News Headlines

COVID-19: STEGH worker diagnosed; third Elgin resident dies

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…

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Elgin farmers salute hospital workers

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)

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COVID-19: Three more cases in Elgin-St. Thomas

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…

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COVID-19: Ongoing cases for Aylmer, Central Elgin

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…

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COVID-19: Second death in region, jump in new cases

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…

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First COVID-19 death in region

The first COVID-19-related death in Elgin was announced by St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital via news release on Tuesday, March 31 morning. (press release in full below) In a telephone press conference late Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Joyce Lock, medical officer of health for Southwestern Public Health, said the woman, who died on Monday night, was…

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COVID-19: Five cases in region, three in hospital

As of Friday, March 27, there had been 5 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, with four of those being from Elgin. Southwestern Public Health oversees testing and confirmation of cases it’s region: Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford. The most recent two cases, both Elgin males in their 70s, are listed as being hospitalized.…

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Second Elgin COVID-19 case cofirmed, another in Oxford

by Rob Perry of The Aylmer Express Southwestern Public Health announced on Wednesday, March 25, that the first case of COVID-19 in Oxford County had been confirmed. That same day a third case was confirmed, this time a second person from Elgin (not announced through news release, but found on the SPH’s Confirmed Cases Dashboard:…

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First case of COVID-19 in Elgin

**Updated March 24** On Tuesday, March 24, it was revealed the man was admitted to St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital intensive care unit Monday night, arriving by ambulance. “Having a confirmed case in our hospital is not unexpected given the transmission of this virus globally,” said Robert Biron, STEGH president and CEO. There were no…

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