COVID-19: MLHU reports 2 deaths, LHSC caring for 22 COVID-19 patients in ICU | Globalnews.ca

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

The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported two deaths and 70 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, compared with five deaths and 90 cases a week ago.

The deaths reported Tuesday involved a woman in her 70s associated with a long-term care home and a man in his 80s with no association with long-term care or retirement homes.

LHSC is caring for 119 inpatients with COVID-19, 22 of whom are in adult critical care.

Hospitalizations

As noted, LHSC is caring for 119 COVID-19 inpatients, with 22 inpatients in adult critical care. Last Tuesday, there were 149 COVID-19 inpatients with 28 in adult ICUs.

Of the 119, there were five or fewer in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care, compared with five or fewer COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital with zero in critical care last Tuesday.

Of the 119 patients, 74 are being treated for COVID-19 while 45 others in hospital have incidental COVID-19 infections (meaning they were admitted for another reason).

Among staff, there are 141 cases, down from 205 a week ago.

St. Joseph’s Health Care London reported seven cases among patients or residents in its care as of Tuesday and 57 health-care workers with COVID-19.

Among the seven patient/resident cases, one is at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care, five are at Parkwood Institute Main Building and one is at Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care.

Cases and testing

As mentioned, the MLHU reported two deaths on Tuesday involving a man in his 80s with no association with a long-term care or retirement home and a woman in her 70s associated with a long-term care home.

The deaths bring February’s total to at least 17.

The MLHU also reported 70 cases Tuesday, compared with 90 a week ago. Note that due to changes in eligibility for PCR testing, daily case counts are not considered a fully reliable reflection of COVID-19 activity in the region.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit says individuals who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should consider themselves to be positive for COVID-19 and self-isolate.

The health unit has provided information on what to do if you develop symptoms, test positive on a rapid test or PCR test or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive.

In total, there have been 30,230 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, including 1,444 active cases (a decrease of 147), 28,257 resolved cases (unchanged) and 317 deaths (an increase of two).

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 23 was 18.9 per cent, down from 21.3 per cent the week before.

1:45
Terminal cancer patient speaks out against COVID-19 restrictions

Outbreaks

As of Monday, LHSC was reporting the following outbreaks:

• • University Hospital
    • U4 North East and East Corridors, General Medicine, declared Jan. 25, 14 patient cases and nine staff cases
    • U10 Subacute Medicine and Palliative Care, declared Jan. 15, involving 10 patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
    • A9 Inpatients 100 and 200 Corridors, declared Jan. 11, involving 38 patient cases and 11 staff cases
  • Victoria Hospital
    • D6-100 – Acute Medicine, declared Jan. 25, five or fewer patient cases and five or fewer staff cases
      

The MLHU has declared an outbreak at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital in 1S as of Feb. 2.

Additionally, the MLHU is reporting the following institutional outbreaks:

• Babcock Community Care Centre, facility-wide, declared Jan. 31
• Chartwell Riverside Retirement Residence, facility-wide, declared Jan. 21
• Chelsey Park, third floor-A Wing, second and fourth floor, declared Jan. 18
• Dearness Home, 3E, declared Feb. 3
• Extendicare, first, second and third floor, declared Dec. 24
• Henley Place LTC Residence, Gibbons, Springbank and Harris, declared Dec. 29
• Manor Village at London, 4E, declared Jan. 31
• Meadow Park Care Centre, Blue Unit, declared Jan. 1
• Oneida Long Term Care Home, facility-wide, declared Jan. 28
• Queens Village, lower level and second floor, declared Jan. 25; facility-wide declared Jan. 28
• Village of Glendale Crossing, facility-wide, declared Dec. 25
• Waverley Mansion, basement floor, declared Feb. 3

Vaccinations

The MLHU provided updated vaccination data on Tuesday, covering up to the end of day Feb. 5.

As of that time, 90.2 per cent of residents aged five and older had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, up from 89.9 per cent the week prior. Two-dose coverage for that cohort sits at 85.9 per cent, up a full percentage point from 84.9 per cent.

The percentage of people aged five and older who’ve received third doses is 47.7 per cent, up from 46.1 per cent the week before. Note that those under 18 are not currently eligible for a third dose.

First-dose coverage for those aged five to 11 is 58.3 per cent, up from 57.3 per cent.

The MLHU’s vaccination status tab of its COVID-19 dashboard continues to state that “due to the high number of reported cases, the assessment of vaccination status is delayed.”

The MLHU provided data showing the distribution of cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions since Dec. 14, 2021 by age, based on vaccine status from no doses to three doses. It can be found on the “vaccination status” tab of the health unit’s Summary of COVID-19 Cases in Middlesex-London page.

On the health unit’s website, residents can find information on pop-up clinics, mass vaccination clinics and pharmacies, as well as guidance for anyone vaccinated outside of the province or country, transportation support for those in need and more.

Ontario

The province reported 2,254 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Tuesday, with 474 in ICUs. The figures mark an increase of 99 in hospitalizations but a decrease of 12 in the ICUs.

Of the 2,254 people in hospital with COVID-19, 56 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 44 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19. Among those in ICUs, 82 per cent were admitted because of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 2,092 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, though that is an underestimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to testing restrictions.

The death toll in the province has risen to 11,878 as 42 more virus-related deaths were added. The deaths were from the past 26 days, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health’s COVID-19 cases dashboard is only updated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, barring holidays.

On Monday, SWPH reported one death, details of which were not available.

SWPH reported 29 hospitalizations with five inpatients in the ICU.

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 23 was 15.9 per cent, down from 17.7 per cent the week prior.

As for cases, SWPH reported:

• 10,583 cases (an increase of 139 from Friday)
• 521 active cases (a decrease of 84 from Friday)
• 9,919 resolved cases (an increase of 494 from Friday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome)
• 143 total deaths to date (an increase of one from Friday)
  

There are active outbreaks at the following long-term homes, retirement homes and hospitals:

• Aylmer Retirement Residence, Aylmer, declared Jan. 24, involving one resident case and two staff cases.
• Valleyview Nursing Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 23, 2021, involving 17 resident cases, 34 staff cases and one death.
• Woodingford Lodge, Woodstock, declared Jan. 27, involving three resident cases and four staff cases.
• Caressant Care Bonnie Place Nursing Home, St. Thomas, declared Dec. 30 and involving 31 resident cases, 25 staff cases and one death.
  
• Seasons Retirement Home, St. Thomas, declared Jan. 25 and involving two resident cases and two staff cases.
• Chartwell Aylmer, Aylmer, declared Jan. 2 and involving seven resident cases and 16 staff cases.
• Arches Transitional Bed Program, Woodstock, declared Jan. 10 and involving 18 resident cases, 16 staff cases and one death.
• Cedarview Living Retirement, Woodstock, declared Jan. 13 and involving 75 resident cases and nine staff cases.
• Metcalfe Gardens Retirement Home, St. Thomas, declared Jan. 13 and involving 26 resident cases, nine staff cases and one death.
• Beattie Manor Retirement Residency, Wardsville, declared Jan. 17 and involving 16 resident cases and two staff cases.
  
• Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving 11 patient cases, two staff cases, one death and one case under investigation.
• Maple Manor Nursing Home, Tillsonburg, declared Jan. 18 and involving 42 resident cases and 17 staff cases.
• Elgin Manor, St. Thomas, declared Jan. 20 and involving 23 resident cases and 16 staff cases.

As of Feb. 3, 79.2 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 83.1 per cent have had at least one dose.

Further information on where and how to get vaccinated can be found on the health unit’s website.

The health unit encouraged people to join its Same-Day Vaccination List, which offers any leftover doses due to cancellations or no-shows.

As of Monday, all COVID-19 vaccination clinics in St. Thomas, Woodstock and Tillsonburg accept walk-ins.

1:11
‘This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians:’ Trudeau

Huron and Perth

On Tuesday, Huron Perth Public Health reported eight people were in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, two were considered active cases.

Last Tuesday, HPPH reported seven people in hospital, with three of those cases considered “active.”

For the week of Jan. 23, the test positivity rate was 11.5 per cent, down from 11.7 per cent the week before.

In total, HPPH reported 5,289 total cases (an increase of 20 from Monday) and 90 deaths to date (unchanged).

HPPH reported 591 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of five from Monday.

There are six active outbreaks reported by HPPH, including at the following long-term care or retirement homes:

• Braemar Nursing Home, North Huron, declared Jan. 12 and involving 42 residents and 17 staff cases.
• Huronview, Huron East, declared Jan. 21 and involving five resident cases and nine staff cases.
• Kingsway Lodge, St. Marys, declared Jan. 3 and involving 19 resident cases and 17 staff cases.
• Queensway Nursing Home, Bluewater, declared Jan. 27 and involving 32 resident cases and 12 staff cases.

HPPH is also reporting two hospital outbreaks: Clinton Public Hospital in Central Huron, declared Feb. 3, involving two patients and two staff; and South Huron Hospital in South Huron, declared Jan. 27, involving 17 patients and eight staff members.

As of Feb. 7, 84.1 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 80 per cent are fully vaccinated. Third-dose coverage stands at 50.3 per cent of those five and older, though those under the age of 18 are not eligible for a third dose.

Information on how and where to get a vaccine can be found on the health unit’s website.

3:22
Vitriol, threats against journalists arise amid disruptive convoy protests

Sarnia and Lambton

Bluewater Health reported 17 patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19, compared with 37 a week ago. Of those 17, four were in the ICU.

Lambton Public Health is reporting the average ICU occupancy was at 67 per cent the week of Jan. 30, unchanged from the week of Jan. 23.

The test positivity rate for the week of Jan. 23 was 21.9 per cent, down from 30.8 per cent the week before.

On Tuesday, Lambton Public Health reported:

• 9,205 total cases (an increase of 34)
• 214 active cases (a decrease of 53)
• 8,877 resolved cases (an increase of 108)
• 114 deaths to date (an increase of two)

No further details were provided about the two deaths reported Tuesday.

LPH reported seven active outbreaks:

• North Lambton Lodge long-term care home in Forest, declared Feb. 7 and involving fewer than five resident cases and fewer than five staff cases.
• Huron House Boys Home Congregate Living in Brights Grove, declared Feb. 5 and involving fewer than five residents and fewer than five staff members.
• Fiddick’s Nursing Home long-term care home in Petrolia, declared Feb. 3 and involving 18 residents and five staff members.
• Afton Park Place long-term care home in Sarnia, declared Jan. 23 and involving fewer than five resident cases and fewer than five staff cases.
• Watford Quality Care long-term care home in Watford, declared Jan. 5 and involving 20 resident cases and 15 staff cases.
• Trillium Villa long-term care home in Sarnia, declared Jan. 3 and involving 60 residents and 42 staff/caregivers.
• Unidentified workplace, declared Jan. 26 and involving eight cases.

Among area residents aged five and older, 82 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, 79 per cent have had two doses and 47 per cent have had a third dose. Note that those under 18 are not currently eligible for a third dose.

Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments or find information on vaccine availability at pharmacies using the health unit’s registration page. People can also contact the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.

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

— with files from Gabby Rodrigues and Sawyer Bogdan