The Middlesex London Health Unit reported another 20 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths on Wednesday.
Daily case counts since Saturday have been bouncing from single-digits one day, to 20-plus the next. Wednesday's numbers are an increase from eight the previous day, but down from 27 on Monday.
Another case has screened positive as a variant of concern for a total of 22 in London and Middlesex County. There are four confirmed variant cases.
The region's total case count now stands at 6,338.
There has not been a death in the city or county related to COVID-19 since Monday. That leaves the death toll at 185.
Six long-term care and retirement homes in the area continue to deal with outbreaks. The facilities affected include Chartwell Royalcliffe Retirement Residence, Dearness Home, Fox Hollow Retirement Residence, Meadow Park Care Centre, Richmond Woods, and Strathmere Home.
There are now a dozen active COVID-19 cases at schools within the Thames Valley District school board. The most recent case was confirmed at Emily Stowe Public in Norwich. The London District Catholic school board has six active cases. One Thames Valley school - Bonaventure Meadows Public - and two London Catholic schools - Sir Arthur Carty and St. Mark Catholic - have ongoing outbreaks. All schools remain open.
Resolved cases have increased to 6,009, leaving 144 known active cases in the region.
In an effort to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of more people, the health unit announced Tuesday it is delaying second doses for more than 10,000 people by 112 days. A text message or email will be sent to vaccine recipients whose second dose is being rescheduled.
Southwestern Public Health recorded six new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths on Wednesday. That puts Elgin and Oxford counties’ total number of cases up to 2,584 and leaves the death toll at 67. Resolved cases rose to 2,474, leaving 43 active cases between the two counties. There is one new outbreak in the region. A staff member at Arches Transitional Bed Program has tested positive for the virus.
Daily case numbers in Ontario have climbed above 1,300.
According public health officials, 1,316 new infections were confirmed on Wednesday. That is up from 1,185 new cases on Tuesday. The province has logged more than 1,000 daily cases everyday so far this week.
Regions with the highest case counts were Toronto with 428, followed by Peel and York Region with 244 and 149 cases.
The daily epidemiologic summary indicates Ontario had 13 more lab confirmed cases of the U.K. variant, known as B.1.1.7. for a total of 921. There have been no new confirmed cases of the South African variant, known as B.1.351 or the Brazil variant, P.1., leaving the totals unchanged at 39 and 17.
The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 312,428.
Sixteen deaths were reported over the past 24 hours. The province’s death toll is now 7,099.
Ontario’s hospitals are currently dealing with 678 patients with COVID-19. Of those, 281 are in intensive care and 178 are on ventilators.
Resolved cases across the province are up to 294,018. That leaves 11,311 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, more than 54,100 COVID-19 tests were processed, up from 38,063 the previous day. Ontario’s current positivity rate is 2.5 per cent.
The province has administered 978,797 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. A total of 279,204 people in Ontario have received their second dose of the vaccine and are considered fully inoculated.
As a way to get even more shots administered, the province announced roughly 300 pharmacies in select regions of the province will begin rolling out the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to people between the ages of 60 and 64. Areas where pharmacies will begin providing the shot include Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington. Doctor's offices in Hamilton, Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Simcoe-Muskoka, and Peel will also be allowed to give the shot to that age group as of Saturday.
