The Middlesex-London Health Unit reported 12 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday.
It is the highest daily increase of COVID-19 cases since May 10 when 13 new cases were reported.
There are now a total of 707 COVID-19 cases locally, with 621 recoveries and 57 deaths.
At least 29 cases are active in the region as of Saturday.
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No new recoveries were reported Saturday, and the death toll has remained unchanged since June 12.
All 12 new cases are from the city of London, Ont., where there are now 655 confirmed cases.
Elsewhere, 26 cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, 12 in Middlesex Centre, six each in North Middlesex and Thames Centre, and one each in Lucan Biddulph and Southwest Middlesex.
Seven of the new cases are people under 19 years of age. One is in their 20s, one in their 30s, one in their 40s, one in their 50s, and one in their 70s.
People in their 20s make up the most number of cases in terms of age group with 147 or 21 per cent, followed by people in their 50s and 80s, tied at 107 cases –or 15 per cent–each.
Among Saturday’s new cases, six are male and six are female. Males make up 42 per cent of the region’s case count, and females make up 58 per cent.
One of the new cases involves a staff member at a long-term care home.
Health-care workers make up 22.5 per cent of the region’s total case count with 159 cases.
The region’s case per 100,000 rate has risen to 139.3, while Ontario’s is at 272.2
Ontario
Ontario reported 106 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 40,565.
One new death was also announced, bringing the provincial death toll to 2,789.
There have been 36,873 recovered cases, an increase of 101 from the day before.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said 27 of the province’s 34 public health units reported five or fewer cases, with 18 of them reporting no new cases.
Elgin and Oxford
Officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported five new COVID-19 cases along with eight more recoveries on Saturday.
There are now a total of 228 cases in the region with 172 recoveries. The death toll remains unchanged at five.
The region has reported at least 145 cases since the beginning of July — 73 so far this month. In comparison, 83 cases were reported in March, April, May and June combined.
There are at least 51 known active cases in the region. Aylmer has 27, Bayham has 13, Tillsonburg has six and St. Thomas has five.
People in their 50s make up the most cases in terms of age group with 47 or 21 per cent, followed by people in their 20s at 39 cases or 17 per cent.
SWPH has received 19,877 tests to date, with 308 pending results, with a test-positivity rate of 1.2 per cent.
Huron and Perth
Officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) do not issue updates on weekends.
On Friday, four new cases were reported, but few other details were made available.
The health unit says it’s in the process of “transitioning to the new provincial case and contact management system” and during the transition, which is expected to take until “August 21 or later,” HPPH is “unable to provide all of the local COVID-19 surveillance data previously available” on their website.
The region had recorded 87 cases as of Friday, with 10 known active cases.
Sarnia and Lambton
Zero new cases and two more recoveries were reported by officials with Lambton Public Health (LPH) late Friday.
The region’s total case count sits at 331, of which 295 people have now recovered. Twenty-five people have also died, most recently in early June.
There are at least 11 known active cases in the region.
A workplace outbreak, linked to four of the region’s cases, remains active. It was declared on Monday. The name of the workplace has not been released.
At least 10 outbreaks have been declared in the region during the pandemic, linked to 109 cases and 16 deaths. Nine of the outbreaks occurred at long-term care and retirement homes.
No COVID-19 patients have been treated in hospital at Bluewater Health since June 14.
At least 20,251 test results had been received as of late Friday. The region’s test-positivity rate dropped 0.1 per cent to 1.6 per cent.
–With files from Global News
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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