Covid Numbers Continue To Climb In Region - Death toll creeps up as well

Jeff Green | Aug 03, 2022

It is not as easy to track the progress of the COVID-19 as it used to be.

Early on in the pandemic, Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health (KFLAPH) built a COVID tracking module on the KFLAP.ca website.

During the first phases of the pandemic, daily confirmed case counts, percentage of positive test results, the location and severity of outbreaks could all be found on the module. But as early as last fall, that all began to change. With cases counts overwhelming the testing system, with symptomatic individuals from non-vulnerable groups no longer being eligible for testing, the daily case count number became an unreliable indicator.

Other information, such as wastewater concentration, hospitalisation and death rates, and percentage of positive tests among people still eligible for testing, became more relevant as KFL&A residents consult the module to help them decide what level of risk they are comfortable risk they are comfortable with.

The module is only update once a week at the present time, making a less valuable tool for individuals to assess risk than it was in the past.

The module still shows that COVID cases are on the rise in the region, however. As of Tuesday, (July 25) there were 11 patients in hospital with COVID complications, 2 of whom were in the Intensive Care Unit. There were 305 cases among the vulnerable population that is eligible for testing and 2 new deaths had been reported in the previous week. The rate of positive test results among those tested, which had dropped under 10% for the first time since the early spring in early July, has jumped back up to 18%.

Wastewter tracking at waste plants in Kingston and Napanee show an increase in concentrations since early July, not as high as the results from wastewater testing in places like Ottawa and Toronto.

The death toll in the region is now 64 since the beginning of the pandemic. This is an enviable number as compared to most jurisdictions around the world, but points to a dramatic increase on the past 9 months as compared to the first 18 months of the pandemic. As of November 15, 2021, 2 deaths had been reported, and there have been 62 since that time. Still, the KFLAPH death rate is about 10% of the rate in the United Stated, and 23% of the rate across all of Canada.\

The average community with a population of 200,000 in the United States has seen 675 deaths, and the average community in Canada, 275.

The vaccination campaign, which has been more extensive than in other locations, has resulted in 95% of those 5 and older having at least one dose. Two thirds (67.2%) of people over 13 have received at least one booster shot, 56.1% of those over 60 have taken all four available doses.

In a media call last month, DR. Piotr Oglaza of KFLPAH, said that the vaccination rate in KFLP&A is at or near the top of the province, and is likely one factor keeping the spread of the virus from being higher in KFL&A and further stressing the already overwhelmed health care system.