The Middlesex London Health Unit has recorded another two COVID-19 related deaths since Monday.
Two men, one in his 80s and one in his 90s, are the latest people to succumb to the virus in the area, the health unit said on Thursday. The younger of the two men was associated with a retirement home, while the older one was linked to a long-term care facility. Their deaths increase the local death toll to 425. Thirteen of those deaths have occurred in August alone.
The health unit also said there have been 209 new cases confirmed in the area since Monday. The health unit now only updates its COVID-19 dashboard twice a week and daily case tallies are believed to be an underestimate of community spread since the provincial government limited eligibility for PCR testing at the end of December. The total number of confirmed cases locally since March 2020 is now 41,553, according to the health unit.
The number of resolved cases is up to 40,421. Currently, there are 707 known active cases in the region, up from 655 a week ago.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) confirmed it currently has 43 inpatients with COVID-19 in its care, unchanged from Monday. At this time last week, there were 44 people with COVID admitted to the LHSC. Of those currently hospitalized, there are 11 being treated for COVID-19 and 32 being treated for other ailments but have also tested positive.
There are currently five or fewer COVID infected patients listed in the intensive care unit, unchanged from Monday. Children’s Hospital also has five or fewer inpatients with the virus, however, none are listed in paediatric critical care.
The number of hospital employees who have contracted COVID-19 went up on Thursday. The LHSC said it has 121 infected staffers, an increase of 31 since Monday.
There have been two new level two COVID-19 outbreaks declared at University Hospital, for a total of four active outbreaks. The outbreaks are located on the U4 Medicine, 4TU-Transplant, U5 Cardiology, and 6IP Cardiac Surgery units. An outbreak that was previously reported on the U7 CNS unit at the hospital has since been resolved.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for Elgin and Oxford counties, reported 147 more COVID-19 cases this week, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 15,062. There has not been a COVID-19 death recorded in the region for one week, leaving the local death toll at 174. Resolved cases rose to 14,691 and there are now 197 known active cases in the two counties.
