“The power of vaccination”

The fact that no long-term care or retirement homes are currently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak is “a good indication of the power of vaccination,” Dr. Joyce Lock, medical officer of health for Southwestern Public Health, said during a weekly news briefing on Wednesday, March 24.

She started by reporting the health unit had confirmed seven new cases of the virus that day, bringing the total number of ongoing cases in Elgin, St. Thomas and Woodstock to 78.

Three persons were currently hospitalized as a result, and one was in an intensive care unit.

About 20 ongoing cases involved variants of COVID-19, or a quarter of the total, she said. Across the province, the number of variant cases was about half the total.

(Variants of concern, recent mutations to the original COVID-19 strain, are considered worrying because they’re either more contagious or cause more severe symptoms.)

A week ago, variants accounted for only 30 percent of total cases in Ontario, she said. “It shows how quickly these variants are spreading and becoming dominant.”

Locally, attendance at social events such as parties was a significant source of new infections. She blamed the gatherings on the emergence of the region from a provincial lockdown recently.

Dr. Lock said the number of vaccinations being given in the Southwestern region was increasing every week.

So far, over 5,000 Southwestern residents had received at least their first dose of vaccine, through mass and mobile clinics.

More in the March 31 edition of The Aylmer Express