So overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, the Middlesex London Health Unit is now urging people who test positive to self-isolate immediately and those with respiratory symptoms to treat it as the virus even without being tested.
The new instructions came from the health unit after it logged its highest single-day increase in the number of new cases on Wednesday, with 228 new infections. The previous record high for London and Middlesex County was 176, which was reported on April 14 during the peak of the third wave.
Daily case numbers began to rise dramatically on December 13, one week after public health officials confirmed the arrival of the Omicron variant in the region. They went from 36 new infections and 255 active cases December 6 to 75 new infections and 445 active cases on December 13 to Wednesday's all-time high of 228 infections and 1,143 active cases.
“Since the Omicron variant was first identified in our community, we have seen the case counts climb at a rate we haven’t seen before. The virus spreads easily and very quickly,” Dr. Alex Summers, the region's acting medical officer of health, said in a statement. “We’re asking everyone to take enhanced precautions when they would rather gather with friends and family, and we know that is not what people want to hear. But the situation is unfolding in an unprecedented way and we all need to act together to prevent further spread.”
The health unit stated that it currently has more than 300 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, but have not yet been contacted by public health officials to be advised of their status. On top of that, demand for PCR testing is now exceeding local capacity, meaning symptomatic individuals can't get an appointment for testing.
In light of the strained system, the health unit is now advising everyone who tests positive to self-isolate immediately and not wait to be contacted by public health. These individuals should also tell everyone in their household to isolate themselves. As well, anyone with respiratory symptoms should treat the illness as though it is COVID-19 and isolate, along with their household members, even without having received a positive test.
Even though it is the holiday season, a time when people traditionally gather to celebrate, residents in the city and county are being asked to reduce all indoor contact with others as much as possible.
"Every non-essential indoor interaction with another person increases the risk of getting COVID-19," the health unit reminded.
Currently in Ontario, indoor social gatherings are capped at ten people. Outdoor gathering limits are restricted to 25 people.
Since the pandemic began 21 months ago, there have been a total of 16,490 cases in the region.
No additional COVID-19 related deaths have been reported since last Thursday, leaving the death toll at 257.
Resolved cases rose by 54 on Wednesday to 15,090.
Despite the surging case load, hospitalizations in the area have remained relatively low. The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has 13 patients in its care with the virus, down one from Tuesday. Of those in hospital, five or fewer are listed in intensive care and five or fewer are in Children’s Hospital. The figures are actually lower than at the start of the month, when 22 patients at the LHSC were suffering from COVID-19, nine who were listed in the ICU.
There are 36 hospital employees who have tested positive for the virus.
Southwestern Public Health reported 29 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 6,026. The death toll was unchanged at 110. Resolved cases rose to 5,588. There are now 328 active cases in the two counties. Caressant Care Bonnie Place in St. Thomas is the only local seniors’ facility dealing with an outbreak. There have been 11 resident cases, nine staff cases and two deaths linked to the outbreak.
Ontario's daily COVID-19 case numbers hit a high on Wednesday not seen since late April.
A total of 4,383 new infections were confirmed over the past 24 hours, up from Tuesday’s 3,453 and Monday’s 3,784. Single-day case loads have not been this high in Ontario since April 23 when 4,505 cases were recorded. The seven-day average caseload is now 3,520, up from 1,514 a week ago.
Of the latest 4,382 new cases, 746 were among unvaccinated people, 172 involved partially vaccinated people, 3,243 were fully vaccinated individuals, and 222 had unknown vaccination status.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 661,563.
According to public health officials, there were ten additional deaths related to the virus recorded Wednesday. The official death toll now stands at 10,133.
Hospitalizations in the province stand at 420 COVID-19 positive patients. That’s up eight patients from the previous day. There are 168 people in intensive care, an increase of three since Tuesday, and the number of people on a ventilator is up by three to 108.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Health shows of the patients with COVID-19 on general hospital wards, 137 were unvaccinated, 13 have had one dose, and 109 were fully vaccinated. Of those in the ICU, 86 are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated and 36 have received both doses.
Resolved cases across the province are up by 1,787 to 623,142. That leaves 28,288 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 55,381 COVID-19 tests were processed, up from 49,285 the previous day. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 10.7 per cent.
The province has administered 25,860,049 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. There are 11.3 million people in Ontario who have received both doses of the vaccine and are considered fully inoculated. More than 2.3 million people in the province have received the booster shot.
