News Headlines

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 32 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, April 13. The health unit also recorded its 71st death linked to the virus, a Woodstock woman in her 60s. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit rose to 177 Tuesday from…

Thames Valley District School board announced Monday, April 12, that at the instruction of the Ontario government, in-person learning would not resume across the province after the spring break this week. All elementary and secondary students who had attended classes at schools would shift to full remote learning Monday, April 19, the board stated. No…

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 65 new cases from the weekend, or an average of over 30 a day, on Monday, April 12, compared to 24 new cases on Friday, April 9. Southwestern also announced the death of a St. Thomas man in his 50s in a case linked to COVID-19. The health unit is…

Southwestern Public Health was reporting 24 confirmed new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, April 9, up from 16 the previous day, and across Ontario, 4,227 new cases were confirmed, up from 3,295 Thursday. In Aylmer and area, the number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit jumped to 19 Friday from 11 Thursday.…

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, citing increasing admissions to hospitals and intensive care units as a result of COVID-19 variants that were “worse than the worst-case scenarios” previously predicted, declared a new state of emergency for the province and issued a four-week “stay-at-home” order on Wednesday, April 7. Grocery stores and pharmacies will be allowed to…

Southwestern Public Health reported 63 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 from the Easter long weekend on Monday morning, April 5. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit increased to 115 Monday from 90 last Thursday. St. Thomas and area increased to 23 cases Monday from 20 last Thursday, Aylmer and area…

Thames Valley District School Board has announced the discovery of two cases of COVID-19 at New Sarum Public School. The board said the school would remain open despite the cases. All parents and staff members were immediately notified of the cases, TVDSB stated. Staff and pupils found to have been in close contact to the…

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Thursday afternoon, April 1, that a four-week “emergency brake shutdown” was being imposed on the province in an effort to check the spread of COVID-19 variants that are more dangerous than the original strain. Food stores and pharmacies can stay open at a 50 percent capacity for customers, and other…

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce, in a social media post on Thursday morning, April 1, announced that schools in the province would remain open. Schools were “critical for students’ mental health and learning,” he said, adding Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams had stated schools remained safe, despite a third wave of COVID-19…

Southwestern Public Health reported 12 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Tuesday, March 30. The health unit was tracking 84 ongoing cases on Tuesday, down from 92 on Monday. Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford remain in the “Orange-Restrict” provincial pandemic colour code on Tuesday, but on that same day…