It wasn't enough to break a 27 day streak of double-digit increases, but the London region's daily COVID-19 case count has dropped to a level not seen since last month.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported just 12 new infections on Tuesday. That was down from 18 new cases on Monday, 30 cases on Sunday, and 22 new cases on Saturday. The last time single-day case numbers were this low was on August 30 when 13 infections were logged.
The health unit released four days worth of data on Tuesday as it doesn't report COVID-19 figures on weekends or statutory holidays.
The area’s total case count since the pandemic began stands at 13,530.
The area death toll is unchanged at 235, with no additional COVID-19 related deaths reported since Friday.
Resolved cases are up by 98 to 13,092. There are currently 203 active cases locally.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) currently has 11 inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, up three since Friday. Five or fewer of those patients are listed in intensive care and five or fewer are in the care of Children's Hospital. Six hospital employees are in isolation after testing positive for the virus.
Another four cases have been identified as variants of concern for a total of 3,981. There are 3,384 variants of concern that have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain and 124 have tested positive as the P.1. (Gamma) variant. The region has also had 467 cases of the B.1.617 (Delta) variant and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) strain. There are 186 cases that have tested positive for a mutation.
As of Saturday, there have been 729,228 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 84 per cent of all area residents aged 12 and older having received at least one dose. The percentage of the local population to receive both doses is currently 77.3.
"Shout out to everyone for getting vaccinated before the start of school. You are truly making a difference," the health unit tweeted on Tuesday.
At pop-up walk-in clinics aimed at getting as many shots into arms before kids returned to the classroom, more than half were first doses. According to the health unit, 54.8 per cent of the 1,391 doses administered at the mall pop-up at C.F. Masonville Place were first doses, while 52.4 percent of the 271 shots given at the Doses Till Dark clinics on Richmond Row and at the Covent Garden Market were first doses. Additional pop-up, walk-in clinics are planned for this week. A full list can be found by clicking here.
Of the 737 people who have contracted the virus locally since July 27, approximately 64.7 per cent were not vaccinated, 16.3 per cent were partially vaccinated, and 16.3 per cent were fully vaccinated. Another 2.7 per cent had the shot but it had not yet begun offering protection. None of the people who died during that six-week period had received a single dose of the vaccine.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there were 18 new cases reported since Friday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,114. The death toll is unchanged with 85 deaths. Resolved cases rose to 3,997 with 32 known active cases in the two counties remaining. Roughly 82 per cent of area residents aged 12 and older have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 75.7 per cent have received both doses.
Ontario logged 1,145 new COVID-19 cases over the past 48 hours.
Public health officials recorded 581 new infections on Tuesday and 564 new cases on Labour Day Monday. That is down significantly from 811 cases on Sunday and 944 infections on Saturday. The province reported two days worth of COVID-19 numbers on Tuesday, as it does not release updated figures on statutory holiday.
The unvaccinated continue to account for more than half of the new cases across the province, with 339 of the infections reported Tuesday among those who have not had a single shot. The partially vaccinated makeup 37 of the new cases, and there were 130 cases involving the fully vaccinated. Another 58 of the cases involved individuals whose vaccination status is unknown.
Of Monday's 581 cases, 351 were unvaccinated individuals, 64 were those who were partially vaccinated, and 124 were among fully vaccinated people. There were 43 cases in people with unknown vaccination status.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 154, followed by Peel Region with 100, Hamilton with 71, and Windsor-Essex with 68.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 570,778.
The province has confirmed four more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, known as Alpha, for a total of 146,435. The number of cases of the B.1.351 variant, known as Beta and the P.1. variant, known as Gamma, are both unchanged leaving totals of 1,501 and 5,223. The total number of cases identified as the B.1.617 variant, known as Delta, went up by ten to 12,647.
There were five additional deaths reported over the past two days - three Tuesday and two Monday. The provincial death toll is now 9,553.
There are currently 295 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, an increase of seven since Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are up by five to 192 and there are 165 people breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. Of those in general hospital wards with the virus, 162 are not fully vaccinated or are partially vaccinated. Thirty-two are fully vaccinated.
The number of resolved cases rose by 688 to 554,953. There are currently 6,272 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 48 hour period, roughly 36,000 COVID-19 tests were processed. The dip in testing is likely linked to the holiday. The province's positivity rate is now 3.4 per cent.
To date, the province has administered over 20.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than ten million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
