Variants of concern driving cases all over KFL&A

Jeff Green | Apr 28, 2021

Moore warns again against travel outside the region.

Dr. Kieran Moore, the medical officer of Health for Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington, pulled out the same map he had used a week earlier to demonstrate that continuing spread of cases in the region in a video this Monday (April 26)

The map showed that in addition to cases in five Frontenac County hamlets a week earlier (Mountain Grove, Sharbot Lake, Sydenham, Verona and Inverary) there were new cases this past week in Arden, Northbrook and Sydenham. There were also cases in Selby and Camden East, as well as multiple neighborhoods in Kingston.

“The dominant strain is now the K.1.1.7 variant, which is one and half times as deadly and causes twice as many people to end up in the ICU,” he said. “There are now three people in hospital in KFL&A, all in their 50’s. Two of them are in the ICU and one is on a ventilator. That’s the most we have seen here, in the entire pandemic. There are also 40 people in the ICU at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre from other regions, most of them on ventilators.”

In a demonstration of how things have been changing, just a few days earlier, in a media call on Thursday, Moore said that he was happy to report that the case count had been dropping and the he was hopeful that KFL&A would be able to get the provincial Green Zone before the current lockdown ends in a few weeks.

“We are persisting in the Orange Zone with 83 active cases,” he said on Monday. “This variant sticks more readily to the throat and replicates quickly in the lungs. It is a whole new virus from the one that we successfully fought through last March and again in the early winter. But we can get through this time as well if we stick to best practices. Most of the cases we have seen have been related to travel and to gatherings.”

On the vaccination front the news is better for the KFL&A region. 40% of those over 16 have received one dose of vaccine. The 40% threshold is the provincial goal by May 5, the original end date of the lockdown, which has now been extended to April 20.

On April 22, Moore reported that while the supply of vaccine in the region will be limited to 3,5000 Pfizer doses for the week ending on May 3rd, he was optimistic that the increase in Pfiser shipments would result in more doses coming to our region for the rest of May, followed by a sharp increase in early June.

As of Monday, April 26, over 97% of the over 80-year old population, and over 90% of the 75-79 year old population in the region had received at least on dose of vaccine. The numbers have been increasing among younger seniors as well. 76.7% of those between 70 and 74, 63.7% of those 65-69, and thanks to the Astrazeneca pharmacy pilot in March, 74% of those between 60 1nd 64, have the protection offered by a dose of vaccine.

The case breakdown in the region reflects this. For example, of the 9 new confirmed cases that were announced on April 26, only 2, one male and one female, were over 60. 4 were under 30, 1 in their 30’s, and 2 in their.

Dr. Moore, who sits on the provincial vaccination panel, said last Thursday that he supports the provincial initiative that is aimed at diverting up to 25% of the vaccine supply for use in the hot spots in the province, where the case and positive testing rates remain at unprecedented levels, leading to more hospitalisations, ICU and ventilator use each day. The other 75% of the supply will continue to be allocated on a population basis.

AS of Monday, 35.3% of Ontario residents had received at least one dose of the Pfiser, Moderna, or Astrazeneca vaccine.