Another death linked to COVID-19

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 32 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, April 13.

The health unit also recorded its 71st death linked to the virus, a Woodstock woman in her 60s.

The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit rose to 177 Tuesday from 164 on Monday.

St. Thomas and area rose to 55 ongoing cases Tuesday from 41 the previous day and Dutton Dunwich to seven from six, and a new case was discovered in Southwold.

Aylmer and area remained at 15, Bayham at seven and Malahide at three. Central Elgin decreased to five from six.

In Oxford, Woodstock and area remained at 48 cases and Tillsonburg and area at four. Blandford-Blenheim increased to 11 from 10 and Ingersoll and area to nine from seven.

Zorra dropped to to five from six, South-West Oxford to five from six, East Zorra-Tavistock to two from four and Norwich to one from two.

Southwestern has reported 189 cases involving “variants of concern,” which can be more contagious and create more severe symptoms than the original COVID-19 strain, 102 of them resolved and 87 ongoing, so far this year.

Most, 81 ongoing and 95 resolved, are known or presumed to involve a variant first identified in the United Kingdom.

Four resolved and four ongoing cases involve the South African variant, and three resolved and two ongoing cases either that variant or one first identified in Brazil.

Southwestern stated eight residents in its region were hospitalized with COVID-19, three in intensive care units, up from five and two on Monday.

The infection rate for the Southwestern region stands at 83.7 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 77.5 on Monday.

Across Ontario, 3,670 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Tuesday, up from 4,401 on Monday.