The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) says roughly 17 new cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths were reported for Monday.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie said the numbers may not be exact while the health unit updates its reporting dashboard to the provincial system.
While the downward trend in cases looks promising, Mackie says the situation is "tenuous" and it would be easy for the counts to increase again.
"If we make mistakes now, if we take our attention away from the public health measures and precautions that have gotten us this far, we will see case counts spike again," Mackie said during Monday's media briefing.
Mackie says the region is in a vulnerable phase of the pandemic as reports of new variants pose a threat locally and across the province.
"We cannot go back to normal right now. We are in this for many more weeks, hopefully not many more months. But we cannot let up now."
On a positive note, the health unit says area long-term care facilities and retirement homes began administering the second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Adam Dukelow, the Chief Medical Officer for the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), said as of February 1, the hospital is treating 20 COVID-19 patients, eight of whom are intensive care. There have not been any new COVID-19 outbreaks at LHSC facilities, and the outbreak declared on January 15 at the University Hospital's adult emergency department is contained with 10 associated staff cases.
The number of cases at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre continues to surge. A total of 42 cases are now linked to the jail, as 25 staff and 17 inmates have tested positive since the outbreak began on January 18. Mackie says so far, none of the new COVID-19 variants have been detected at the facility.
