Woodstock woman dies with COVID-19

Southwestern Public Health announced on Friday, Jan. 21, that a woman in her 70s, a resident of Woodingford Lodge long-term care home in Woodstock, had died with COVID-19.

That brings the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began to 130.

Hers was the second such death this week. Last week, 11 deaths were recorded.

Southwestern on Friday also reported that 52 area residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 10 in intensive care units, compared to 47 hospitalizations with nine in ICUs the previous day.

Across the province, 4,114 Ontarians were hospitalized with the virus on Friday with 590 in ICUs, compared to 4,061 and 594 respectively on Thursday.

Aylmer and Malahide have crossed a threshold into quadruple digits, with 1,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March of 2020.

That’s only exceeded in the Southwestern area by Woodstock and area with 2,353 and St. Thomas and area with 2,076 to date.

The health unit on Friday reported 93 new confirmed cases in its region on Friday, up from 57 the previous day. SWPH is now tracking 860 confirmed ongoing cases, up from 846 Thursday.

Local ongoing cases include 254 in St. Thomas and area, Aylmer and Malahide with 55, Central Elgin with 26, West Elgin with 24, Dutton Dunwich with 21, Bayham with 11 and Southwold with seven.