New provincial record for daily COVID-19 cases

Ontario set a daily record for new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 2,553.

In the Southwestern Public Health region of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford, 27 new cases were reported Tuesday, the same as Monday, but the total number of ongoing cases rose to 274 from 263.

The number of cases in Aylmer and area increased to 55 from 52 and in Bayham to 14 from 12.

St. Thomas and area saw a slight decrease to 51 from 52, while Central Elgin remained steady at eight cases, Southwold at five and West Elgin at one.

In Oxford, Tillsonburg and area rose to 59 cases from 58, Woodstock and area to 27 from 22, Norwich to 13 from 11, Ingersoll and area to six from five and Zorra to five from four.

Blandford-Blenheim dipped to five cases from nine and East Zorra-Tavistock remained steady at 23 and South-West Oxford at two.

The health unit reported a third ongoing case among staff at Chartwell Aylmer long-term care home, while Terrace Lodge long-term care home remained steady at five staff cases.

The infection rate for the Southwestern region stands at 129.6 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 124.8 on Monday.