News
New and ongoing cases dip downward
Southwestern Public Health was reporting 16 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Thursday, Nov. 18, down from 26 the previous day. The number of ongoing cases in the Southwestern also dropped, to 144 from 167. However, 14 SWPH residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, seven of them in intensive care…
Read MoreCOVID-19 positivity rate still climbing
Southwestern Public Health on Wednesday, Nov. 17, revealed that the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back as positive had climbed again. It rose to 5.8 percent as of Nov. 7, up from 5.1 percent on Oct. 31. The positivity rate has been cited by the health unit as one factor in a decision announced Tuesday…
Read MoreNew COVID-19 restrictions coming
As case numbers continue to rise, Southwestern Public Health Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock advised Tuesday, Nov. 16, that new COVID-19 restrictions would be put in place within the next seven days or so. She didn’t specify what the restrictions would be, but did say they would focus on indoor spaces where transmission…
Read MoreHospitalizations rise again; 66 new cases from weekend
Southwestern Public Health on Monday, Nov. 15, reported 66 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford from the weekend, an average of 22 a day. That’s down from Friday, when the average over two days (the health unit was closed for Remembrance Day Thursday) was 29. The number of ongoing confirmed…
Read MoreSteven Chute, 56, of St. Thomas identified as victim of fatal crash
Aylmer Police on Monday, Nov. 15, identified Steven Chute, 56, as the St. Thomas driver who died in a crash with a transport truck on Talbot Street East in the area of King Street on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at about 11:20. His 2005 Nissan Murano was in a head-on crash with a transport truck being…
Read MoreSTEGH has surpassed its capacity for critical care due to COVID-19
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, in an urgent statement issued late Friday afternoon, Nov. 12, stated the number of patients requiring critical care there was at the highest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of COVID-19 cases at STEGH was “increasing at an unprecedented rate,” it said. All 13 COVID-19 patients now…
Read MoreFifty-eight new cases in two days
Southwestern Public Health, after being closed Thursday for Remembrance Day, on Friday, Nov. 12, reported that 58 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford, or an average of 29 a day. On Wednesday, 22 new cases had been announced. The number of ongoing confirmed cases being tracked by the…
Read MoreRemembrance Day in Aylmer
Aylmer Police Chief Zvonko Horvat, left, and Deputy Chief Nick Novacich saluted after laying a wreath from the Aylmer Police Association during the Remembrance Day service at the town Cenotaph on Thursday, Nov. 11. A large group of Ontario Police College recruits were on parade for the event, which was well-attended by local residents. Similar…
Read MoreAll COVID-19 patients unvaccinated: STEGH
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, in a statement Wednesday, Nov. 10, noted that a rising number of patients were being admitted with COVID-19, “all of whom are unvaccinated.” Cases in the Southwestern Public Health region of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford “are rising at an alarming rate,” the hospital continued. “STEGH is experiencing our highest…
Read MoreCOVID-19 positivity rate climbs
The latest information on the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive for the virus in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford , from Oct. 31, sets that rate at 5.1 percent. That’s much higher than the 3.1 percent reported a week earlier. Southwestern Public Health Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock stated, in response…
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