Twenty COVID-19 cases in Tillsonburg
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Active COVID-19 cases are slowly coming down in Tillsonburg.
As of Monday, Southwestern Public Health reported 20 confirmed ongoing cases, down four from a week earlier.
St. Thomas (44) and Woodstock (43) continue to have the highest number of cases in the Oxford-Elgin region, which in total had 160 cases of Monday.
Six region cases were hospitalized, one in ICU.
“Provincially, 2,360 individuals are hospitalized and 773 are in the ICUs,” said Dr. Joyce Lock, Medical Officer of Health for the region last week. “537 are on a ventilator due to COVID.”
Variants of Concern make up 48 per cent of Southwestern Public Health’s active cases.
Three COVID-associated deaths were reported last week in the region – a woman in her 80s from Woodstock, and two St. Thomas men in their 70s, none of them associated with institution outbreaks. There were five COVID-19 related deaths in the region over a two-week period.
As of April 20, 44,696 residents (21 per cent of the region) has been immunized against COVID-19 with at least one dose.
“69.5 per cent of those over 80, and 72 per cent of those over 70 have been immunized,” Dr. Lock noted. “Our emphasis has been on risk related to age and you can see that in our number. We started this work in long term care and retirement homes and then moved toward the elderly living in the community.”
Currently, everyone over 60 is eligible to receive a vaccination through one of the region’s three main clinics – St. Thomas, Woodstock and now Tillsonburg (open April 27).
“I want to emphasize we do have many spots available over the next three weeks. So booking online at www.covidvaccinelm.ca is the easiest option due to phone volume. But you can also book by calling 226-289-3560 – this booking line is available daily from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.”
Anyone over the age of 40 is eligible for vaccinations at participating pharmacies (there are five in Tillsonburg).
“I recommend that if you are eligible for vaccine, you do not wait with the hope that a different vaccine will become available,” said Dr. Lock.
cabbott@postmedia.com
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