COVID-19 claims 27-year-old man, WECHU reports
Region sees 127 new cases, most in one day since pandemic began
On the same day as health officials announced the highest single-day jump ever in local COVID-19 infections, the head of the Windsor-essex County Health Unit also divulged the “heartbreaking” news that the virus had claimed the life of an otherwise healthy 27-yearold resident.
The man was admitted to hospital on Dec. 4 and died on Tuesday.
The health unit reported the man's death on Wednesday morning, the same day as an all-time high of 127 new COVID-19 infections were announced.
The man had no underlying medical conditions.
Health unit CEO Theresa Marentette, who has a daughter the same age as the man who died, was visibly upset when she shared the sad news during a virtual news conference.
“It's heartbreaking. I can't imagine what the family is going through,” she said. “The pandemic continues to take lives.
“It doesn't matter how old you are. I don't have any words to capture how I really feel.”
The health unit has reported seven COVID-19 deaths in the past two weeks. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 85 people who tested positive locally have died, most of them — 56 — being residents of long-term care and retirement homes. The youngest person to die as a result of COVID-19 was a 24-year-old migrant farm worker from Mexico. He had underlying medical conditions.
The current COVID-19 death rate in Windsor and Essex County is 2.2 per cent. With 1,396 cases reported since Nov. 1 — around the time the second wave of infections hit locally — it's possible, based on that ratio, that roughly 30 of those people may also die. Nine already have.
Thirty- three people with COVID-19 are in local hospitals. Nine are in intensive care units.
Medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed, who also appeared visibly shaken by the young man's death, said his “heart is truly saddened.” While each death is a burden on him and Marentette — who are “getting that information firsthand” — he said he “doesn't want to imagine how difficult it is for the families who are going through it ... especially to hear when people think it's not a big deal.”
COVID-19 case counts continue to increase at a “rapid rate,” he said. Of the 127 new infections reported Wednesday morning, 20 were close contacts of confirmed cases, one was a local health-care worker, three were attributed to community spread and one was a farm worker. The transmission sources for the remaining 102 were still under investigation by public health unit staff.
The cases are coming from a variety of sectors “everywhere” and are “not a localized problem,” Ahmed said. Twenty-two places currently have active outbreaks of the virus.
When Ahmed saw the daily case count was 127, he recounted saying to Marentette, “Let's just close our office and go home. There is nothing we can do. Things are just non-stop.”
If the province opts not to move Windsor-essex into lockdown on Friday, Ahmed said he will issue his own order with enhanced restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19. Some restrictions will be announced for immediate implementation, he said, while others may require time for businesses and individuals to prepare.
He would not disclose any details of possible additional restrictions.
The health unit has worked with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, bylaw enforcement, school boards, hospitals and health-care partners “to provide our support in the best possible way,” Ahmed said.
“But it all boils down to us as individuals. What are we doing? And how are we protecting ourselves?
“I've been saying this — I don't know if people don't get it — I would want to assume every person I am meeting right now could be a Covid-positive person.”
The “most significant” things residents can do to keep themselves healthy are avoiding all non-essential visits and “avoid social gatherings at all costs,” Ahmed said.
Residents should celebrate the holidays at home with the people they live with, he said. Only people who live alone might consider getting together with another family while minding indoor gathering restrictions, wearing a mask and maintaining physical distance from others as much as possible.
Seniors, people who are immunocompromised, and anyone else at risk of developing medical complications from COVID-19 should not visit anyone or let anyone visit them because “it can be very dangerous for you,” Ahmed said.
Since March, 4,238 people in Windsor and Essex County have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, 3,597 cases are considered resolved and 556 remain active.
School outbreaks at W.J. Langlois Catholic Elementary School and F.W. Begley Public School have been rescinded.
Outbreaks remain active at General Brock Public School and Corpus Christi Catholic Middle
School's Central Park Athletics Campus.
Nine students were dismissed from Holy Names Catholic High School on Wednesday after a confirmed case of COVID-19. A student has also tested positive at Riverside Secondary School.
A new community outbreak has been declared at Manor Lodge House. The outbreak at Victoria Manor is still active.
Outbreaks have been declared at three new workplaces: two farms in Kingsville and a manufacturing facility in Tecumseh. Outbreaks are also active at three farms and a finance and insurance business in Leamington, health-care and social assistance businesses in Lakeshore and Windsor, and manufacturing facilities in Windsor and Kingsville.
The health unit is monitoring outbreaks at seven long-term care and retirement homes: Country Village in Woodslee, Devonshire Retirement Residence and Riverside Place in Windsor, Chartwell St. Clair Beach and Village of Aspen Lake in Tecumseh, Chartwell Royal Oak Residence in Kingsville, and Leamington Mennonite.