The number of daily COVID-19 cases in London and Middlesex County dropped back to a single-digit on Friday.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported six more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours. That is down from the 16 case spike recorded on Thursday. The region has seen 48 new cases since Sunday, for a total case count of 1,133 since the start of the pandemic.
There have been eight more recoveries reported since Thursday to bring the number of resolved cases up to 1,012. Currently, there are 61 active cases in the area.
Outbreaks remain at four local long-term care and retirement homes, down from eight on Monday. Facilities dealing with outbreaks include Chartwell London, Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence, Oakcrossing Retirement Living, Strathmere Lodge. Craigwiel Gardens and Westmount Gardens declared outbreaks at their facilities resolved.
The death toll in London-Middlesex is unchanged at 60, with no new deaths in nearly a week.
In an effort to keep numbers low, the health unit has requested those trick-or-treating for Halloween on Saturday take precautions such as wearing a mask at all times and using hand sanitizer often. Crowded sidewalks and front porches should be avoided. For those handing out treats, the health unit recommends using an object to distribute treats to maintain two metres distance, remaining outside to prevent kids from coming directly to the door, and frequently sanitizing high touch surfaces such as doorbells. Candy should not be placed in a large bowl for children to reach into and anyone who is feeling sick is asked not to participate in this year's festivities. Halloween parties should only be held virtually and not in person, the health unit said.
Elgin and Oxford counties recorded three new cases Friday. Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for the two counties, said the new infections bring the area case count up to 320. Recoveries were also up by four. That brings total resolved cases to 299. There has not been a death reported in the region since July 3, leaving the death toll at five. Sixteen active cases remain.
Ontario logged nearly 900 new infections on Friday.
Public health officials said there were 896 new cases over the last 24 hour period, down from 936 on Thursday but up from 834 on Wednesday.
The highest number of daily infections continues to come from Toronto with 314 new cases, Peel with 173 cases, York with 115 cases, and Ottawa with 92 cases.
The total case count for the province is now 74,715.
There were 796 more recoveries on Friday, bringing the total resolved cases to 63,919.
Nine additional people have died due to COVID-19 since Thursday, increasing the provincial death toll to 3,127.
There was a slight decrease in the number of COVID-19 infected patients in hospitals across the province with 314 people admitted. Of those, 75 are in the intensive care unit and 52 are relying on ventilators to breathe.
In the last 24 hour period, more than 41,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Ontario.
