COVID numbers keep climbing

Southwestern Public Health reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 in its region covering Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Sunday, Dec. 27, down from 44 the previous day.

However, the number of confirmed ongoing cases continued to rise, to 261 from 235.

Aylmer and area remained steady at 54 cases, Bayham at 12 and West Elgin at three.

St. Thomas and area rose to 48 cases from 43, Central Elgin to seven from six and Southwold from five to two.

In Oxford, cases in Tillsonburg and area increased to 51 from 47, in Woodstock and area to 23 from 21, in East Zorra-Tavistock to 20 from 14, in Blandford-Blenheim to 13 from 11, in Ingersoll and area to nine from seven and in Zorra to four from three.

South-West Oxford remained steady at one case, while Norwich dropped to 11 from 12.

Across the Southwestern region, the infection rate now stands at 123.4 cases per 100,000 population, up from 111.6 the previous day.

And across Ontario, 2,005 new cases were confirmed on Sunday.