Daily COVID-19 cases back up into double-digits

A healthcare worker performs coronavirus swab on a patient. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo /Noiel
A healthcare worker performs coronavirus swab on a patient. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo /Noiel
By July 29, 2021 1:43pm

The London region is reporting its first double-digit COVID-19 case increase in nearly a week.

The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 12 new infections on Thursday, up from just two the previous day. Wednesday’s daily case numbers were the lowest to be recorded locally since June 26. So far this month, there have been six days in which the number of new infections recorded was above 9.

The total number of cases locally since the pandemic began is now 12,765, according to the health unit.

It has now been two weeks since a COVID-19 related death was reported in London or Middlesex County. That leaves the death toll unchanged at 229.

Hospitalizations in the area are down by one with seven COVID-19 patients admitted to the London Health Sciences Centre. There are currently five COVID-19 patients listed in intensive care and fewer than five staffers have tested positive. Victoria Hospital’s adult inpatient mental health unit continues to deal with an outbreak with fewer than five patients linked.

Area medical institutions, seniors’ facilities, and day care centres remain outbreak free. There have been six recoveries reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of resolved cases up to 12,482. Currently, there are 54 active cases in the region.

The number of cases involving variants of concern in London and Middlesex County has gone up by two to 3,594. The majority of variants identified in the area are the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) strain from the U.K. However, the two latest variants of concern to be identified were of the Delta variant for a total of 93.

The health unit has issued a call to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated residents to consider getting a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shot. There are currently about 21,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine that will expire in two weeks if not administered.

“We have an abundance of vaccine that is safe, effective, and ready to be put in arms right now, but because it is no longer frozen, we need to make sure it is used by August 12,” Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said in a statement. “We want as many people as possible to be protected against COVID-19 as quickly as we can and this supply of Moderna allows us to do that.”

Seven new COVID-19 cases were logged Thursday in Elgin and Oxford counties, up from two on Wednesday. Southwestern Public Health’s total caseload has now increased to 3,946. The death toll was held at 84, with no additional COVID-19 deaths reported. The total number of resolved cases stands at 3,844 and there are 18 known active cases locally.

Provincially, the daily number of COVID-19 cases rose back above 200 for the first time in three weeks..

Public health officials said there were 218 new cases on Thursday. That is up from the 158 infections logged on Wednesday, 127 on Tuesday and 119 on Monday.

Regions with the most new cases over the past 24 hours were Toronto and Peel Region with 38 each, Hamilton with 25, and Waterloo Region with 19.

The province’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 549,952.

According to the province’s daily epidemiologic summary, Ontario identified 34 new cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant over the past 24 hours for a total of 145,508. Two more cases of the P.1 (Gamma) variant were found for a total of 5,161, while the number of new cases of the B.1.351 (Beta) variant was unchanged with 1,492 total. There were 377 new cases involving the B.1.617 (Delta) variant for a total of 4,421.

Three deaths were reported on Thursday, to increase the province’s death toll to 9,328.

At hospitals in Ontario, there are 12 fewer people with COVID-19 who have been admitted. Of those in hospital, 121 are in intensive care and 86 are on ventilators.

The number of resolved cases rose by 169 to 539,200. There are currently 1,424 known active cases of the virus in Ontario.

In the last 24 hour period, 19,425 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is now 1.3 per cent.

The province has administered more than 19.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Wednesday night. There are more than 8 million adults in Ontario who have now received the second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully inoculated.