Police College outbreak drives Southwestern cases upward

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 17 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, Nov. 27, up from eight on Friday.

The health unit is tracking 57 ongoing cases of the virus across Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford Saturday, up from 43 on Friday.

The increases appear driven mainly by a new outbreak of 27 cases at Ontario Police College.

Aylmer and area, including the college, rose to 30 cases on Saturday from 16 on Friday, while St. Thomas and area decreased to four from five.

Bayham, Central Elgin and West Elgin remained steady at one case each.

In Oxford, Blandford-Blenheim increased to three cases from two, while Woodstock and area remained steady at 14, Ingersoll and area at two and Tillsonburg and area at one.

The infection rate for the Southwestern region stands at 27 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 20.3 on Friday.

Across Ontario, 1,185 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Saturday, down from 1,258 on Friday.