COVID-19 continues to claim lives in London and Middlesex County.
The Middlesex London Health Unit confirmed Thursday that a woman in her 70s and two men, one in his 80s and the other in his 90s, succumbed to the virus since Monday. Only the man in his 80s was linked to a long-term care home. So far this month there have been 15 deaths related to COVID-19. The latest deaths increase the local death toll to 463.
Another 189 new cases were recorded in the area over the past three days. The health unit only updates its COVID-19 dashboard twice a week and daily case tallies are believed to be an underestimate of community spread since the provincial government limited eligibility for PCR testing at the end of December. The total number of confirmed cases locally since March 2020 is now 44,396, according to the health unit.
Currently, there are 746 known active cases in the region, down 11 since the start of the week.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) confirmed it currently has 61 inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, down two since Monday.
Of those currently hospitalized, there are 17 being treated for COVID-19 and 44 being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive.
There are currently five or fewer COVID infected patients listed in the intensive care unit, unchanged from Monday. Children’s Hospital has five or fewer inpatients with the virus, however, none are listed in paediatric critical care.
The number of hospital employees who have contracted COVID-19 jumped on Thursday. The LHSC said it has 80 infected staffers, an increase of 21 since the start of the week.
Four level two COVID-19 outbreaks remain ongoing at the LHSC. Two are at University Hospital on the U4 Medicine and U9 Orthopaedics units. The other two outbreaks are at Victoria Hospital on the B92 Orthopaedic Surgery/Trauma and B7 200/PICU units. An outbreak on Victoria Hospital's B7 100 Mental Health unit has been declared over.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, reported 188 more COVID-19 cases this week, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 16,451. One additional COVID-19 death was recorded in the region, increasing the local death toll to 191. Resolved cases rose to 16,031 and there are now 229 known active cases in the two counties.
