Ongoing cases close to double digits

The number of ongoing cases in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford dropped to 102 on Wednesday, May 19, from 105 the previous day, continuing a steady decline.

However, the number of new confirmed cases in the health unit’s region climbed to 14 Wednesday from just seven on Tuesday.

The number of ongoing cases in St. Thomas and area stayed at 15, in Aylmer at four, in Bayham at three and in West Elgin at two. Central Elgin increased to six from five.

In Oxford, Woodstock and area rose to 37 from 35 and in Zorra to eight from six. Ingersoll and area decreased to four from seven, Blandford-Blenheim to two from three, East Zorra-Tavistock to two from three, Norwich to two from four and South-West Oxford to one from two. Tillsonburg and area remained at 16.

So far this year, the health unit has found 698 cases involving “variants of concern” considered more contagious or creating more severe symptoms than the original strain of COVID-19.

Of those, 615 have been resolved and 83 are ongoing.

Six Southwestern region residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, four of them in intensive care units.

The infection rate for the Southwestern area stands at 48.2 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 49.6 on Tuesday.

Across Ontario, 1,588 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Wednesday, down from 1,616 on Tuesday.