2 new COVID-19 related deaths reported by Middlesex-London Health Unit

The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is reporting two new deaths related to COVID-19.

One of the deaths was a woman in her 70s associated with a long-term care home and the other was a man in his 80s, not associated with a long-term care or retirement home.

The health unit is also reporting 70 new cases since Monday for a total of 30,230 recorded cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

As of Feb. 5, 93 per cent of the MLHU population age 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 90.7 per cent are considered fully vaccinated.

Staff at London Health Sciences Centre are currently caring for 119 inpatients with COVID-19, 22 of which are in the ICU.

Five or fewer inpatients are in the Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in the ICU.

There has been a slight drop in the number of LHSC staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, now 141, down from 147 on Monday.

REGIONAL COVID-19 COUNTS

Here are the most recently available lab-confirmed COVID-19 case counts from local public health authorities, though officials say testing eligibility rules make these an underestimate of actual cases:

• Elgin-Oxford – 521 active, 10,583 total, 9,919 resolved, 143 deaths
• Grey-Bruce – 26 new, 192 active, 5,746 total, 5,514 resolved, 36 deaths
• Huron-Perth – 20 new, 5,289 total, 90 deaths
• Sarnia-Lambton – 214 active, 9,205 total, 8,877 resolved, 114 deaths

Meanwhile, the number of patients in an Ontario intensive care unit with COVID-19 reached its lowest level since early January on Tuesday.

Government data shows that there are currently 474 patients in the ICU -- a drop over Monday’s total of 486. This marks the lowest number of patients in the ICU with COVID-19 since Jan. 10 when admissions totalled 438.