The number of new COVID-19 cases in the London region neared 30 on Thursday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 27 new infections over the past 24 hours, up from 22 the previous day and eight on Tuesday. Daily case counts have not been this high since October 22 when 27 cases were also recorded.
The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 14,934, according to the health unit.
No additional COVID-19 deaths have been reported in London or Middlesex County since November 22, leaving the death toll unchanged at 252.
The number of resolved cases is up by 19 to 14,514. Currently, there are 168 active cases in the region, up ten from the previous day.
The London Health Sciences Centre has 18 patients in its care with COVID-19, down four from Wednesday. Eight of those patients are listed in intensive 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.
Western University’s Saugeen-Maitland Hall and Fanshawe College’s Merlin House Residence continue to deal with ongoing outbreaks. The outbreaks were declared at the student dorms last weekend. There are currently no active outbreaks at area elementary or secondary schools, daycares, or seniors facilities.
Of the 516 new COVID-19 cases to be reported in the region over the past six weeks, 50.4 per cent were among people who were not yet fully vaccinated against the virus or were not two weeks removed from their second dose. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 58.3 per cent were unvaccinated, not fully vaccinated or had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection and 42.1 per cent had received both shots.
Twenty-nine new COVID-19 cases were logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties, up from 13 new infections recorded on Wednesday. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload has now increased to 5,411. The death toll has gone up by one to 99, with the counties reporting their first death since the weekend. The total number of resolved cases stands at 5,143 and there are 169 known active cases locally. A new outbreak has been declared at Woodstock Christian School. Other outbreaks remain at Pierre Elliott Trudeau French Immersion Public in St. Thomas and Glendale High, Westfield Public, and St. Joseph’s Catholic in Tillsonburg, as well as at Caressant Care On Bonnie Place in St. Thomas and Aylmer Retirement Residence.
Provincially, the daily number of COVID-19 cases shot back above 900.
Public health officials said there were 959 new cases on Thursday. That is up from 780 infections logged on Wednesday, 687 new cases recorded on Tuesday, and 788 new cases confirmed on Monday. The rolling seven-day average daily case count is now 851, up from 692 a week ago.
Of the 959 new cases identified on Thursday, 446 were among unvaccinated individuals, 23 were people who were partially vaccinated, 429 were fully vaccinated individuals, and 61 had an unknown vaccination status.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 620,229.
Seven additional deaths related to the virus were reported on Thursday. The province’s death toll is currently 10,012.
At hospitals in Ontario, there are 291 people with COVID-19 on general wards, down five from the previous day. The number of people in the intensive care unit was unchanged at 155 and there are 139 people on ventilators – the same as Wednesday.
Of those on general hospital wards with COVID-19, 100 are not fully vaccinated and 50 have received both doses.
The number of resolved cases rose by 770 to 603,285. There are currently 6,932 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 38,480 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now around 2.9 per cent.
The province has administered 23,045,461 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. There are more than 11.2 million people in Ontario who have received the second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully inoculated.
