Eleventh death as numbers keep rising-updated

Southwestern Public Health was reporting the 11th death in its region linked to COVID-19 on Thursday, Dec. 17, as the number of new confirmed cases across Elgin, St. Thomas and Woodstock increased by 33.

The health unit said the fatality involved an Elgin County man in his 70s.

The health unit is tracking 149 ongoing cases, up from 128 the previous day.

St. Thomas and area jumped to 32 cases Thursday from 24 on the previous day, Bayham to 15 from 14, West Elgin to three from two, Central Eglin to two from one and a new case appeared in Southwold.

Aylmer and area remained steady at 22 cases.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg and area rose to 14 cases from 11, Woodstock and area to 13 from 10 and Blandford-Blenheim to 11 from seven.

Norwich remained steady at 21, East Zorra-Tavistock at four, Zorra at three and South-West Oxford at one.

Ingersoll and area was the only community to decrease, to seven cases from eight.

The infection rate for the Southwestern area stands at 70.4 cases per 100,000 of population.

Across Ontario, 2,432 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Thursday, a new record high.