London region sees 287 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend
Indoor gatherings are driving case count, says associate medical officer of health
Recent developments:
- The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported 161 new COVID-19 cases Saturday and 126 on Sunday.
- A total of 697 cases have screened positive for variants of concern.
- Ontario reached an all-time high with 4,456 new cases logged Sunday.
What's the latest for the London area?
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) reported 287 cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, with 161 cases logged Saturday and an additional 126 reported Sunday. No new COVID-related deaths have been reported.
The majority of the new cases are among people aged 29 and younger, data from the MLHU shows.
So far in the month of April, the region has seen a total of 1,218 new cases. For context, during the entire month of February the region reported 467 cases.
"I think the numbers speak for themselves, unfortunately, with regards to how concerned we ought to be," said Dr. Alex Summers, the associate medical officer of health with the MLHU. "This third wave is trending in a direction of even more cases than what we would have seen during the second wave."
Summers said the majority of new cases are a product of indoor gatherings involving people from different households.
In addition to the high cases counts, the number of variants of concern continues to soar.
According to data from the MLHU, an additional 198 cases have screened positive for variants since Friday. So far, there have been nine confirmed variant cases along with 697 screened variants showing a mutation of the virus.
"I would emphasize to people that, more than ever, we need to be staying at home and adhering to public health guidance," said Dr. Summers.
"I know that the temptation to gather with others is high, however, I'm asking for everyone to hold the line. We're in the home stretch here and if we continue to see transmission like we are, our health care system is at risk of being overwhelmed," he added.
The health unit posted 171 recoveries over the weekend, leaving the number of known, active cases at 1,209.
COVID-19 across the region and beyond
According to the latest update from Southwestern Public Health, which oversees Elgin-Oxford and St. Thomas, there are 124 active cases in the region.
Huron Perth Public Health posted four new cases on Saturday. The region has a total of 36 active cases.
Meanwhile, the province reached an all-time high in daily case counts on Sunday with 4,456 new infections across Ontario. Most of the new cases are concentrated in Toronto, Peel Region and York Region.
The seven-day average in Ontario is up to 3,573 a day.
The province also reported 21 additional deaths.