There’s some good news for a Friday and some new information to consider from today’s Southwestern Public Health data release. First, the good news. The total number of active Covid-19 cases in Oxford County, Elgin County and the city of St. Thomas has dropped from 15 to 13. The two apparent resolved cases are in Elgin County, with Dutton/Dunwich no longer reporting an active virus case and St. Thomas dropping their total from 3 to 2. Combined with the 2 active cases in Malahide, Elgin County currently has only 4 cases on the go.

Oxford County is reporting no change since yesterday, with a total that still stands at 9 active cases. The breakdown by municipality shows Tillsonburg with 3 cases, Woodstock has 2, while Blandford-Blenheim, Norwich, Southwest Oxford and Zorra all have 1 case each.

Southwestern Public Health has added more, not necessarily new, information to their website’s information dashboard. In addition to the daily summary, they’ve added a new comparison chart that lists the current day’s totals with the previous day’s totals and an expression of the day-to-day changes in percentages. To see this new chart or other information posted by Southwestern Public Health, go to their website at: https://www.swpublichealth.ca/content/community-update-novel-coronavirus-covid-19

Other websites to check regularly include:

Oxford County: http://www.oxfordcounty.ca/covid-19

Town of Tillsonburg: https://www.tillsonburg.ca/en/town-hall/novel-conoravirus-covid-19-information.aspx

On another note, the Haldimand-Norfolk Medical Officer of Health has ordered that anyone with a primary residence outside of Haldimand or Norfolk will not be permitted to occupy a secondary residence, such as a cottage or vacation property, in Norfolk or Haldimand counties. You will be allowed to do essential property maintenance but you will not be allowed to stay overnight. As of this (Friday) morning, violators could be subjected to a fine of up to $5,000. This initiative is seen as a way of controlling the number of non-residents in Haldimand and Norfolk counties during the upcoming long holiday weekend.

Stay safe, stay home, stay apart, stay informed…and keep washing your hands, OFTEN!