The London region is up to two dozen new cases of COVID-19 in just two days.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported on Friday that another 13 people tested positive for the virus. That is in addition to the 11 laboratory-confirmed cases announced on Thursday. The back-to-back days of double-digit increases come after weeks of daily case levels in the single digits.
"We haven't seen a two-day case count as we've seen over the last 48 hours since mid-April. And depending on how we fare over the weekend, this could become the worst stretch of cases in London-Middlesex since the pandemic's onset," said London Mayor Ed Holder during a news briefing on Friday.
The sudden spike in new cases has prompted the health unit to request Premier Doug Ford to extend new restrictions on private gatherings introduced Thursday in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa to London and Middlesex County. In those areas, gatherings are once again limited to 25 people outdoors and 10 people indoors. The restriction does not apply to businesses such as restaurants, movie theatres, or gyms.
"There are those who may say this is unnecessary, and there may well be others who say it doesn't go far enough," said Holder. "But it is of my firm opinion that the actions taken today are rapid, reasonable, and responsible."
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie said the restrictions could be implemented in London as early as late Friday before coming into effect over the weekend. However, if the Ontario government does not take action swiftly, Mackie said he is prepared to issue an order under Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act to limit the size of gatherings
Those who host social gatherings that exceed the government-mandated limit can be issued fines starting at $10,000, and those who attend can be fined $750.
Public health officials have linked the jump in cases to a group of Western University students who spent time at downtown bars and restaurants and socializing with neighbours during the second week of the month. A contact tracing map released by the health unit on Thursday showed how easily the virus can spread when people ignore physical distancing measures.
Ten of Friday's new infections were among individuals 19 years old and younger. The other three cases were among people aged 20 to 29.
There have been three outbreaks declared this week by the health unit -- one associated with downtown bars and restaurants, a second tied to a large party and a third declared Friday at the Hyde Park Wal-Mart. Three Wal-Mart employees have tested positive for COVID-19. They were last at the store at 1280 Fanshawe Park Rd. on Tuesday. The store has since undergone a "deep cleaning."
The London-Middlesex region's case count has risen to 789.
Resolved cases remained at 679, with zero additional recoveries on Friday. There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths in the area since June 12.
Currently, there are 53 active cases in London and Middlesex County.
Wait times at the Carling Heights and Oakridge COVID-19 assessment centres continued to be longer than normal on Friday. According to the health unit, wait times at both locations were around two hours by late morning.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, reported no new cases over the past 24 hours. The region's total number of cases since the start of the pandemic is 263. There were no additional recoveries recorded on Friday, leaving the number of resolved cases at 248. The death toll is unchanged at five.
Active cases in the two counties stand at 10.
Ontario is reporting a surge in new COVID-19 cases not seen in more than 15 weeks.
Public health officials said on Friday there were 401 new infections in the province. That is a significant increase from Thursday's 293 cases. It is also the highest number of new infections across Ontario since June 7 when 415 new cases were reported.
"There are 130 new cases in Toronto with 82 in Peel and 61 in Ottawa," Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted. "Sixty-seven per cent of today’s new cases are in people under the age of 40."
For the past week, the province has been dealing with a steady increase in cases - 313 on Monday, 251 on Tuesday, 315 on Wednesday and 293 on Thursday. Ontario's total case count since January has grown to 46,077.
There were no additional COVID-19 linked deaths over the last 24 hours, leaving the death toll at 2,825. Resolved cases have risen to 40,600
The number of infected Ontarians in hospital has gone up since Thursday to 58. Of those, 20 are in the intensive care unit and 10 are relying on ventilators to breathe.
In the last 24 hours, 35,862 additional COVID-19 tests were conducted in Ontario.
