Ongoing Southwestern cases drop

Southwestern Public Health reported 20 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, April 27.

The number of ongoing cases is 150, down from 160 on Monday.

St. Thomas and area decreased to 40 ongoing cases Tuesday from 44 Monday, Aylmer and area to six from seven and Bayham to four from five.

Dutton Dunwich remained at six cases, Central Elgin and West Elgin at two each and Malahide at one.

In Oxford, Woodstock and area rose to 45 from 43, Zorra to six from five and South-West Oxford to three from two.

Tillsonburg and area dropped to 14 from 20, Norwich to four from five and Blandford-Blenheim to three from four. Ingersoll and area remained at 14.

To date, 367 cases this year have involved variants of concern considered more contagious and/or causing more severe symptoms than the original strain. As of Tuesday, 44 were ongoing and 323 resolved. Most cases locally have involved a variant first identified in the United Kingdom.

Nine Southwestern residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, two of them in Intensive Care Units.

The infection rate for the region stands at 70.9 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 75.7 on Monday.

Across Ontario, 3,265 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Tuesday, down from 3,510 on Tuesday.