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COVID-19 Update for Wednesday, April 15

Tara Jeffrey There are no new cases and no new deaths from COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton, Wednesday. The number of deaths remains at 11, as reported Tuesday, while recoveries climbed from 21 to 35 overnight, according to Lambton Public Health.
Lambton Public Health
Lambton Public Health

Tara Jeffrey 

There are no new cases and no new deaths from COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton, Wednesday.

The number of deaths remains at 11, as reported Tuesday, while recoveries climbed from 21 to 35 overnight, according to Lambton Public Health.

The total number of local cases remains at 119. 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.

“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.”

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted to Bluewater Health, as of April 15.

The Health Unit updated its testing numbers Wednesday to list the number of tests results received, rather than the number of tests conducted. A total of 669 test results have come back, with 18% positive (119) and 82% negative (550).

The number of people being treated in hospital has been declining, with 22 confirmed COVID patients and 11 presumed to have the virus (awaiting results) at Bluewater Health Tuesday, compared to 28 patients and 16 awaiting results last Friday.

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.

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

Across Ontario, 494 new cases were reported Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 8,447, while 385 people have died, and 3,902 have recovered.

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. The boat launch at Centennial Park closed Tuesday, along with the launch at Bridgeview Marina. Waterfront access on the St. Clair Parkway between the Suncor gate and Marlborough Avenue is restricted to Aamjiwnaang residents only after the band closed that stretch of Parkway on April 10.


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