Nineteen new COVID-19 cases

Southwestern Public Health reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Thursday, April 29, up from 13 the previous day.

The number of ongoing cases remains unchanged at 141.

St. Thomas and area decreased to 27 ongoing cases on Thursday from 30 on Wednesday and Dutton Dunwich to six from seven. Aylmer and area rose to eight from seven, Central Elgin to six from four and Bayham to five from four.

West Elgin stayed at two and Southwold at one.

In Oxford, Woodstock and area fell to 43 from 44, Ingersoll and area to 11 from 12 and Zorra to one from four. Tillsonburg and area increased to 21 from 17 and Blandford-Blenheim to four from three.

Norwich and South-West Oxford remained at three each.

So far this year, Southwestern has confirmed 380 cases of COVID-19 involving variants of concern that are considered more contagious and/or creating more severe symptoms than the original strain. To date, 341 have been resolved and 39 are ongoing.

Nine residents of the Southwestern region are hospitalized with COVID-19, two of them in Intensive Care Units.

The infection rate for the area remains unchanged at 66.7 cases per 100,000 of population.

Across Ontario, 3,871 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Thursday, up from 3,480 on Wednesday.