Slightly tick up in cases

Southwestern Public Health was reporting four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Woodstock on Wednesday, July 7, up from three on Tuesday.

The health unit is now tracking 18 ongoing cases of the virus in the region, up from 17.

St. Thomas and area decreased to four ongoing cases on Wednesday from five on Tuesday, while West Elgin rose to three from two. Aylmer and Bayham stayed at one each.

In Oxford, Woodstock and area remained at four, Tillsonburg and area at two and East-Zorra Tavistock and Ingersoll and area at one each. One new case was confirmed in Blandford-Blenheim.

Currently, three Southwestern residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, one in an intensive care unit.

The infection rate for the area is 8.5 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 8.0 on Tuesday.

Across Ontario, 194 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Wednesday, up from 164 on Tuesday.

Southwestern noted that the 1,841 ongoing cases Wednesday across Ontario was the lowest that number had been since last September, and no new COVID-19 related deaths were recorded that day, for the first time in nine months.

The “Delta” variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, was still a concern “for those who are unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated,” Southwestern added.