Middlesex-London marks third day with over 20 cases, Lambton going into lockdown

Middlesex Centre, Ont. — The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is reporting 27 new COVID-19 cases Friday, the third day in a row counts have been above 20 cases, as Lambton County gets set to move into lockdown.

The London region saw 28 cases on Thursday and 23 on Wednesday. Before that the region hadn't topped 20 cases since March 5.

There are now a total of 6,395 cases in the region, with 6,043 resolved and 185 deaths, leaving 167 active cases. No new deaths were reported.

There are four confirmed variant cases and 24 cases that have screened positive for a 'variant of concern.'

Outbreaks are ongoing at three elementary schools, Western University's Essex Hall residence and six long-term care or retirement homes.

Southwestern Public Health has declared an outbreak at St. Michaels Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock that has prompted the school's closure for about two weeks.

Here are the most recently available numbers from other local public health authorities, no new deaths were reported:

While an outbreak at the Sarnia Jail has ended, another on the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation is ongoing, while three school outbreaks have seen a total of 10 cases.

A trend of higher case counts has prompted the province to announce that Lambton County will move into the grey-lockdown zone under the province's COVID-19 response framework.

That change will take effect on Monday. Full details on what is open and closed and gathering restrictions are available here.

Across Ontario, 1,371 new cases were reported Friday, the sixth day in a row the province logged case numbers above 1,000.