Middlesex-London sees 9 new COVID-19 cases as seniors' facilities death toll rises

Public health officials reported nine new COVID-19 cases in Middlesex-London Wednesday. At the same time, the region's death toll in seniors' facilities continues to climb.

Contrary to the recent trend in daily case numbers, eight of the nine new cases in the region involve the general population, while only one new patient is a resident of a long-term care home. 

The new cases bring the area's case count up to 393 and, of those cases, a little more than half have been marked as resolved by the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU).

"We would love to have better data on [community transmission] than we do," said Dr. Chris Mackie, Middlesex-London's medical officer of health. "What we do know is that there are many cases in the community that are going undiagnosed, we just don't know how many."

"The push right to make sure everyone in long-term care is diagnosed is really where our new diagnosis of cases is happening. It also aligns with the death data as well," he said. 

On Wednesday, the MLHU reported four new deaths, and three of them are linked to seniors' facilities. 

The latest people to die from the virus are a woman in her 90s and a man in his 60s, both associated with long-term care homes, a man in his 70s is linked to a retirement home as well as a man in his 80s. 

Over the course of the pandemic, 36 people have died from the virus in the region, with 20 deaths linked to seniors' facilities. 

"At this point in the pandemic, the majority of deaths are coming from long-term care and retirement homes, so that suggests that, at least for the serious cases, it is the homes where we're seeing the most activity," said, Dr. Mackie.

While the health unit is not reporting how many cases each seniors' facility in the region currently has, they have named the seven facilities with outbreaks.

In order to really evaluate trends in how the virus is spreading into the community, Dr. Mackie said there would need to be arbitrary testing in people outside of the health-care system. 

"[Right now] you've got a selected group of people who are sick and deem themselves sick enough to get tested that are coming in to get tested," he said. "You don't have a random sample of 500 people ... from the area to sample and see whether they have symptoms or not," he explained.  

Meanwhile, after reaching the highest number in hospitalizations to date Tuesday with 36 people admitted to the London Health Sciences Centre, the number of patients in local hospitals decreased to 32. Six of those patients are in critical care units.

Even at its highest peak, Middlesex-London's healthcare system has not been as strained as it was initially expected to be during the pandemic.

"Healthcare is great when you're sick, but it doesn't usually prevent you from getting sick," said Dr. Mackie. "The reason we've been able to keep those numbers low is because the public has been so helpful and cooperative with the public health measures."

Cases beyond the region

Oxford and Elgin counties reported one new case in the region. 

According to Southwestern Public Health, 60 people in the counties have contracted the virus, and 32 of them have recovered.

Huron-Perth's case count also rose by one Wednesday. 

The latest to become infected is a staff member of Huronview, a long-term care home just south of Clinton.

The new case prompted Huron Perth Public Health to declare an outbreak at the facility.

Of the 45 cases reported in the region, 18 are linked to residents and staff at three seniors' homes.

Meanwhile, public health officials in Grey Bruce had no new cases to report. 

The region's case count sits at 80 and 39 of them have been resolved.