Southwestern Public Health, reacting to the Ontario government’s announcement it would speed up the process of received a second, booster COVID-19 vaccination to less than the four months originally expected, said a system to re-book second appointments would be ready to go on June 7. Currently, those 80 and older are eligible to book earlier…
Southwestern Public Health on Monday, May 31, reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford over the weekend, or an average of just under nine a day. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit dropped to 52 Monday from 62 Friday. Ongoing cases in…
Justice Bruce Thomas in St. Thomas Superior Court of Justice Monday morning, May 31, fined the Church of God (Restoration) Aylmer, Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, and Assistant Pastor Peter Wall a combined $66,000 for continued breach of a court order to follow gathering limits under the Reopening Ontario Act. The hearing was in response to the…
High-risk healthcare workers at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital will be able to get their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine right at STEGH. The hospital on Monday, May 31, announced a partnership with Southwestern Public Health for a four-day clinic to get STEGH workers their booster vaccinations. The on-site clinic would be the first of…
Malahide Township announced Monday morning, May 31, that Adam Betteridge, the municipality’s director of development services for the last year-and-a-half, will become chief administrative officer as of June 28. He is replacing Michelle Casavecchia-Somers, who is retiring. Mr. Betteridge, a graduate of University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Honours, Planning) degree, is…
Southwestern Public Health on Monday morning, May 31, announced that to date, 100,000 residents of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The health unit called that “a significant milestone” representing nearly 48 percent of the region’s total population of 211,000. Dr. Joyce Lock, Southwestern medical officer of…
Southwestern Public Health was reporting just four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Friday, May 28, down from 10 on Thursday. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit continues a downward slide, standing at 62 on Friday compared to 74 the previous day. Ongoing cases…
Premier Doug Ford announced Friday morning, May 28, that Ontarians would be able to get their second, booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine sooner than anticipated. Over 65 percent of the adult population of the province had already received their first dose of vaccine, a total of 8.5-million immunizations. Now that Ontario was getting consistent deliveries…
Southwestern Public Health reported 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Thursday, May 27, up from five the previous day. However, the number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit continued to slide, to 74 Thursday from 81 Wednesday. Ongoing cases in St. Thomas and area declined…
Southwestern Public Health announced Wednesday, May 26, that a deer tick collected from Port Burwell had tested positive for the agent that causes Lyme disease in humans. While this was the first such positive test in Elgin County this year, the health unit stated, Port Burwell has been considered a “risk area” for Lyme disease…
The COVID-19 outbreak is coming to an end at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, but three patients have died since it was first declared on May 5, President Sandy Jansen announced on Wednesday, May 26. She was participating in a weekly news conference conducted by Southwestern Public Health Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock. Ms.…
Southwestern Public Health reported five new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Wednesday, May 26. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit in the region dropped to 81 Wednesday from 88 Tuesday. Ongoing cases in St. Thomas and area rose to 14 Wednesday from 11 Tuesday,…