A person who attended London's Black Lives Matter rally at Victoria Park just over a week ago has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Middlesex London Health Unit said it was notified on Sunday about the individual's diagnoses and has since been in contact with them. Public health officials are reassuring the person wore a face mask while at the demonstration, which drew roughly 10,000 people to the downtown park on June 6.
The infected person did not have any symptoms of the virus while participating at the rally and has been asymptomatic since then. There is no indication the person was exposed to the virus or infectious at the time of the rally.
The health unit is working to contact anyone who was in close contact with this individual. Anyone who attended the rally is reminded to continue to monitor themselves for symptoms until this Saturday.
“We know that the coronavirus is still present in our community that’s why we continue to emphasize the need for people to take the necessary precautions to prevent it from spreading,” Dr. Chris Mackie, the region's medical officer of health, said in a statement. “With our region moving to Stage 2, there’s still the need to stay six feet away from others, wash hands frequently, cough or sneeze into your sleeve and increasingly, use a face covering when you go out into the community.”
Word of the infected individual comes as a second Black Lives Matter demonstration is being planned for this Saturday outside of London city hall.
The health unit is advising anyone who plans on attending to maintain physical distance, wear a face mask, and use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer frequently.
On Monday, six new cases of COVID-19 were reported by the Middlesex-London Health Unit. The area's total number of confirmed cases since the start of the outbreak now sits at 585.
The death toll stands at 57, with no new deaths reported since Friday.
Outbreaks remain at Chelsey Park Retirement Community and Kensington Village. The number of residents to contract the virus at long-term care homes or retirement facilities in the London area is 105.
The number of people to recover from COVID-19 locally is 452.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, hasn’t seen any new cases of the virus since Thursday. The region’s total number of confirmed cases stands at 80, with 70 resolved. There has been a total of four COVID-19 related deaths in the two counties, with no new deaths reported since April 22.
Provincial public health officials are reporting Ontario's lowest day-over-day increase of COVID-19 cases since late March.
There were 181 new cases confirmed in the province on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 32,370.
Health Minister Christine Elliott pointed out in a tweet this is the second day in a row Ontario's daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 were below the 200 mark.
"For the second day in a row and the third time in the past four days, there are fewer than 200 new cases of #COVID19 in Ontario, with 181 new cases reported today or a 0.6 per cent increase," Elliott tweeted.
She went on to note that 28 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 18 of them reporting no new cases at all.
An additional 8 deaths related to the virus were also reported over the past 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, 27,213 Ontarians have succumbed to COVID-19.
The number of people in hospital diagnosed with the virus is currently at 419, including 104 being treated in intensive care units.
A total of 27,213 people previously confirmed to have the virus in Ontario have since recovered.
For the second day in a row and the third time in the past four days, there are fewer than 200 new cases of #COVID19 in Ontario, with 181 new cases reported today or a 0.6% increase. This is the lowest day-over-day increase since late March.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) June 15, 2020
