COVID-19: Middlesex-London Health Unit reports 8 cases, 5 recoveries

Jump to: Hospitalizations – Outbreaks – Vaccinations and testing – Ontario – Elgin and Oxford – Huron and Perth – Sarnia and Lambton

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On Tuesday, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported eight new COVID-19 cases, bringing the local total to 12,752.

That follows three cases on Monday, five on Sunday, and seven on Saturday.

The health unit also recorded five more recoveries, for a total of 12,473. There are at least 50 active cases in the region.

The number of deaths is unchanged at 229, the most recent reported July 15, while the number of cases with a variant of concern climbed by seven to 3,569.

The breakdown of known variant cases is as follows:

• 3,379 cases of the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), first identified in the U.K.
• 110 cases of the Gamma (P.1) variant, first identified in Brazil
• 74 cases of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, first identified in India
• 2 cases of the Beta (B.1.351) variant, first identified in South Africa
• 1  case of the Kappa (B.1.617.1) variant, first identified in India
• 1 case of the Zeta (P.2) variant, first identified in Brazil

There is also one case listed only as B.1.617 and one case listed as B.1.617.3.

A total of 11,530 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in London since the pandemic began, while 374 have been in Middlesex Centre and 334 in Strathroy-Caradoc.

Further information can be found on the health unit’s Summary of COVID-19 Cases in Middlesex-London page.

Hospitalizations

The London Health Sciences Centre says it is caring for eight inpatients with COVID-19, up from six Monday, with five or fewer of those patients in the intensive care unit, as of Monday.

In an effort to protect the privacy of patients, LHSC only provides specific numbers when there are more than five.

LHSC is not reporting any patients from outside of the region.

Fewer than five LHSC employees have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase from zero on Monday.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, the organization is reporting no cases involving patients, residents or health-care workers.

Institutional outbreaks

LHSC reported an outbreak at Victoria Hospital’s B7-200 Adult Inpatient Mental Health/PICU unit on Monday involving fewer than five cases.

Vaccinations and testing

The MLHU released updated vaccination data on Tuesday as of the end of day, July 24.

The health unit says 643,013 doses have been administered in the region.

Of residents age 12 and older, 80.1 per cent have had at least one dose while 62.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The health unit is also now accepting walk-ins for first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine at its mass vaccination clinics from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Hours and days of operation at many of the mass clinics will reduce starting next month. Full details can be found on our website.

Information on how to book and cancel appointments can be found on the health unit’s website.

Information on local pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the province’s website.

Several pop-up walk-in clinics are scheduled throughout the region. A full list can be found on the health unit’s website.

Anyone looking to be tested for COVID-19 can find information about locations of testing sites on the health unit’s website.

Ahead of the holiday weekend, officials say the Carling COVID-19 Assessment Centre will operate as usual on Monday, Aug. 2, but telephone booking will be unavailable that day.

The test positivity rate in the region was 1.1 per cent for the week of July 11, up from 1.0 per cent for the week of July 4.

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Ontario

Ontario added 129 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the provincial case total to 549,576.

According to Tuesday’s report, 37 cases were recorded in Toronto, 22 in Peel Region and 12 in Hamilton. All other health units reported fewer than 10 cases.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,321 as five more deaths were recorded.

Roughly 66.7 per cent of those age 12 and older are fully vaccinated, while 79.8 per cent have had at least one dose.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health reported two new cases and one recovery on Tuesday.

The total case count stands at 3,937 with 15 active cases, 3,838 recoveries and 84 deaths.

Of the 15 active cases, nine are in Woodstock and four are in St. Thomas. Per-municipality case counts can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

One person is currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to SWPH, but is not in the ICU.

The number of variant of concern cases increased by one to 865, with 762 of those listed as the Alpha variant, 52 the Delta variant and 51 the Beta variant.

There are no active institutional outbreaks reported in the region.

The region’s test positivity rate was 1.1 per cent for the week of July 11, down slightly from 1.2 per cent for the week of July 4.

As of July 25, SWPH says 78.2 per cent of its residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 59.7 per cent have had two doses.

As of July 19, walk-in appointments are available at all of SWPH’s mass vaccination clinics.

Appointments can be booked or re-booked through the online booking portal or by phone at 1-800-922-0096 ext. 9.

Anyone who re-books an earlier appointment should make sure they cancel their existing appointment. Appointments at SWPH’s Tillsonburg, Woodstock or St. Thomas mass immunization clinics can be cancelled online.

The health unit is also still encouraging people to add their names to a same-day vaccination list.

Several pharmacies in the region are also continuing to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Huron and Perth

Global News is awaiting Huron Perth Public Health’s COVID-19 data for Tuesday.

On Monday, HPPH added one new case and seven recoveries since its last update Friday.

The region’s total case count stood at 1,937 with eight active cases, 1,872 recoveries and 57 deaths.

There were 345 cases confirmed to involve a variant of concern.

Of the eight active cases, three are in Stratford. Case counts by municipality can be found on the health unit’s dashboard.

HPPH reported that one person was hospitalized with COVID-19.

There were no active institutional outbreaks reported in the region but one unidentified workplace outbreak is ongoing.

The region’s test positivity rate was 0.9 per cent for the week of July 11, up from 0.6 per cent for the week of July 4.

HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Tuesday, 77.2 per cent of those aged 12 and older have had at least one vaccine dose, while 62.4 per cent are fully vaccinated. Among those 18 and older, 78.4 per cent have had at least one dose while 65.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Information on vaccine eligibility and booking an appointment can be found on HPPH’s website.

Sarnia and Lambton

Lambton Public Health reported no new cases on Tuesday.

The total case count stands at 3,633 with two active cases, 3,563 listed as recovered and 68 deaths.

The most recent death was reported Monday and involved someone in their 70s.

The number of confirmed variant of concern cases remains unchanged at 675.

According to Bluewater Health, there are currently no patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Lambton Public Health is not reporting any active outbreaks in the region.

The region’s test positivity rate was just 0.34 per cent for the week of July 11, down from 0.95 per cent for the week of July 4.

As of Tuesday, 75.6 per cent of adults have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 64.9 per cent are fully vaccinated.

LPH is asking everyone who has already received a first dose to book their second dose appointment as soon as possible as the region prepares to wind down mass immunization clinics next month.

Residents who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.

Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.

Some pharmacies are also continuing to offer Pfizer or Moderna shots.

— with files from Global News’ Kelly Wang and Gabby Rodrigues