The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported seven COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, though the total case count tally increased by only six, as well as one death.
The death involved a man in his 60s who was not vaccinated and the death was not associated with a long-term care or retirement home.
In total, the MLHU is reporting 13,662 cases with 180 active (a decrease of 13), 13,245 recoveries (an increase of 18) and 237 deaths.
London Health Sciences Centre says it is caring for seven inpatients with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, unchanged from Monday. Five or fewer patients are in adult intensive care.
Five or fewer inpatients with COVID-19 are in Children’s Hospital, with none in pediatric critical care.
Five or fewer staff are currently positive with COVID-19, the organization reported, a decrease from six on Tuesday.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London (SJHCL) is reporting one non-outbreak case involving a health-care worker.
Outbreaks
There are currently no active institutional outbreaks reported by the MLHU.
2:34 What will happen as more COVID-19 patients fill Alberta ICUs?
What will happen as more COVID-19 patients fill Alberta ICUs?
Schools and child care
The MLHU is reporting cases at the following schools in its jurisdiction:
École élémentaire La Pommeraie, two cases
École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-Bruyère, three cases
Hillcrest Public School, one case
Kensal Park Public School, two cases
Lambeth Public School, one case
Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School, one case
Vaccinations and testing
In updated data released Tuesday covering up to the end of day Sept. 11, the MLHU says 78.4 per cent of residents aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 84.7 per cent have had at least one dose.
When looking specifically at the city of London, the number drops to 78.1 per cent fully vaccinated and 84.6 per cent with at least one dose.
For Middlesex County, 79.8 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated and 85.2 per cent have had at least one dose.
The overall age range with the lowest vaccine uptake remains those aged 18 to 24, with 65.1 per cent fully vaccinated and 75.4 per cent with at least one dose.
In total, the MLHU says 738,157 doses of vaccine have been administered in the region as of the end of day Sept. 11.
MLHU data says, in the last six weeks, two deaths involved unvaccinated individuals and one involved a fully vaccinated individual. However, six deaths have been recorded in that time.
On Monday, medical officer of health Dr. Chris Mackie noted that there was an issue with the data that involved “the script that was written” to update the dashboard mistakenly identifying the date of diagnosis as the date of death.
As a result, deaths within the past six weeks that involved cases where symptoms emerged more than six weeks ago were not included in the dashboard.
“We’ll get that corrected as soon as we can,” he said.
According to the available data, only two hospitalizations, or 6.9 per cent of hospitalizations, involved individuals who were fully vaccinated.
As for reported cases in general, 16.89 per cent (or 138 of 817 cases) involved people who were fully vaccinated and 15.67 per cent (or 128 cases) were among those who were partially vaccinated.
Ontario reported 577 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, 125 of which involved individuals who were fully vaccinated. Seven deaths were also reported, though one occurred over a month ago.
1,068 variant of concern cases, with 769 Alpha, 244 Delta (an increase of five) and 55 Beta or Gamma
The most recent death was reported Aug. 31 and involved a woman in her 80s from Oxford County.
Of the 50 active cases, 15 are in Woodstock, nine in St. Thomas and seven in South-West Oxford. Per-municipality case counts for the pandemic can be found on the health unit’sdashboard.
Four people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with one in the ICU.
There are no active institutional outbreaks, the health unit says.
A outbreak declared Aug. 20 involving Knollcrest Lodge in Perth East remains active and involves a total of 13 cases with seven among residents and six among staff as of Tuesday. Four deaths are associated with the outbreak.
The region’s test positivity rate was 2.2 per cent for the week of Aug. 29, up from an adjusted 1.8 per cent for the week of Aug. 22.
HPPH’s vaccine dashboard showed that as of Sept. 13, 75.7 per cent of residents 12 and older were fully vaccinated while 81.8 per cent have had at least one dose.
Of those aged 12 and older, 73.7 per cent are fully vaccinated and 79.3 per cent have at least one dose.
Lambton Public Health is also working with Lambton County Library to make it easier to obtain vaccine receipts by assisting residents having trouble downloading or printing the receipts.
Those who are able to get vaccinated on short notice are encouraged to sign up for Lambton Public Health’s daily Vaccine Standby List.
Residents can book and re-book COVID-19 vaccine appointments using the health unit’s registration page. People can also call the vaccine call centre at 226-254-8222.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
