Update: Public Health deems death not COVID-related – KFL&A records twenty-sixth death due to COVID-19

Editorial note: This death was announced in data published by the provincial government on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. Currently, KFL&A Public Health is only updating the local COVID-19 data through its COVID-19 dashboard on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, KFL&A Public Health did not list this death in its data. After a subsequent inquiry regarding this, KFL&A Public Health said the death was “determined to not be a death with COVID-19 as a contributory cause.“ Because of this, the death will not be included in the local COVID-19 data through KFL&A Public Health.
In order to remain transparent and offer as much information to readers as possible, Kingstonist has decided not to remove this article, but to instead provide this update, as it is possible such instances could occur again in the future, and the Province of Ontario is still listing the death as being COVID-19-related.

Original article:

The Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) region has recorded another death due to COVID-19, bringing the total number of local deaths from the SARS-CoV-2 virus to 26 as of Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022.

According to provincial data, the newly deceased is a male in his 90s, diagnosed on Jan. 9, whose case was outbreak related.

This is the fourth death in KFL&A associated with COVID-19 this year, bringing the total number of deaths in the recent surge of COVID-19 infections, known as the “fourth wave” to 18. As a result of this “fourth wave,” a male in his 60s died on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, a female in her 70s died a day later, a female in her 80s died less than a week later, a female in her 70s died shortly thereafter, another male in his 60s died less than a week later, and a fourth male in his 60s died on Tuesday, Dec. 7. Two residents died on the same day shortly thereafter. KFL&A Public Health also reported the death of another female in her 80s in mid-December. A total of six deaths were also recorded by KFL&A Public Health over the Christmas weekend, and a male in his 60s was reported deceased on Jan 5, 2022. On Jan. 12, 2022, KFL&A recorded two additional deaths, a male in his 80s and a female in her 70s.

Due to the changes to case reporting and testing protocols, KFL&A Public Health no longer provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the region. Instead, they report the number of high-risk cases, as those cases are still eligible for PCR testing. The Public Health Unit now also only reports on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. As of Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, Public Health reported there were 712 active high-risk COVID-19 cases in the region. Sixteen cases are currently in hospital with 10 in intensive care, and eight on ventilators.

Twenty-five others have now died from COVID-19 in the region since the beginning of the pandemic: three other males aged 90 or over, a female aged 90 or over, two males in their 80s, five females in their 80s, a male in his 70s, three female in their 70s, six males in their 60s, one female in her 60s, a female in her 50s, a male in his 50s, and a male in his 30s.