Southwestern positivity rate at all-year high

Southwestern Public Health reported Wednesday, Dec. 22, that the positivity rate, the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back confirming the presence of the virus in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford, has reached an all-time high for this year, at 6.8 percent as of Dec. 12.

That compares to a positivity rate of 4.6 percent as of Dec. 5.

Southwestern  recorded 29 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, Dec. 22, down from 35 the previous day.

The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit rose to 328 Wednesday from 318 Tuesday.

The rate of ongoing cases stands at 155.1 per 100,000 of population, up from 149.9 Tuesday.

Eleven Southwestern area residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, four of them in intensive care units.

An outbreak of COVID-19 Caressant Care on Bonnie Place in St. Thomas, which so far has involved 11 residents and nine staff members, has resulted in a second death, the health unit reported.

Local ongoing cases include 84 in St. Thomas and area, 20 in Central Elgin, 14 in Aylmer and area, 11 in Dutton Dunwich, eight in Malahide, five in Bayham, four in West Elgin and one in Southwold.

Across Ontario, 4,383 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Wednesday, up from 3,453 the previous day.