Thames Valley District School Board has advised parents that children in public schools would be asked to take home all personal belongings on Friday, Dec. 17, as Christmas vacation started. “This is a precautionary measure to ensure that families are equipped to deal with any potential announcements by the Ministry of Education and/or provincial Chief…
Southwestern Public Health on Wednesday, Dec. 15, announced the COVID-19 related deaths of a St. Thomas man in his 90s and an Oxford man in his 30s. That brings the total number of fatalities in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began to 108. So far this month, 12 deaths have been reported,…
Southwestern Public Health was reporting 23 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, Dec. 14, down slightly from an average of just under 25 a day over the weekend. The total number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit stood at 235 Tuesday. The rate of ongoing…
An Elgin woman in her 80s has become the 106th COVID-19 related death in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began, Southwestern Public Health announced on Monday, Dec. 13. The health unit also reported that the rate of ongoing cases of COVIDd-19 in its area had reached triple digits at 106.4 per 100,000…
Santa might have been a little warm in his traditional suit as he waved to spectators on the route of the annual Straffordville Santa Claus Parade on Saturday morning, Dec. 11. The weather was sunny for the event, and the temperature a near-balmy 14C. (AE/Rob Perry)
No. 11 Keely Walcarius of host Aylmer Minor Hockey’s Under 9 Rep team kept the puck away from a Cayuga player during a game at East Elgin Community Complex on Friday night, Dec. 10. Action is continuous at this age group, and no official scores are kept. (AE/Rob Perry)
A member of Malahide Fire Service’s technical rescue team, left, and a man who had been stranded at the end of the Port Bruce pier were pulled back to safety by fellow firefighters and Ontario Provincial Police officers on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 11., and he was turned over to Elgin County paramedics. Malahide Fire Chief…
Southwestern Public Health’s board was told at a meeting Friday, Dec. 10, about a “very significant” outbreak of COVID-19 at a homeless shelter in St. Thomas. Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock said the outbreak was consuming a great deal of time and effort for the health unit and other community agencies, and just…
The medical officers of health for Southwestern Public Health, Middlesex-London Health Unit and Huron-Perth Public Health issued joint, strongly-worded recommendations on Thursday, Dec. 9, urging restricting any indoor holiday gatherings to no more than 10 participants and only including those who are double-vaccinated, as well as working from home, if possible, in response to increasing…
Southwestern Public Health was reporting 30 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Thursday, Dec. 9, up from 20 on Wednesday. Despite that, the number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit remains at 199. Ten Southwestern-area residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, five of them in intensive care…
Southwestern Public Health announced on Wednesday, Dec. 8, the COVID-19 related deaths of a St. Thomas man in his 50s and an Oxford man in his 70s. That brings the total number of such deaths so far this month to seven, with six of the fatalities from Elgin and St. Thomas. The death toll since…
Aylmer Mayor Mary French was appointed as the Warden of Elgin for the next year after an election held by county councillors on Tuesday night, Dec. 7. She defeated two rivals for the office, the incumbent Warden, Deputy Mayor Tom Marks of Central Elgin, and Mayor Bob Purcell of Dutton Dunwich, in two rounds of…