Ongoing cases jump to 182 from 160

Southwestern Public Health was tracking 182 ongoing confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, Dec. 23, up from 160 the previous day.

The health unit said the 47 new cases identified on Wednesday was the highest single one-day total since the pandemic began.

Aylmer and area rose to 37 cases from 33, St. Thomas and area to 30 from 23 and Southwold to three from one.

Bayham remained steady at eight and Central Elgin at four, and West Elgin decreased to three from four.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg and area increased to 28 cases from 23, Woodstock and area to 15 from eight and East Zorra-Tavistock to 14 from 11.

Norwich dropped to 17 cases from 22, while Blandford-Blenheim stayed steady at 12, Ingersoll and area at seven and Zorra at three. One new case appeared in South-West Oxford.

The infection rate for the Southwestern region stands at 86.1 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 75.7 on Tuesday.

Across Ontario, 2,408 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Wednesday, up from 2,202 the previous day.