NEWS

Local news in and around Aylmer and Elgin County

Ongoing cases close to double digits

May 19, 2021 | 0 Comments

The number of ongoing cases in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford dropped to 102 on Wednesday, May 19, from 105 the previous day, continuing a steady decline. However, the number of new confirmed cases in the health unit’s region climbed to 14 Wednesday from just seven on Tuesday. The number of ongoing cases in St.…

Just over 40 percent of Southwestern regional vaccinated

May 18, 2021 | 0 Comments

Southwestern Public Health, in a weekly surveillance report posted Monday, May 17, stated that over 86,000 residents of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford had so far received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, up from almost 78,000 the week before. St. Thomas led the way with 46.6 percent of its population vaccinated, followed by…

COVID-19 numbers down across the board

May 18, 2021 | 0 Comments

Southwestern Public Health reported confirming just seven new cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, May 18, down from an average of 12 per day on the weekend. The health unit is now tracking 105 ongoing cases, down from 124 on Monday. No municipalities in the Southwestern region recorded an increase…

Church, three men charged

May 18, 2021 | 0 Comments

Aylmer Police have charged Aylmer Church of God (Restoration), an Aylmer man, 57, an Aylmer man, 26, and a Steinbach, Manitoba, man, 26, after a large outdoor service was held at Aylmer Church of God on Sunday, May 16 in contravention of Ontario’s COVID-19 emergency orders. Police Chief Zvonko Horvat announced the charges on Tuesday,…

18 and over eligible for vaccine

May 17, 2021 | 0 Comments

Southwestern Public Health announced Monday, May 17, that starting the next day, everyone who was at least 18 years old, or would turn 18 in 2021, would become eligible in Elgin, St. Thomas and Woodstock to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Previously, that had only applied to the N5H postal code covering Aylmer and much of…

New and ongoing cases go down

May 17, 2021 | 0 Comments

Southwestern Public Health reported Monday, May 17, 36 new cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford from the weekend or an average of 12 a day, compared to 24 new cases announced on Friday. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit fell to 124 Monday from 138 on Friday.…

More charges for Church of God following outdoor service

May 17, 2021 | 0 Comments

Aylmer Police Chief Zvonko Horvat reported on Monday, May 17, that more charges were pending against Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) and the organizers of a large outdoor service held there on Sunday, May 16. He stated that police monitored the service, taking video footage of a large gathering around a makeshift outdoor stage and…

Church of God padlocked, service held outdoors

May 16, 2021 | 3 Comments

About 500 attended an outdoor service Sunday morning, May 16, at Aylmer Church of God (Restoration), in defiance of provincial regulations limiting such gatherings to a maximum of 10, just two days after a judge ordered the building padlocked so no one could get inside, and fined the church and its two pastors for ignoring…

Police statement on church padlocking

May 14, 2021 | 6 Comments

The Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) has been padlocked following a ruling by Justice Bruce Thomas of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in St. Thomas Friday, May 14, about contempt of court findings against the church, Pastor Henry Hildebrandt and Associate Pastor Peter Wall. Aylmer Police, in a statement, said Elgin County Sheriff’s officials,…

Two from Aylmer charged

May 14, 2021 | 0 Comments

A man, 57, and a woman, 46, both from Aylmer have been charged by the City of London for participating in a “Freedom Protest” in Victoria Park on March 20, contrary to Ontario’s emergency orders for the COVID-19 pandemic. The city, in a statement, said summonses had been served to the two with the help…

Southwestern reports 24 new cases

May 14, 2021 | 0 Comments

Southwestern Public Health recorded 24 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Friday, May 14, up from 16 the previous day. The health unit is now tracking 138 ongoing cases, up from 132. St. Thomas and area dropped to 25 ongoing cases Friday from 26 on Thursday, while Central Elgin…

Pastor remains defiant

May 14, 2021 | 1 Comment

Aylmer Church of God (Restoration) Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, soon after being fined and seeing an order issued to have that church padlocked for defying provincial COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, declared during an online livestream Friday, May 14, “Nothing will deter us. Nothing will stop the people of God.” He had mixed feelings following the court ruling,…