Elgin County in a statement issued Friday, Dec. 31, reported that three residents and one staff member at Elgin Manor long-term care home in Southwold had tested positive for COVID-19. On Sunday, Jan. 2, the county reported that one resident and one staff member at Terrace Lodge long-term care home in Malahide and two staff members at Bobier Villa long-term…
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, in a statement issued on Thursday, Dec. 30, announced it was tightening “essential visitor” rules on a temporary basis. The action was being taken given a surge in COVID-19 cases across Ontario, and reflected similar measures being taken by other hospitals, STEGH said. The following can still visit patient: up to two caregivers for a…
Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore announced on Thursday, Dec. 30, that the expected return of children to schools on Monday, Jan. 3, was being delayed until Wednesday, Jan. 5, as a result of the rapid spread in COVID-19 cases involving the Omicron variant across the province. He also stated that testing for COVID-19 would be restricted…
The Ontario government on Tuesday, Dec. 28, announced tighter restrictions on visits to long-term care homes in response to the contagion risk posed by the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The new rules, taking effect Thursday, Dec. 20, will “pause” general visits to long-term care homes, though “designated caregivers” can continue to enter homes. The changes will also ban for now…
Aylmer Police Deputy Chief Nick Novacich reported the following on Monday, Dec. 27: Sexual assault An Aylmer man, 48, has been charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm. An Aylmer woman, 50, reported to police Wednesday, Dec. 22, that she had been assaulted by her husband during the week of Dec. 11. Investigation determined the woman had suffered both an…
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office has determined that a basement wood-burning stove was the source of a house fire on Nova Scotia Line in the early-morning hours of Monday, Dec. 20, that resulted in the death of Ken Jones. His wife Linda escaped the fire by climbing down a tree from a second-storey window. The fire marshal’s office, in a…
Southwestern Public Health was reporting 110 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Friday, Dec. 24, a record high since the pandemic began. Similarly, across Ontario 9,571 new cases were confirmed Friday, another new record, nearly doubling the one set the previous day at 5,790. Southwestern is now tracking 479 ongoing cases of COVID-19 in…
Southwestern Public Health was reporting 89 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Thursday morning, Dec. 23, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began. The previous day, 29 new cases had been confirmed. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the health unit jumped to 397 Thursday from 328 Wednesday. Local cases include…
The family of the late Ken Jones of Malahide has confirmed that he died in an early-morning house fire on Nova Scotia Line in Malahide Monday, Dec. 20. Granddaughter Kariesha Blackwood of Aylmer told the Express that her grandmother Linda only escaped by climbing out a window and down an adjacent tree. Ken and Linda’s grandson Robert, who resided there…
Southwestern Public Health reported Wednesday, Dec. 22, that the positivity rate, the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back confirming the presence of the virus in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford, has reached an all-time high for this year, at 6.8 percent as of Dec. 12. That compares to a positivity rate of 4.6 percent as of Dec. 5. Southwestern recorded…