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COVID-19 Update for Tuesday, April 14

Journal staff Just one new case of COVID-19 was reported in Sarnia-Lambton, Tuesday morning, and Bluewater Health has confirmed an 11th death. “There’s a lot of speculation that maybe what we’ve been doing has been working.
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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted to Bluewater Health, as of April 14.

Journal staff 

Just one new case of COVID-19 was reported in Sarnia-Lambton, Tuesday morning, and Bluewater Health has confirmed an 11th death.

“There’s a lot of speculation that maybe what we’ve been doing has been working. I’m cautiously optimistic that that’s the case,” Dr. Sudit Ranade, Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health, said in a Tuesday media briefing.

“We’re still in that ‘hold your breath moment’... we’re ready for a surge, we hope it doesn’t happen because (the measures) worked, but we’re still waiting to make sure.”

Lambton Public Health says 119 cases have been confirmed, up from 118 reported Monday. Six of the deaths have been linked to an outbreak at Landmark Village seniors’ home -- where 23 people (seven staff and 16 residents) have been infected to date.

Twenty-one people are listed as recovered.

But Ranade said social distancing and other measures are recommended, even for those that have beaten the virus.

“Nobody really knows the answer to whether or not you could be re-infected,” he said. “But having said that, we don’t believe that that would be true in the short term.”

Four of five people infected will experience a mild case of COVID-19, he said.

A total of 799 tests have now been conducted locally, up from 788 reported  Monday, with 144 pending, and 536 negative results. Tests are completed both in hospital and at the community assessment centre.

Testing supplies are becoming more available and a backlog of lab results is beginning to ease, Dr. Ranade said.

“There have been new testing guidelines issued by the province that just expand the scope of testing and those who would be eligible, especially with respect to residents and staff in long-term care homes and other settings like that.”

The number of people being treated in hospital is slowly declining, with 24 confirmed COVID patients and nine presumed to have the virus (awaiting results) at Bluewater Health Tuesday, compared to 28 patients and 16 awaiting results on Friday.

Sarnia-Lambton’s first five cases of COVID-19 were confirmed March 25.

Lambton Public Health continues to recommend that all residents practice social and physical distancing to decrease the transmission of COVID-19.

The city is reminding residents that all outdoor sports facilities, including the track field at St. Patrick’s, are closed and strictly prohibited. Anyone found violating the emergency orders will be charged and face significant fines, the city said.

Across Ontario, 483 new cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the provincial total to 7,953, while 334 people have died, and 3,568 have recovered.


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