Two Elgin deaths linked to COVID-19

Southwestern Public Health reported the deaths of two persons from Elgin County connected to COVID-19 on Thursday, Jan. 14.

One, a resident at Carresant Care Bonnie Place in St. Thomas, was a woman, 82, and the other was a man, 79.

The total number of deaths connected to COVID-19 in the Southwestern region of Elgin, St. Thomas and Woodstock now stands at 39. The health unit reported 55 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Thursday, up from 40 the previous day.

The health unit on Thursday was tracking 369 ongoing cases of COVID-19 in its region, up from 362.

The number of confirmed ongoing cases in St. Thomas and area dropped to 67 from 72, Central Elgin to five from six and West Elgin to three from four.

Aylmer and area rose to 41 from 38, Bayham to eight from six and Southwold to six from two. Dutton Dunwich stayed steady at one case and Malahide at one.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg and area decreased to 112 cases from 117, South-West Oxford to five from eight and Blandford-Blenheim to none from one. Woodstock and area increased to 45 from 42 and Ingersoll and area to 14 from 13. Norwich remained steady at 34, East Zorra-Tavistock at 16 and Zorra at six.

Across the Southwestern region, the infection rate stands at 174.5 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 171.2 the previous day. In Ontario, 3,326 new cases were confirmed, up from 2,961.

As of Thursday, 12 Southwestern region residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, four of them in intensive-care units.