Southwestern records 76th COVID-linked death

Southwestern Public Health announced on Friday morning, April 23, that a St. Thomas man in his 60s had died as a resulted of COVID-19.

This is the 76th fatality since the pandemic started.

The health unit also reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Friday, down from 26 the previous day. The total number of ongoing cases being tracked also decreased, to 159 from 168.

The number of ongoing cases in St. Thomas and area fell to 52 from 54 and in Aylmer and area to three from five.

Bayham remained at five, Dutton Dunwich at four, Central Elgin and West Elgin at two each and Malahide at one.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg and area fell to 23 from 27 and Blandford-Blenheim to three from four.

Woodstock and area stayed at 40, Ingersoll and Norwich at eight each, Zorra at five, East Zorra-Tavistock at two and South-West Oxford at one.

So far this year, Southwestern has reported343 cases involving variants of concern, considered more contagious and/or creating more severe symptoms than the original strain. To date, 263 have been resolved and 80 are ongoing.

Four residents of the Southwestern region are hospitalized with COVID-19.

The infection rate for the area stands at 75.2 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 79.4 on Thursday.

Across Ontario, 4,505 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Friday, up from 3,682 on Thursday.