COVID-19 numbers plateau

The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford seemed to plateau over the weekend with 28 over three days, for a total number of ongoing cases of 82 Monday, Sept. 20, down from 85 last Friday.

Three Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, two of them in intensive care units.

Last week, 85 percent of cases involved residents who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The health unit was reporting 28 new cases on Monday, Sept. 20, or an average of just over nine a day over three days. That compared to 18 new cases last Friday and 16 last Thursday. Ongoing cases fell to 82 Monday from 85 Friday.

Ongoing cases in Bayham rose to four Monday from two Friday and in West Elgin to seven from six. St. Thomas and area fell to nine from 11 and Aylmer and area to seven from eight. Central Elgin stayed at two and Dutton Dunwich and Malahide at one each.

In Oxford, Norwich increased to six from three and Blandford-Blenheim to five from two. Woodstock and area fell to 23 from 25, Tillsonburg and area to seven from nine and Ingersoll and area to four from five. Zorra remained at one.

The infection rate for the region stands at 38.8 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 40.2 on Friday.

Across Ontario, 610 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Monday, down from 715 on Sunday.