A man in his 50s and a woman in her 90s have become the London region's first COVID-19 deaths this month.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported the deaths, which are not linked to a long-term care or a retirement home, on Tuesday. Until now, there had not been a COVID-19 related death in the region in more than two weeks. The last death linked to the virus locally was recorded on June 26.
The region's death toll now sits at 228.
Eight new COVID-19 cases were logged on Tuesday in London and Middlesex County. That matches the number of new infections that were reported on Monday. Daily case counts in the area have now been in the single-digits for 11 straight days.
The local total number of cases since the pandemic began is now 12,648.
Recoveries are up by seven to bring the total number of resolved cases to 12,366. There are currently 54 active cases.
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. Seven of those patients are listed in intensive care. The LHSC has fewer than five staffers who have tested positive for the virus.
Another 26 cases have been identified as variants of concern for a total of 3,529. There are 3,363 variants of concern that have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain and 96 have tested positive as the P.1. (Gamma) variant or a sublineage of it. The region has also had 37 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 193 cases that have tested positive for a mutation.
As of Saturday, there have been 559,109 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region, which works out to 77.8 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 46.3.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie has indicated that roughly 20 per cent of area residents who remain unvaccinated are now essentially dealing with a fourth wave of the pandemic. He is urging those individuals to get the shot in order to stop the spread. As of Wednesday, people in need of their first dose will be able to get it without an appointment at any of the health unit's four mass vaccination clinics.
“Getting vaccinated is more important than ever," said Mackie. "The common link we’re seeing among those who are becoming ill and sadly dying from COVID-19 is that they are not vaccinated.”
There are also several walk-in, pop-up clinics planned over the coming weeks. To see the schedule click here.
In Elgin and Oxford counties, there were two new cases reported Tuesday. That brings Southwestern Public Health’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 3,909. There has not been a COVID-19 related death in the region in more than four weeks, leaving the death toll unchanged at 83. Resolved cases rose to 3,812 with 14 known active cases in the two counties remaining. Roughly 78 per cent of area residents have had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 46.9 per cent have received both doses. There are no active outbreaks locally.
Ontario’s daily COVID-19 caseload was below 200 for a fifth straight day.
Public health officials logged 146 new infections on Tuesday, that is up from 114 on Monday.
Toronto had the province’s highest daily number of cases over the past 24 hours with 43, followed by Waterloo Region with 36, and Peel Region with 13.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now stands at 547,409.
The province has confirmed 31 more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the U.K., known as Alpha, for a total of 144,745. The number of cases of the B.1.351 variant first associated with South Africa, known as Beta, is up eight to 1,448. There are 41 new cases involving the P.1. variant first found in Brazil, known as Gamma, increasing the total to 4,859. The total number of cases identified as the B.1.617 variant, Delta, which originated in India went up by 41 to 2,752.
There were seven additional deaths reported Tuesday. The provincial death toll is now 9,258.
There are currently 173 people with COVID-19 being treated at Ontario hospitals, an increase of 31 since Monday. COVID-19 related admissions to the intensive care unit are down by 12 to 192 and there are 123 patients on ventilators.
The number of resolved cases rose by 201 to 536,603. There are currently 1,548 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
In the last 24 hour period, 17,489 COVID-19 tests were processed. That is up from 15,933 the previous day and brings the province’s positivity rate to 0.8 per cent.
To date, the province has administered 17,296,458 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 7 million people having received both shots required to be fully inoculated.
