30 new cases from weekend

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 30 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Monday, Oct. 18, or an average of 10 a day.

On Friday, the health unit had reported 24 new cases for one day.

Southwestern is currently monitoring 88 ongoing cases across its area, down from 92 on Friday.

Five residents of the region are hospitalized with COVID-19, one of them in an intensive care unit.

Ongoing cases in St. Thomas and area rose to 12 Monday from 11 Friday, and stayed at two in Malahide. Bayham fell to 11 from 14, Aylmer and area to 10 from 14 and West Elgin to two from four.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg and area increased to 15 from 12, Norwich to 14 from 10, South-West Oxford to six from four, Ingersoll and area to five from four and Zorra to two from one. Woodstock and area decreased to eight from 11 and East Zorra-Tavistock to one from three.

The infection rate for the Southwestern region stands at 41.6 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 43.5 on Friday.

Across Ontario, 373 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Monday, down from 443 on Sunday.