Health unit reports 14th COVID-19 death this month

COVID-19 deaths for Brantford-Brant in January have hit 14 after two more fatalities were reported Thursday by the Brant County Health Unit.

The two most recent deaths are both outbreak related.

One is a woman in her 70s who was part of an outbreak at Telfer Place retirement home in Paris and the other is a woman in her her 80s who was part of an outbreak at St. Joseph’s Lifecare Center in Brantford. Both were not classified as hospitalized at the time of their deaths.

The health unit released no other details, including vaccination status.

The Telfer Place outbreak, declared on Jan. 10, involves four residents and one staff member, while the St. Joseph’s outbreak, declared on Dec. 26, involves 11 residents and 46 staff members, according to the health unit.

The two deaths bring to six the number of local COVID fatalities reported this week.

There have now been 46 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic started in March of 2020, meaning 30 per cent of all the deaths have taken place in January.

The Brant Community Healthcare System reported Thursday 55 COVID patients in hospital, with five in critical care. That’s unchanged from Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the health unit reported 45 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours. However, numbers are likely underreported because of limited testing.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, 7,639 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Brantford-Brant, with 7,197 of those resulting in recovered cases.

There are currently 396 active cases in the community but that number is also likely underreported due to limited testing.

There have been 310,455 total doses of the vaccine administered at vaccination clinics in Brantford-Brant. That number includes 122,545 first doses, 121,428 second doses, 65,656 third doses and 826 fourth doses.

In Brantford-Brant, 82.87 per cent of residents aged five and older have received one dose of the vaccine while 77.37 per cent have received two or more doses.

The following are walk-in clinics where first and second doses for those aged five and older are being administered (those aged 40 and older – born in 1982 or earlier – and pregnant women are also eligible to receive a third dose by walk-in) :

Visit www.bchu.org/covid19vaccine/ for more information about the local vaccine rollout and covid-19.ontario.ca/ for more information on the rollout in Ontario, including booking third-dose appointments.

On Thursday, a COVID outbreak was declared over on the B8 medical inpatient flood at Brantford General Hospital. The outbreak, which was declared Jan. 7, involved 11 people testing positive. Two =BGH units – B5 surgical and B7 medical – remain in outbreak.

The following is a list of ongoing outbreaks (due to the volume of cases, the BCHU is no longer declaring or tracking outbreaks in workplace and community settings):

The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board and Grand Erie District School Board are reporting the percentage of absences for students and staff at each of its schools. The numbers are based on those who attend in-person learning.

Visit tinyurl.com/5n9ajcnw for the full list of BHNCDSB schools and absences.granderie.ca/ for the full list of GEDSB schools.

Ohsweken Public Health reported 77 active cases on Six Nations of the Grand River as of Thursday with 137 people in self-isolation.

There are seven people from Six Nations currently hospitalized.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,428 confirmed cases, of which 1,378 are resolved.

Of the cases since Sept. 1, 706 (74 per cent) have been among the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 248 (26 per cent) have been among those who are fully vaccinated.

Exact numbers were not available but 55 per cent of the population has received a dose of the vaccination, with 50 per cent competing in their vaccination series.

There have been 19 deaths related to the virus on Six Nations.

On Thursday, Public Health Ontario reported 3,645 people in hospital with 599 people in intensive care. There were 4,016 people reported in hospital on Wednesday with 608 in ICUs.

Approximately 56 per cent of patients were admitted due to the virus while the other 44 per cent were admitted for other reasons but later tested positive.

The province reported 70 deaths – over the past 19 days – and there have now been 11,230 deaths during the pandemic.

There were 5,852 confirmed cases in the province from Tuesday, however, that number is likely underreported because of limited testing.

In Ontario, 88 per cent of those aged five and older have received one does of a COVID-19 vaccine, 83 per cent have received two doses and 44 per cent have received three doses.