The Middlesex London health unit is reporting one new death linked to the novel coronavirus on Saturday.
The death, a 51-year-old woman, is not associated with any long-term care or retirement home.
This new fatality brings the local death toll to 60 people and is the second one recorded this week. A death reported on Wednesday involving a 71-year-old man was also not linked to a seniors’ facility.
Four more people have tested positive for the virus, and 10 more people have recovered, according to the health unit’s online dashboard.
It brings the region’s total case tally to 1,085, of which 963 have recovered.
There are at least 62 known active cases of the virus in London and Middlesex, health unit figures show.
Of Saturday’s cases, all four are from London, Ont.
Five have their exposure source listed as contact with a confirmed case, while one is listed as due to an outbreak. Three cases are pending or undetermined, while one has no known link.
A total of 128 people have been hospitalized during the pandemic, including 33 in intensive care. Current hospitalization figures aren’t available. London Health Sciences Centre says it will only issue a tally on Mondays if the number of inpatients with COVID-19 is above five.
Health officials reported 10 new cases and nine recoveries on Friday, 11 cases and 10 recoveries on Thursday, one death, nine cases and six recoveries on Wednesday, six cases and eight recoveries on Tuesday, and 11 cases and 12 recoveries on Monday.
While many of the cases seen last month were due to student gatherings and outings at downtown establishments, health officials say more cases have been appearing involving older age groups.
“This time last month, Western University was really driving the majority of cases in the area,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, on Thursday.
“I’d say they’re down to, you know, 10 to 20 per cent of cases — that’s ballpark, it’s not an exact figure. But [Western] is much less of a factor right now.”
People in their 20s remain the largest group of cases by age during the pandemic. They account for 24 per cent of all cases with 266, followed by people in their 30s and 50s with 145 and 144 cases each, respectively.
At least 197 cases involve health-care workers, the health unit says. It’s not clear how many staff cases have been reported involving London Health Sciences Centre, but at least four staff cases have been reported at St. Joseph’s Health Care London since the start of September, the organization says.
Previously, St. Joseph’s had reported a total of 19 staff cases, meaning there have been at least 24 staff cases there since the pandemic began.
