For the second day in a row, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the London-area has shot up by more than a dozen.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported 14 more cases on Wednesday, bringing the local total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began to 66. The health unit is no longer offering specific details about the cases, such as age, gender, or transmission source.
There were 15 cases confirmed in the London region on Tuesday, the area's largest single-day jump. However, health officials attributed the dramatic increase to laboratories clearing a backlog of pending tests. There is no word on whether Wednesday's numbers are a result of a similar clearing of tests or a rise in community transmission.
Three people have died from COVID-19 in the London region. Eight others have fully recovered from the virus.
The London Health Sciences Centre said it now has 11 patients battling COVID-19, up from seven reported on Tuesday. Four of those patients are in intensive care -- two at Victoria Hospital and two at University Hospital.
A second person has died from the virus in Elgin County.
Southwestern Public Health confirmed the death of a woman in her 70s on Wednesday. How the woman contracted the virus remains unknown.
Three other cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed, two people in their 80s and a woman in her 40s. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in the Elgin and Oxford region to 15.
Provincially, 426 new coronavirus cases were reported by Ontario's Ministry of Health. The province now has a total number of confirmed cases of 2,392. That number includes 37 COVID-19 related deaths and 689 resolved cases. Twelve outbreaks have been reported in Ontario long-term care homes.
A total of 57,874 people have been tested for the virus in the province.