Three COVID-19 deaths in one day

Southwestern Public Health announced three COVID-19 related deaths on Tuesday, Jan. 11, all residents of long-term care or retirement homes, including a woman in her 90s at Terrace Lodge in Malahide, a woman in her 80s at Caressant Care on Bonnie Place in St. Thomas and a man in his 80s at Secord Trails in Ingersoll.

That brings the total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 since the pandemic began in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford to 122.

The health unit noted that 13 out of 34 such homes in its area were currently experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks of two or more cases each.

Southwestern also reported Tuesday that 23 area residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, eight of them in intensive care units, up from 22 hospitalized and seven in ICUs on Monday.

Across the province, 3,220 Ontarians were hospitalized with the virus Tuesday including 465 in intensive care units, up from 2,467 hospitalizations with 438 in ICUs Monday.

Southwestern, under new guidelines that restrict who can actually get tested for COVID-19, reported 78 new confirmed cases in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, down from an average of 129 a day over the weekend.

The health unit is tracking 1,382 ongoing cases, down from 1,459 Monday, a decrease possibly partially due to a new policy of removing ongoing cases from the count after 10 days, regardless of outcome for any one individual.

Local ongoing cases Tuesday include 389 in St. Thomas and area, 88 in Aylmer and Malahide, 62 in Central Elgin, 23 each in Dutton Dunwich and West Elgin, 19 in Bayham and 10 in Southwold.