London and Middlesex County are marking a fourth consecutive day of single-digit daily COVID-19 cases.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged four new infections over the past 24 hours. That is down from six Monday and five each day Sunday and Saturday. New cases have only climbed into double-digits once this month, on July 2 when 13 infections were reported.
The total number of cases in the area since the pandemic began has increased to 12,599.
There has not been any additional COVID-19 related deaths locally since June 25. The death toll remains at 226. Seven recoveries were recorded over the last 24 hours to bring the total number of resolved cases to 12,319.
The London Health Sciences Centre’s (LHSC) is reporting a slight increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 in its care. Currently, there are 11 COVID-positive patients admitted to the hospital, up from nine on Monday. Fewer than five of those patients are listed in intensive care.
Another five cases have been identified as variants of concern for a total of 3,487. There are 3,359 variants of concern that have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain and 97 have tested positive as the P.1. (Gamma) variant or a sublineage of it. The region has also had 29 cases of the B.1.617 (Delta) variant or a sublineage of it, and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) strain. There are 189 cases that have tested positive for a mutation.
As of Saturday, there have been 502,545 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 76.7 per cent of all area residents aged 12 and older having received at least one dose. The percentage of the local population to receive both doses is currently 34.8.
The health unit noted the latest vaccination figures show a significant increase over last week and continue to encourage those who have not fast-tracked their second dose to do so immediately. Appointments can be booked online at www.covidvaccinelm.ca or by phone at 226-289-3560.
#TwoDoseSummer ? here we come! More than 37% of adults 18+ are now double vaxxed. That’s a huge increase since last week - let’s keep it going!
If you haven’t already, re-book an earlier 2nd dose appointment ASAP. Still lots of appointments available in #Middlesex-#LdnOnt. /1— MLHealthUnit (@MLHealthUnit) July 6, 2021
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there were three new cases reported Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health's total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 3,891. There has not been a COVID-19 related death in the region in more than three weeks, leaving the death toll unchanged at 83. Resolved cases rose to 3,791 with 17 known active cases in the two counties remaining. Roughly 76.8 per cent of area residents have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 35.4 per cent have received both doses. There are no active outbreaks locally.
Another data cleanup is making Ontario's daily COVID-19 case count appear higher than it actually is.
Public health officials logged 164 new infections on Tuesday, marking the second straight day provincial numbers have been below 200. On Monday, there were 170 new cases reported.
Also included with Tuesday's numbers were over six dozen cases from last year.
"Due to a data review and cleanup, Toronto Public Health is reporting 80 cases from 2020, bringing today's total to 244 cases," Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 32 (that goes up to 112 with the cases from the data cleanup), followed by Peel with 26, and Waterloo with 25.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 546,217.
The province has confirmed 34 more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the U.K., known as Alpha, for a total of 143,989. The number of cases of the B.1.351 variant first associated with South Africa, known as Beta, is unchanged with 1,415 total. There are also no new cases involving the P.1. variant first found in Brazil, known as Gamma, leaving the total at 4,632. The total number of cases identified as the B.1.617 variant, Delta, which originated in India went up by eight to 2,049.
There were nine additional deaths reported Tuesday. The provincial death toll is now 9,224.
There are currently 202 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, an increase of 47 since Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are down by two to 226 and there are 161 patients on ventilators.
The number of resolved cases rose by 319 to 535,110. There are currently 1,883 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, more than 28,755 COVID-19 tests were processed. That is up from 12,949 the previous day and brings the province’s positivity rate to 1.1 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 15,921,585 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 5.8 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
