Infant the youngest person in Canada to die from COVID

An infant under two years of age has died from COVID-19 at B.C. Children's Hospital, becoming the youngest person to die from the disease in Canada.

The provincial health officer said the infant lived in the Fraser Health region but was being treated at the hospital in Vancouver and had another health problem.

“Although this child had pre-existing health conditions that complicated their illness, it was the virus that caused their death,” Henry said. “It reminds us of the vicious nature of this virus.”

There were eight COVID-19 deaths reported over the past three days in B.C., bringing that total to 1,538, and 2,960 new cases.

The seven-day average daily case count, which had been accelerating, is starting to plateau. Henry said there had been no new health care facility outbreaks.

In January, Henry reported two children under the age of five had formed a rare and serious disease called multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) after earlier contracting COVID-19. The two were admitted to intensive care due to the disease, described by B.C. Children's Hospital's Dr. Ran Goldman as akin to toxic shock syndrome, in which all organs in the body become inflamed.

MIS-C first appeared last April in children around the world, who had earlier contracted COVID -19. It's not known if the child who died over the weekend in B.C. had contracted MIS-C. Latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows that as of April 3 there had been 52 hospital admissions for people under 10 in B.C.