The number of COVID-19 cases in the London region has risen by only one for the second day in a row.
The Middlesex London Health Unit reported the lone newly confirmed case on Thursday. It brings the area's total since the start of the pandemic to 612. Every day this week the number of new cases reported daily has been no higher than three, with none of the cases linked to long-term care or retirement facilities.
An outbreak of COVID-19 previously declared at Peoplecare Oak Crossing is now over, public health officials confirmed Thursday. That leaves just one outbreak at Westmount Gardens.
The number of COVID-19 related deaths in the London-area has not risen since June 12, leaving the death toll at 57.
Four more people infected with the virus have now recovered, increasing the city and county's resolved case count to 491.
Southwestern Public health, the health unit that represents Elgin and Oxford counties, reported no new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 or additional deaths over the past 24 hours. That area’s total number of cases stands at 83, with four deaths related to the virus. All but six of the people who tested positive in the area have since recovered, with one more person being given the all-clear since Wednesday.
Provincially, public health officials reported 189 new cases of the virus on Thursday. It is the second day in a row new cases have been below 200.
"Locally, 27 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 10 of them reporting no new cases at all as we gradually reopen the province," Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted.
Windsor-Essex, with the exception of Leamington and Kingsville, was given the green light to enter Stage 2 of the Ontario government's reopening plan on Thursday. It was among the regions to report 10 or fewer new cases since Wednesday.
The bulk of the new cases were in the GTA, with Toronto reporting 58 and Peel region recording 50. Both Toronto and Peel were allowed to enter Stage 2 on Wednesday.
A total of 34,205 people in Ontario have tested positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak began, 29,528 of whom have since recovered. That is an increase of 192 resolved cases.
There were 10 additional deaths in the province over the past 24 hours, increasing the death toll to 2,641.
The number of infected people in Ontario hospitals continues to decrease, with 270 people in the facilities including 69 listed in the intensive care unit.
The number of Ontarians to be tested for the virus rose to 1,263,534, with 27,511 tests conducted since Wednesday.
