“Very significant” outbreak at St. Thomas shelter

Southwestern Public Health’s board was told at a meeting Friday, Dec. 10, about a “very significant” outbreak of COVID-19 at a homeless shelter in St. Thomas.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock said the outbreak was consuming a great deal of time and effort for the health unit and other community agencies, and just that day, a report had been sent to Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health seeking additional provincial assistance.

Program Director Peter Heywood said St. Thomas had arrangements with the Glenhaven Motel, on Highway 3 just east of the city, to provide rooms for isolation cases.

However, it was now at capacity, he noted, and some who were supposed to complete an isolation period there were not complying.

The health unit was working with police services and others to find ways to manage those individuals, he added. But that was a very complicated process under Ontario’s Health Protection Act, adding to the health unit’s administrative burden.

On Friday, the health unit reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford, down from 30 on Thursday.

The number of ongoing cases being tracked by SWPH inched up to 201 Friday from 199 the previous day.

Local cases include 57 in St. Thomas and area, 28 in Aylmer and area, seven in Malahide, four in Bayham, three in Central Elgin and one in Dutton Dunwich.

The rate of ongoing cases in the Southwestern area stands at 95 per 100,000 of population, up from 94.1 on Thursday.

Across Ontario, 1,453 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Friday, up from 1,290 on Thursday.