Southwestern COVID-19 cases ease up

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Southwestern was reporting 18 ongoing cases of COVID-19 being monitored in Aylmer and area, down from 19 the previous day.

St. Thomas and area had 20 cases, down from 22, while Bayham saw an increase to seven from five.

Southwold stayed steady at one, while a new case appeared in Central Elgin.

In Oxford, Woodstock and area saw a drop to 17 ongoing cases from 23, and Ingersoll and area to seven from 13.

Zorra increased slightly to six from five, Tillsonburg and area dropped to five from six and Norwich stayed steady at four and Blandford-Blenheim at two.

South-West Oxford decreased to one case from two, and a new case appeared in East Zorra-Tavistock.

The infection rate for the Southwestern area dropped from 48.2 per 100,000 on Monday to 42.6 on Tuesday.

Across Ontario, 1,676 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Tuesday, down from a record high of 1,925 on Monday.

Southwestern Public Health also announced that it would offer mobile COVID-19 testing to about 500 students and teachers at East Elgin Secondary School on Wednesday, Dec. 9, and Thursday, Dec. 10.

Megan Cornwell, on behalf of the health unit, explained investigators were unable to track the sources of infection involving four students to date at the school, and worried about potential undiagnosed cases there.

Testing, she stressed, was always voluntary.