KFL&A Public Health shares COVID-19 community update

Kingston’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore has released a COVID-19 community update heading into the holiday season. Data for the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington (KFL&A) Public Health region is trending in a good direction, he said, as the area heads into the Christmas and New Year Holidays, as well as the 28-day Provincewide Shutdown.

“Please be careful over the next several weeks,” he said in a YouTube video released Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. “If there’s anyone visiting from outside our area please screen them.”

As of Wednesday, KFL&A Public Health was monitoring 76 active cases of COVID-19. This is down from an all-time high of 116 a week earlier on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020.

“We had seven new cases today but the vast majority of those were known to us,” Dr. Moore said. “They were part of our quarantine so we have no surprises going on right now in our community.”

“Our rate continues to go down,” he added. “We are at 28.6 [cases of COVID-19] per 100,000,” also down from a high of over 40 last week.

“Our test rates are at an all-time high which is great. It’s the way we can get reassurance about what’s going on in our community. We have one of the highest test rates in the province. Our per cent positivity, as a result of high testing rates and low incidence, continues to go down. We are at 0.86 so that’s very good news,” he added.

Dr. Moore also confirmed that the number of people in hospital has gone down from three to one, with no COVID-19 patients currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Update on outbreaks in the community

Dr. Moore said the vast majority of local outbreaks are under control, with many resolving in the days ahead.

The cumulative totals for outbreaks are:

• Places of worship (at least two) — 38
• Gananoque car dealership and collision centre — 29 in KFL&A, plus others in neighbouring health unit.
• Off-campus student cases downtown — 59 students
• Various workplace outbreaks throughout KFL&A Public Health regions — 17
• Schools: Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School – two students (They were not associated, so this was not considered and outbreak, he said); Ecole Cathedrale — two
• Fairmount long-term care home — one patient and one staff member have tested positive.

He noted that Correctional Services Canada is continuing to manage an extensive outbreak, with 89 cases at Joyceville Institution and a further six at Collins Bay resulting from inmate transfers.

“We are monitoring eight positive staff,” he said. As CSC inmates reside on federal property, they are not included in the KFL&A Public Health case count. CSC staff living in the KFL&A community are.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Dr. Moore said. “These next several weeks will be dangerous for our community. Maintain vigilance… and please try your best to stay within your household.”