COVID-19: LHSC has 22 COVID inpatients, MLHU reports 40 cases

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

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre reported Tuesday that it was caring for 22 inpatients with COVID-19, an increase of one from the day before.

Of those, five or fewer are in adult critical care or intensive care, a figure unchanged.

LHSC says five or fewer of its COVID-19 inpatients are in Children’s Hospital, while zero are in pediatric critical care, also unchanged.

Of the 22 inpatients with COVID-19, 12 are being treated for COVID-19 while 10 are being treated for something other than COVID-19 but were found to have an incidental infection.

The organization says at least 167 staff were positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, up eight from Monday.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, there are 76 health-care workers with active cases of COVID-19 and one patient or resident case, at Parkwood Institute Main Building.

Cases and testing

On Tuesday, the MLHU reported zero deaths and 40 new lab-confirmed cases.

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 most recent death was reported Saturday and involved a woman in her 80s who wasn’t linked with a long-term care facility and who was unvaccinated. The health unit says there have been nine deaths reported so far this month in the region.

The health unit says there have been 33,212 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. At least 644 are active (a decrease of 48) while 32,212 have resolved (an increase of 268). A total of 356 deaths have been reported.

According to the health unit, the region’s test positivity rate for the week of March 6 was 17.5 per cent, up sharply from the revised 11.5 per cent a week prior. This also marks the highest the rate has been since the end of January.

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.

Outbreaks

LHSC says one outbreak remains active at University Hospital, covering the entire floor of its U8 General Surgery. The outbreak, declared Feb. 28, involves at least 13 patients and 15 staff cases.

LHSC updates its outbreak data on Wednesdays unless an outbreak is declared or resolved.

The MLHU is also reporting the following active institutional outbreaks:

Chelsey Park, fourth floor – A, B and C wings, declared March 4Chelsey Park Retirement Community, facility-wide, declared March 4Dearness Home, 5E, declared March 20Longworth Retirement Residence, first and second floors, declared March 17Middlesex Health Alliance (Four Counties – acute care nursing unit), declared March 12

Vaccinations

The MLHU released updated vaccination data on Tuesday, covering up to the end of day March 19.

As of that time, the health unit says 90.9 per cent of residents age five and older have had at least one dose, up from 90.8 per cent a week prior. Two-dose coverage for those five and older is not 87.9 per cent, up from 87.7 per cent.

For third doses, 50.8 per cent of people five and older have received a booster, up from 50.5 per cent a week earlier. Note that those aged 12 to 17 only became eligible for a third dose as of Feb. 18 and those under 12 are still not eligible.

For children aged five to 11, first-dose coverage stands at 60.6 per cent, up from 60.1 per cent a week earlier, while 46 per cent have had two doses, up from 44.4 per cent.

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Further information on vaccination in the MLHU’s region, as well as other COVID-19-related information, can be found on the health unit’s website.

Ontario

The province reported 639 people in hospital with COVID on Tuesday, with 179 in ICUs, an increase of 88 hospitalizations but a decrease of two in ICUs. A week ago, there were 688 hospitalizations with 220 cases in ICUs.

Of the 639 in hospital, 46 per cent were admitted because of COVID while the rest attended for another reason but ended up testing positive. Among those in the ICU, 71 per cent were admitted because of COVID.

Ontario also reported 1,447 new cases but that’s an underestimate of the true widespread transmission due to restrictions on COVID-19 testing.

Seven more virus-related deaths were added for a pandemic total of 12,343.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health issues updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, barring holidays. However, vaccination data was updated on Tuesday.

The health unit reported 60 additional lab-confirmed cases on Monday and no new deaths. The most recent death was reported Wednesday involving a man in his 90s from Oxford County.

There were six COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, an increase of four from Friday. Two of the hospitalized individuals are in intensive care.

The test positivity rate for the week of March 6 was 15.2 per cent, up from 10.4 per cent the week prior. Updated figures are expected this week.

SWPH reported on Monday.

11,669 (an increase of 59 from Friday. SWPH notes one previously confirmed case was removed from the total following data cleaning)203 active cases (a decrease of 22)11,313 resolved cases (an increase of 81; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome)153 total deaths to date (unchanged)

Health unit officials say there is one active institutional outbreak in the region, located at Chartwell Oxford Gardens in Woodstock. The outbreak, declared March 2, is linked to at least 10 resident cases and three staff cases.

As of March 21, 81.2 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine (up from 81.1 per cent on March 16), while 83.7 per cent have had at least one dose (unchanged).

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.

Huron and Perth

Global News is awaiting Tuesday’s data from Huron Perth Public Health.

On Monday, Huron Perth Public Health reported zero patients in hospital due to COVID-19, and 42 new lab-confirmed cases since Friday.

In total, HPPH has reported 5,987 cases and 95 deaths (unchanged).

For the week of March 6, the test positivity rate was 11.8 per cent, up from 7.9 per cent a week prior.

HPPH says there have been 769 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of 16 from Friday.

There are currently five active outbreaks:

Listowel Memorial Hospital, declared March 12 and involving nine patients and one staff memberSpruce Lodge long-term care home in Stratford, declared March 12, involving six residents and four staffGoderich Place retirement home in Goderich, declared March 14, involving 10 residents and five staff membersHarbour Hill Retirement Suites in Goderich, declared March 17, involving two resident cases and one staff casean unidentified outbreak at a congregate living facility

As of March 14, 84.2 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 81.1 per cent have received two.

Third-dose coverage stands at 52.5 per cent of those five and older. It should be noted, however, that those under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for a third dose, and those aged 12 to 17 only became eligible for a booster dose as of Feb. 18.

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

Sarnia and Lambton

Bluewater Health reported Tuesday that there were fewer than five patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19, with fewer than five in the ICU, unchanged from Monday.

According to Lambton Public Health, the region’s ICU occupancy stood at 38 per cent for the week of March 13-19, the same as the week before

The health unit releases new case information on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Officials reported one new death and 37 additional lab-confirmed cases since Friday, for a total of 132 deaths and 10,152 cases.

Only one congregate setting outbreak remains active, at Vision Nursing Home long-term care home in Sarnia. It was declared March 7 and involves 11 resident cases and five staff or visitor cases.

The test positivity rate for the week of March 6 was 13.6 per cent, up from 11.6 per cent for the week of Feb. 27.

Among area residents aged five and older, 83 per cent have had at least one dose of vaccine, 80 per cent have had two doses and 49 per cent have had a third dose. Note that those under 12 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 Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues and Matthew Trevithick