First school outbreak of new year declared as MLHU reports 26 new COVID-19 cases
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is reporting 26 new COVID-19 cases Friday, but no new deaths, and the first school-associated outbreak of the new academic year.
Friday's total follows two days of case counts above 30, a high that hasn't been reported in the region in nearly a month.
The region now has a total of 13,759 cases and 237 deaths, with 13,325 cases resolved leaving 197 active. There are 4,141 cases with a variant of concern.
Of the cases occurring since Aug. 5, 83.2 per cent are among the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. The same group accounts for 96.9 per cent of hospitalizations and 66.7 per cent of deaths.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reports it is has eight inpatients with COVID-19 with fewer than five either in adult critical care or in Children's Hospital.
At London-area schools, at least 16 cases have been confirmed at 10 schools. Two of the most recent cases were reported at Cedar Hollow Public School and Westfield Public School, according to the Thames Valley District School Board.
On Friday afternoon, the health unit declared an outbreak at École élémentaire La Pommeraie in southwest London, after a fourth case at the school.
It is the first school outbreak to be declared in the Middlesex-London region since the start of the new school year.
Health officials say the most recent case was a close contact of a previous case and had been in isolation, not attending school while contagious.
The school remains open, with staff and students in close-contact classrooms having already been asked to stay home.
An outbreak was also declared Thursday on the first and second floors at Earls Court Village nursing home. An outbreak is declared if there is one or more cases in residents or staff.
REGIONAL COVID-19 COUNTS
Here are the most recently available numbers from other local public health authorities:
- Elgin-Oxford – 18 new, 85 active, 4,207 total, 4,037 resolved, 85 deaths
- Grey-Bruce – two new, 26 active, 2,300 total, 2,248 resolved, 22 deaths
- Haldimand-Norfolk – one new, 31 active, 2,881 total, 2,796 resolved, 48 deaths
- Huron-Perth – four new, 37 active, 2,106 total, 2,004 resolved, 65 deaths
- Sarnia-Lambton – eight new, 42 active, 3,748 total, 3,637 resolved, 69 deaths
Across the province, Ontario health officials reported 795 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths on Friday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.