News Headlines

About 70 vehicles were parked at Aylmer Church of God on John Street North for a drive-in service on Sunday morning, April 26. Two Aylmer Police officers took video recordings of the gathering, but didn’t issue any tickets immediately for illegally gathering under Ontario’s emergency orders regarding COVID-19 pandemic precautions. Pastor Henry Hildebrandt said afterward,…

Aylmer Police are warning a town church (Aylmer Church of God, though police won’t identify the institution by name) that members could face charges if they gather for a service this Sunday, April 26, as they did last Sunday, April 19, even if they’re only sitting in their vehicles with windows rolled up in the…

Southwestern Public Health on Wednesday, April 22, reported that a fourth person had died as a result of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction, which is Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford. The woman was 72, and had been admitted to St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital before her death. The health unit stated she had caught COVID-19 through…

Southwestern Public Health is currently reporting, as of Monday morning, April 20, 18 ongoing cases of confirmed COVID-19 in Elgin and St. Thomas, and 10 more in Oxford. St. Thomas has seven cases, Dutton Dunwich four, Central Elgin and West Elgin two each and Aylmer, Bayham and Malahide, one each. So far in the Southwestern…

Southwestern Public Health has reported a third death attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in Elgin and St. Thomas, and also the health unit and St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital jointly announced Tuesday, April 14, that a health care worker at the hospital tested positive for the virus on Monday, April 13. The health unit and…

St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital staff members, many in protective gear, waved to a passing parade of Elgin County tractors as local farmers saluted the health care workers on Wednesday night, April 8. The procession was organized by Malahide farmer Glen Debrabandere. (AE/Rob Perry)

Southwestern Public Health’s COVID-19 website chart took a jump by four active cases in Elgin and St. Thomas on Wednesday afternoon, April 8. The number of active cases increased to 11 from seven. Three of the new cases were residents of St. Thomas, for a new total of four, while the number in Dutton Dunwich…

The municipalities of ongoing confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region were released, with two from Central Elgin and one from Aylmer. This information was made public Monday afternoon, April 6, when Southwestern Public Health updated its case reporting strategy. They are eliminating the list of individual cases and replacing it with summary statistics. The summary statistics…

Wednesday, April 1, brought an abrupt increase in the number of confirmed  COVID-19 cases in Elgin and St. Thomas from seven to 11, including the second death from the disease, a woman in her 70s. Of the three other new cases from Elgin, one was someone in their 80s (self-isolating), and two others, an 80s…