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…
Southwestern Public Health on Tuesday, Dec. 7, announced the COVID-19-related deaths of two more Elgin residents, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 60s. That brings the number Elgin deaths in the last week to five. The total number of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford residents who have died of the virus since…
Southwestern Public Health announced on Monday, Dec. 6, that an Elgin man in his 70s had become the 101st death related to COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began. The health unit also reported 85 new cases of the virus had been confirmed in its area over the weekend, or an…
A young child was finally found safe at a neighbour’s house after Bayham firefighters conducted a search of a garage and workshop on fire at 55304 Light Line on Friday, Dec. 3, at about 7:45 a.m. Fire Chief Harry Baranik said firefighters on arrival could see smoke rising from the roof at the rear of…
A police pursuit of a vehicle that started near Lake Whittaker Conservation Area on Avon Road, between Elgin and Middlesex counties, ended in a crash on Friday, Dec. 3. Constable Norm Kelso of Elgin Ontario Provincial Police said officers were sent to investigate a report of a suspicious vehicle at about 11:40 a.m. The vehicle…
Southwestern Public Health on Friday, Dec. 3, announced that an Elgin woman in her 70s had become the 100th death related to COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began in March of 2020. The health unit also reported 29 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday, the same as the previous day.…
The Ontario government announced Thursday afternoon, Dec. 2, that everyone aged 50 and older would become eligible for a third, booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine starting on Monday, Dec. 13. At least six months must have passed between a recipient’s second dose and the new booster, and appointments at mass vaccination clinics would be booked…
Southwestern Public Health announced Thursday, Dec. 2, that an Elgin woman in her 50s had died as a result of COVID-19. She’s the 99th death in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford since the pandemic began in Ontario. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed ongoing cases of COVID-19 in St. Thomas and area continued to climb, reaching…
Southwestern Public Health reported 13 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Wednesday, Dec. 1, down from 27 the previous day. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit also dropped, to 170 Wednesday from 204 on Tuesday. However, the positivity rate, the percentage of COVID-19 tests…