St. Thomas man’s death linked to COVID-19

Southwestern Public Health on Tuesday, April 20, announced the death of a St. Thomas man in his 70s, connected to COVID-19.

His is the 73rd such death since the pandemic started in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford.

The health unit reported 12 new confirmed cases on Tuesday. The total number of ongoing cases in the Southwestern region stands at 182, down from 190 on Monday.

St. Thomas and area decreased to 67 cases from 70, Bayham to six from seven and Dutton Dunwich to one from two.

Central Elgin stayed at five, Aylmer and area at three, Malahide at two and Southwold at one.

In Oxford, Woodstock dropped to 37 from 40 and Blandford-Blenheim to four from seven. Tillsonburg and area rose to 25 from 24, Norwich to 10 from nine and Zorra to seven from six.

East Zorra-Tavistock remained at seven, Ingersoll and area at six and South-West Oxford at one.

So far this year, Southwestern has determined that 294 COVID-19 cases have involved variants of concern, considered more contagious and/or causing more severe symptoms than the original strain. Most are a variant first identified in the United Kingdom.

The health unit reports 97 variant cases are ongoing and 197 resolved as of Tuesday.

Four residents of the Southwestern region are hospitalized with COVID-19, one in an Intensive Care Unit.

The infection rate in the region stands at 86.1 cases per 100,000 of population.

Across Ontario, 3,469 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Tuesday, down from 4,447 on Monday.

The province reports that 773 Intensive Care Unit beds in Ontario are occupied by COVID-19 patients.