MIDDLESEX CENTER, ONT. – The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 71 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, pushing the region past the 10,000 case mark.
There have now been a total of 10,063 cases with 8,981 resolved and 885 active cases left, which has continued to decline in recent days.
A new death has also been reported, a woman in her sixties not associated with long-term care or a retirement home, bringing the total death toll to 197.
In the meantime, the number of variant cases has increased to a total of 1,568 cases, with the vast majority being variant B.1.1.7 from the UK. Another 256 cases are mutation-positive.
The last reported weekly percent positivity for the region (for the week ended April 17) was 7.1 percent, compared with 9.3 percent for the province over the same period.
During a brief Monday, Dr. Chris Mackie, Medical Health Officer at MLHU, said falling test numbers are part of the reason for the falling case numbers.
“When you look at percent positivity, it really doesn’t depend on the same level of testing. In fact, percent positivity increases in the province.”
By the end of the day on Monday, the region had administered more than 150,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
There are active outbreaks in five schools in the area, two daycare centers, and seven Western University dormitories, although very few additional cases have been reported in recent days.
The London Health Sciences Center (LHSC) has 95 inpatients who are positive for COVID-19, including 38 in intensive care. Seven employees are also COVID-19 positive.
During a virtual briefing Monday, Carol Young-Ritchie, LHSC’s executive vice president, chief clinical officer and chief nursing officer, said they are expecting more patients out of town.
“In general, we expect to expect between two and six patients each day and we probably will for the next week. We are continuing to review our ICU capacity and make sure we are ready for these patients. “
Young-Ritchie added that they continue to have “consistently high” patient numbers in the area.
Here are the last available numbers of other local health authorities:
-
Elgin-Oxford – 20 new, 150 active, 3,360 total, 3,134 resolved, 76 deaths, 367 variants
-
Haldimand-Norfolk – five new, 291 active, 2,212 total, 1,875 resolved, 41 deaths
-
Huron-Perth – no new, 27 active, 1,557 total, 1,478 resolved, 52 deaths, 75 variants
-
Sarnia-Lambton – seven new, 69 active, 3,198 total, 3,073 resolved, 56 deaths, 343 variants
-
Gray-Bruce – five new, 94 active, 1,170 total, 1,071 resolved, five deaths, 235 variants
3,265 new infections were reported across Ontario as of Tuesday, but the percent positivity remains high at 10.2 percent.
