LONDON

MLHU reports five new COVID-19 cases Monday

Amanda Taccone CTVNewsLondon.ca Web Producer

Published Monday, September 21, 2020 1:04PM EDT Last Updated Monday, September 21, 2020 2:48PM EDT

FILE - A nurse gets a swab ready at a temporary COVID-19 test clinic in Montreal, on Friday, May 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

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MIDDLESEX CENTRE, ONT. -- Five new COVID-19 cases are being reported in Middlesex-London on Monday.

The new cases bring the total in the region to 805, with 684 resolved and 57 deaths, leaving 64 active cases.

The return to single-digit daily counts – there were seven reported on Sunday and four on Saturday – follows a two-day spike last week that was the highest since mid-April.

That spike prompted Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) officials to confirm the region appears to be in the second wave of COVID-19.

The increases were tied to community outbreaks largely involving Western University students, but also a small outbreak involving employees at the Walmart location in northwest London.

Of Monday’s cases, MLHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie says only one is a Western students, while some others involved household contacts.

New gathering limits were imposed across Ontario on Saturday, reducing the maximum allowed to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors, effective immediately and for the next 28 days.

The limits apply at private homes and in parks, but do not apply to businesses.

During a media briefing Monday, London Mayor Ed Holder said the areas around campus were “exceptionally quiet” and all downtown businesses were found to be “100 per cent” compliant with the masking bylaw.

Mackie added that they are hopeful “that will help curb the outbreak associated with Western and not transmit it to the broader community.”

Here is where the case totals stand in other nearby regions based on the most recent publicly available data: