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
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer filled with relief and grief following acquittal in death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.