The Middlesex London Health Unit is reporting its second COVID-19 related death of the week as active cases of the virus in the region fell below 50 for the first time this year.
A man in his 80s who was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home is the latest person to succumb to COVID-19 locally. The health unit did not release any other information about the man, including whether he had been vaccinated. His death is the second related to the virus this week. On Tuesday, the health unit reported a man in his 70s with COVID-19 had died. The region's death toll is now up to 225.
Just four new COVID-19 cases were logged on Friday, down from five the previous day. This is the third time this week daily case numbers have been below five. Three new cases were recorded on Monday and Tuesday before a one day increase of ten came on Wednesday.
The region’s total case count since the pandemic began is now 12,526.
The number of resolved cases rose by 9 since Thursday for a total of 12,255. There are currently 46 known active cases in the region. London and Middlesex County have not had an active caseload this low since last fall.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has a total of ten COVID-19 inpatients. Of those, fewer than five are listed in intensive care. There were fewer than five out of region patients in acute care and intensive care. An outbreak continues but has not expanded on University Hospital’s 8TU transplant unit. There are fewer than five patients and staff members connected to the outbreak who have contracted the virus.
The number of cases involving variants of concern identified in the area held steady at 3,442. There have been 3,345 cases involving the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant that originated in the U.K., 87 cases of the P.1 (Gamma) variant from Brazil, including one sublineage, two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) variant from South Africa, and eight cases of the B.1.617 (Delta) variant, originally found in India.
As of Thursday, anyone who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the region on or before May 30 was eligible to fast-track their second dose appointment. The province has since announced that as of Monday, all adults over the age of 18 who received a first dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer of Moderna) will be allowed to rebook their second shot ahead of schedule. Appointments in Middlesex London can be booked online at www.covidvaccinelm.ca or by calling 226-289-3560 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, the number of new cases remained below three for a second straight day. Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for the region, said there were two new COVID-19 infections recorded Friday. That is the same number that was reported on Thursday. The region’s total number of cases is now 3,871 with 3,763 resolved. The death toll was unchanged at 83. Currently, there are 25 active cases in the two counties. As of Tuesday, 75 per cent of local residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 18.7 per cent have been given both doses.
The number of new COVID-19 cases across the province has now been under 300 for five consecutive days.
Public health officials confirmed 256 new infections across the province on Friday. That is down from 296 on Thursday and nearly the same as the 255 on Wednesday.
Waterloo had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 39, followed by Peel with 38, and Toronto with 36.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 543,571.
There have been another 110 new cases of the variant originating from the U.K. in Ontario. That brings the province’s total number of B.1.1.7. (Alpha) cases to 143,035. Cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) variant are up five with 1,161 total and P.1 (Gamma) variants are unchanged at 4,270. The number of new cases involving the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant is up by 24 for a total of 1,080.
There were two additional deaths reported over the past 24 hours. The provincial death toll is now 9,101.
Hospitalizations in Ontario are down by nine with 275 COVID-19 positive patients admitted. There are 284 patients in intensive care and 202 are on ventilators. ICU numbers include patients who previously tested positive for COVID-19 but have since recovered and remain due to other complications.
The number of resolved cases rose by 293 to 531,571. There are currently 2,899 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 26,561 COVID-19 tests were processed, down from 29,500 the previous day. Ontario’s current positivity rate remains low at 1.3 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 13,568,209 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 3.76 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated. That works out to more than 76 per cent of Ontarians having received a first dose of the vaccine and over 30 per cent fully immunized.
