Fifty-eight new cases in two days

Southwestern Public Health, after being closed Thursday for Remembrance Day, on Friday, Nov. 12, reported that 58 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford, or an average of 29 a day.

On Wednesday, 22 new cases had been announced.

The number of ongoing confirmed cases being tracked by the health unit rose to 154 Friday from 131 Wednesday.

Currently, 12 Southwestern residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, six of them in intensive care units.

Locally, Aylmer and area has 34 ongoing cases while St. Thomas and area has 19, Bayham 13, Central Elgin two and Malahide one.

The rate of confirmed cases for the Southwestern region stands at 72.8 per 100,000 of population, up from 61.9 on Wednesday.

Across Ontario, 598 new cases were confirmed on Friday, down from 642 on Thursday.