the 548 new COVID-19 cases to be reported in the region over the past six weeks, 66.3 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, 78.9 per cent were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated and 21.1 per cent had received both shots.
Twenty-two new COVID-19 cases were logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties, up from 15 new infections recorded on Wednesday. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload has now increased to 4,747. The death toll remained at 94, with no additional COVID-19 deaths reported. The total number of resolved cases stands at 4,558 and there are 95 known active cases locally.
Provincially, the daily number of COVID-19 cases jumped back above 400 for the first time since Monday.
Public health officials said there were 438 new cases on Thursday. That is up from 378 infections logged on Wednesday, 321 new cases recorded on Tuesday, and 422 new cases confirmed on Monday.
Of the 438 new cases identified on Thursday, 227 were among unvaccinated individuals, 15 were people who were partially vaccinated, 159 were fully vaccinated individuals, and 37 had an unknown vaccination status.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 601,524.
Five additional deaths related to the virus were reported on Thursday. The province’s death toll is currently 9,891.
At hospitals in Ontario, there are 234 people with COVID-19 on general wards, down three from the previous day. The number of people in the intensive care unit went down by seven to 130 and there are 109 people on ventilators – a decrease of five since Wednesday.
Of those on general hospital wards with COVID-19, 89 are not fully vaccinated and 57 have received both doses.
The number of resolved cases rose by 337 to 588,444. There are currently 3,189 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 32,129 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 1.7 per cent.
The province has administered just over 22.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. There are 11,053,036 people in Ontario who have now received the second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully inoculated.
