While COVID-19 hospitalizations in the London-area have increased slightly, there have been no deaths linked to the virus for six consecutive days.
The Middlesex London Health Unit confirmed on Tuesday no one has succumbed to the virus since a record eight deaths were recorded on February 23. It suggests London and Middlesex County may have turned a corner after marking the second deadliest month of the pandemic last month with 49 deaths. The local death toll stands at 349.
The number of people in London hospitals with COVID-19 went up by three to 47 over the past 24 hours, according to figures from the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). That is still less than the 64 people that were reportedly in hospital with the virus at this time last week. Admissions to the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer. Children’s Hospital currently has five or fewer COVID-19 positive patients in its care.
LHSC officials specified that 13 of the COVID-19 positive patients are being treated for the virus. The other 34 are being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive for COVID-19.
Hospital officials did not update the number of staffers who have tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. That figure has been steadily increasing for more than a week with 232 workers reportedly infected on Monday.
There were 42 new COVID-19 infections logged in London and Middlesex County on Tuesday. Those cases bring the total case count since March 2020 to 31,799. Daily case tallies have been considered an underestimate of community spread because of limits placed on testing eligibility at the end of last year. Resolved cases are up to 30,892 and there are currently 558 active cases locally.
New figures released by the health unit on Tuesday show 93.4 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have now received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 91.3 per cent in the same age bracket have had two doses. People aged 70 to 74 are leading for most booster shots received with 84.8 per cent having got their third dose.
As of Saturday, there have been 1,104,905 doses administered locally since December 2020.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, does not update its COVID-19 cases dashboard on Tuesdays. It’s next update will be released on Wednesday.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario has stayed below one thousand for a third straight day.
According to public health officials, there are 914 COVID-19 positive inpatients being treated in hospitals across the province. That is up from 849 on Monday and 842 on Sunday. The provincial breakdown of hospitalization numbers shows roughly 45 per cent were admitted to hospital because of COVID-19. The remaining 55 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, one fewer COVID-19 positive person was in intensive care for a total of 278.
Ontario logged 1,176 new cases Tuesday. However, the single-day tally has become less relevant since the provincial government restricted eligibility for publicly-funded COVID-19 tests. Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 1,103,187.
There were 18 additional deaths from the virus reported over the past 24 hours. Sixteen of those deaths occurred over the past 18 days and two occurred more than a month ago. The total death toll from the virus in Ontario now stands at 12,451.
Public health officials confirmed there were 13,087 COVID-19 tests processed over the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate is now 10.3, up from 6.9 per cent a week ago.
To date, the province has administered 31,700,519 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 90.5 per cent of people 12 and older having received two doses. More than 6.9 million people, or 54.1 per cent, have received a booster shot.
