COVID-19: MLHU reports death of woman in her 90s, LHSC caring for 38 COVID-19 inpatients

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

Hospitalizations

London Health Sciences Centre reported Friday that it was caring for 38 inpatients with COVID-19, with five or fewer in adult critical care, unchanged from the day before. Last Friday, LHSC was caring for 43 COVID-19 inpatients with six in adult critical care.

LHSC says five or fewer of its COVID-19 inpatients are in Children’s Hospital, while zero are in pediatric critical care. Last week, there were five or fewer COVID-19 inpatients in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care.

Of the 38 inpatients with COVID-19, 15 are being treated for COVID-19 while 23 are being treated for something other than COVID-19 but were found to have an incidental infection.

At least 155 staff cases are currently active at LHSC. Data was not available last Friday.

At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, officials reported 57 active cases among health-care workers along with two patient or resident cases, both at Parkwood Institute’s Main Building. Last Friday, St. Joseph’s reported 59 health-care worker cases and two patient or resident cases.

Cases and testing

The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported one new COVID-19-related death on Friday and added 83 cases. The death involved a woman in her 90s associated with a retirement home.

A week ago, the MLHU reported one death and 65 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.

So far, there have been five deaths reported in March. However, the MLHU has removed two previously reported deaths from its total count in order to align with a revised provincial approach in reporting COVID-19-related deaths. The two deaths were both from 2020, the health unit confirmed to Global News.

The health unit says there have been 32,501 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. At least 642 are active (an increase of 27) while 31,507 have resolved (an increase of 57). A total of 352 deaths have been reported (an increase of one and a decrease of two).

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 27 was 11.9 per cent, up from a revised 10.5 per cent the week prior.

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

As of Friday, LHSC had one active outbreak in University Hospital’s U8 General Surgery 100/200/300, declared Feb. 28, involving 12 patient cases and 11 staff cases.

LHSC updates its outbreak data on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, unless an outbreak is declared or resolved.

Additionally, the MLHU is reporting the following active institutional outbreaks:

Ashwood Manor, facility-wide, declared Feb. 22Chelsey Park, fourth floor – A Wing and B Wing, declared March 4Chelsey Park Retirement Community, facility-wide, declared March 4Horizon Place, facility-wide, declared Feb. 24Kensington Village Retirement, eighth avenue, declared Feb. 18

Vaccinations

As of March 14, the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges will be open Monday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. As of March 29, the Agriplex location in London will operate Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The health unit will also be holding another Superhero Saturday event to encourage vaccine uptake among kids. Both the Agriplex and Caradoc Community Centre will be having Superhero Saturdays on March 12 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Shipments of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine are expected “over the next little while” and the MLHU says it plans to develop a wait-list for those interested in that vaccine. Further details were not yet available.

As of the end of day March 5, 90.8 per cent of residents aged five and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 87.5 per cent have had two — up from 90.7 per cent and 87.3 per cent, respectively, a week earlier.

For third doses, 50.2 per cent of people five and older have received a booster, up from 49.8 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 60.1 per cent, up from 59.8 per cent a week earlier, while 42.7 per cent have received two doses.

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.

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Ontario

The province reported 717 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 238 in ICUs on Friday. Last week, those figures were 821 and 262, respectively.

Of the 717 in hospital with COVID-19, 46 per cent were there because of the virus while the rest were admitted for another reason but tested positive.

Of the 238 in ICUs, 76 per cent were admitted because of the virus.

Ontario also reported 2,130 lab-confirmed cases Friday, though that is an under-estimate when factoring in widespread transmission and testing restrictions.

The province reported a total of 12,227 deaths after removing 411 deaths where a person was infected with COVID-19 but the virus did not cause or contribute to the fatality.

It is unknown how many new recent deaths there were due to the significant removal of incidental deaths.

Elgin and Oxford

Southwestern Public Health issues updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, barring holidays.

The health unit reported two new COVID-19 deaths on Friday and 43 additional lab-confirmed cases from Wednesday’s total. The deaths occurred in February but SWPH said it took time to confirm that the deaths were COVID-19-related. They involved a woman in her 80s and a man in his 70s, both from Elgin County, and neither related to any outbreaks.

There were eight COVID-19 hospitalizations on Friday, with three in intensive care, compared with six hospitalizations with three in intensive care a week ago.

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 27 was 10.4 per cent, down from a revised 11.5 per cent the week prior.

SWPH reported on Thursday:

11,459 cases (an increase of 43 cases from Wednesday with one case removed due to data cleanup)231 active cases (an increase of 18 from Wednesday)11,077 resolved cases (an increase of 22 from Wednesday; note that SWPH clears all cases after 10 days regardless of outcome)151 total deaths to date (an increase of two)

Health unit officials reported one active institutional outbreak at Chartwell Oxford Gardens in Woodstock. Declared March 2, it involves eight resident cases and three staff cases.

As of March 10 80.9 per cent of those aged five and older in the region had received two doses of the vaccine, while 83.7 per cent have had at least one dose.

Southwestern Public Health announced Thursday that it is expecting a limited supply of Novavax vaccine in the coming weeks.

Anyone with questions about the Novavax vaccine or anyone interested in adding their name to a wait-list for the vaccine is asked to contact SWPH at 1-800-922-0096 ext. 9.

“Those who speak Low German can press ext. 1 for the St. Thomas location and 2 to leave a message,” SWPH said.

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 Friday’s data from Huron Perth Public Health.

On Thursday, Huron Perth Public Health reported one patient in hospital due to COVID-19, with zero cases considered active. Last Thursday, HPPH reported three patients in hospital with two cases considered active.

In total, HPPH has reported 5,784 cases (an increase of 11) and 94 deaths to date (unchanged.)

For the week of Feb. 27, the test positivity rate was 7.9 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent a week prior.

HPPH reported 717 total cases among health-care workers since March 2020, an increase of five from Wednesday.

As of March 6, 84.2 per cent of residents aged five and older have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose while 81 per cent have received two.

Third-dose coverage stands at 52.3 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 nine patients in hospital with confirmed COVID-19 as of Friday, with one in the ICU. Last Friday, Bluewater Health had five patients in hospital with COVID with one in the ICU.

The region’s average ICU occupancy sat at 63 per cent for the week of Feb. 27, up from 50 per cent for the week of Feb. 20, health officials said.

Lambton Public Health releases case information on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The health unit reported zero deaths and 41 cases on Friday, for a total of 128 deaths and 9,998 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 10 resident cases and fewer than five staff or visitor cases.

Two previous outbreaks at St. Francis Advocates in Port Franks and Trillium Villa long-term care home in Sarnia are no longer listed as active.

The test positivity rate for the week of Feb. 27 was 11.6 per cent, down from a revised 13.4 per cent for the week of Feb. 20.

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