SATURDAY UPDATE: No new cases in Sarnia-Lambton for seventh straight day

Journal Staff The COVID-19 situation in Sarnia-Lambton continued to improve today, with no new cases reported for seven straight days.

Journal Staff

The COVID-19 situation in Sarnia-Lambton continued to improve today, with no new cases reported for seven straight days.

Lambton Public Health said this morning three more people have recovered, leaving the county with just eight active cases.

Bluewater Health said no patients have been treated in-hospital for the virus since June 14.

And no new cases have emerged at two institutional outbreaks in Sarnia. One staff member at Afton Park Place and four staff at the hospital are currently in self-isolation.

The encouraging numbers come amid heaving testing, with more than 1,300 new test results having been received over the past week.

With no new cases detected, the percentage of tests coming back COVID-positive has dropped to 2.4%, the lowest percentage since the pandemic began.

Since March 25, Sarnia-Lambton has had 285 cases and 25 deaths. Sixteen of those who died were residents of two Sarnia senior homes, and 36% of those infected were residents or staff at local long-term care and retirement homes.

Meanwhile, City Hall said Friday it won’t be able to reopen any arenas or accept bookings for baseball diamonds or sportsfields during the month of July.

Though outdoor facilities are available for casual use, cost cutting to cope with the pandemic has left the parks and rec department short-staffed and unable to reopen quickly, the city said.

And the Federal Government has announced the launch of the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) to support post-secondary students and recent graduates who volunteer to serve in community COVID-19 response.

The CSSG will provide volunteers with a one-time payment of $1,000 to $5,000 based on the number of hours they serve.

To find not-for-profit organizations looking for help during the pandemic, use the new I Want to Help platform.