MIDDLESEX CENTRE, ONT. -- Six new COVID-19 cases were reported in Elgin and Oxford counties on Thursday and just one in Middlesex-London.

The total number of cases in Elgin and Oxford now stands at 186, with 95 resolved and five deaths, leaving 82 ongoing cases.

Aylmer, Ont. continues to lead the region in infections, with five of the new cases in that town, bringing the cumulative total to 52 cases with 47 active cases.

Including Thursday’s numbers, Southwestern Public Health has now reported 43 new cases since Saturday.

That means nearly 25 per cent of the region’s cumulative cases have happened in the last week.

As of Thursday, a mandatory mask bylaw is in effect in Aylmer, while a public health instruction mandates masks for the rest of the region.

In Middlesex-London, this is the second day in a row the health unit is reporting just a single case in the previous 24 hours, after reporting none on Tuesday.

The total in the region now stands at 681 cases, with 599 recovered and 57 deaths, leaving 25 active cases.

In addition to the consistently low numbers recently, the lone ongoing outbreak in the region, at the London Health Sciences Centre’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit, was declared over on Wednesday.

There were also no new cases reported in other nearby counties in the most recent public health updates:

  • Huron-Perth – None new, four active cases, 74 total, 65 resolved, five deaths
  • Sarnia-Lambton – None new, 23 active cases, 319 total, 271 resolved, 25 deaths
  • Grey-Bruce – None new, three active cases, 120 total, 117 resolved, no deaths
  • Haldimand-Norfolk – None new, 30 active, 463 total cases, 401 resolved, 32 deaths

There have been no deaths reported in recent weeks by any of the above health units.

Across the province, fewer than 100 new infections were reported for a fourth straight day.