Southwestern ongoing cases still declining

The total number of ongoing confirmed cases of COVID-19 being tracked by Southwestern Public Health declined for the second day in a row on Thursday, Jan. 21.

The health unit reported 271 ongoing cases Tuesday, down from 292 on Wednesday.

However, another death was recorded linked to COVID-19 Thursday, an Oxford woman in her 70s who was a resident at PeopleCare long-term care home in Tavistock. It’s the site of one of two large-scale institutional outbreaks in the Southwestern region of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford.

As of Thursday, 43 residents and 36 staff members had tested positive for the virus there, and nine residents have died.

At Maple Manor Nursing Home in Tillsonburg, 85 residents and 53 staff are infected, and the death toll there stands at 17 residents.

Overall, 49 deaths in the Southwestern region have so far been connected to COVID-19.

On Thursday, St. Thomas and area decreased to 35 ongoing cases from 41, Aylmer and area to 26 from 27, Southwold to five from eight and West Elgin to two from three. Bayham increased to 11 cases from eight and Malahide to three from two, while Central Elgin remained steady at seven and Dutton Dunwich at one.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg dropped to 71 cases from 82, Norwich to 36 from 37, East Zorra-Tavistock to 11 from 13 and South-West Oxford to four from eight. Woodstock and area rose to 33 from 30 and Ingersoll and area to 14 from 13, while Zorra remained steady at 11 and Blandford-Blenheim at one.

The infection rate across the Southwestern region stands at 128.1 per 100,000 of population, down from 138.1 on Wednesday.

Across Ontario, 2,632 new cases were confirmed Thursday, down slightly from 2,655 on Wednesday.