Oxford man is 139th COVID-related death

Southwestern Public Health announced on Monday, Jan. 31, that an Oxford man in his 60s had died in a case related to COVID-19.

His was the 139th such death in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020, and the 26th in January.

The health unit also reported some good news. The number of long-term care and retirement homes in its area with confirmed outbreaks of two or more COVID-19 cases dropped to 13 Monday from 17 Friday.

SWPH recorded 188 new confirmed cases of the virus over the weekend, or an average of just under 63 a day, compared to 74 on Friday. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit stands at 676, down from 721 on Friday.

Southwestern noted that 28 local residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday, with eight in intensive care units, compared to 25 and eight respectively on Friday.

Across the province, 2,983 Ontarians were hospitalized with the virus Monday with 583 of them in ICUs, versus 3,535 and 607 respectively on Friday.

Ongoing local confirmed cases include 179 in St. Thomas and area, 52 in Aylmer and Malahide, 21 in Central Elgin, 19 each in Dutton Dunwich and Central Elgin, seven in Bayham and five in Southwold.