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Chatham-Kent has recorded its 28th COVID-19 death, according to the municipality’s medical officer of health.
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Dr. David Colby said the unvaccinated patient died on Thursday.
He added there are currently 13 cases of the virus at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, of which 12 are unvaccinated.
The active COVID-19 case count reached a record of 342, with 55 new cases and 18 listed as resolved.
“Obviously I am not happy to see our numbers so high, particularly when testing supplies have been outstripped by demand,” Colby said in an email to The Daily News on Thursday evening. “This means that more people are not getting tested, so the proportion of total cases confirmed by testing has to be dropping.
“Since our numbers reflect confirmed cases only, the reality is certainly very concerning.”
He said the case surge was predicted, but that it’s difficult to deal with this “magnitude of activity.”
With five documented outbreaks ongoing, Colby said most only involve a few people at this time, adding that Chatham-Kent Public Health pays special attention to outbreaks when they occur in vulnerable settings, such as long-term care.
He continued to encourage vaccination, noting “especially with the Omicron variant, the vaccine is much better at preventing severe outcomes than preventing infection, and the hospital situation reflects that reality.
“We are trying to get third doses into arms as fast as we can. Harm reduction. ”