COVID cases soar nearby, but KFL&A has been spared, thus far

Jeff Green | Apr 15, 2020

(The article was originally prepared on April 14, and was updated on April 18th. Since then, two more cases have been confirmed in KFL&A, one on Sunday, April 19 (in Frontenac County, making it the 11th Frontenac case) and one on Monday, April 20. The latest case is a patient at the Providence Manor Long Term Care facility in Kingston. Because of the sensitivity of the location, it is being characterized as an 'outbreak' and signifigant measures are being taken at the home,)

On a per capita basis, the 55 cases in the region, is just over 41% of the province-wide average, over the entire outbreak. And with only 4 cases left unresolved, KFL&A is at 6% of the provincial rate in terms of active cases.There has been only 1 new case over the last 7 days, and there are currently no COVID-19 patients in local hospitals. There have been no deaths in KFL&A attributable to COVID-19 thus far.

These numbers are remarkable, even more so when you consider that less than three weeks ago, after the number of cases doubled over one weekend, KFL&A has a higher case rate than the provincial average.

Unfortunately, the picture is not so rosy in Ontario as whole, where cases continue to mount.

And our neighbouring district of Leeds Grenville and Lanark (LGL), is facing a very grim picture. With a smaller population than KFL&A (140,000 people live in LGL and 200,000 live in KFL&A), there have been 247 cases and 32 deaths in LGL. (Those numbers translate to 2.5 times the provincial average for cases and almost 7 times the average for deaths)

A major difference between the two regions, which share a 100 kilometre-long invisible border, has been in long term care homes. There have been 0 reported cases in long term care in KFL&A, and there have been 147 cases, and 29 deaths, in LGL.

In Ontario there have been 3300 new cases over the last week, an average of over 470 per day. There were 485 new cases on Saturday (April 18). There have been 514 deaths since the outbreak began, 261 in the last week alone. The first COVID-19 death in Ontario was recorded on March 17, 41/2 weeks ago.

And on Tuesday (April 15), the Province of Ontario extended its state of emergency until May 12.

The recommendation from KFL&A Public Health remains the same as it has been since mid-March. Residents who are not ill are being asked to practice physical distancing (2 metres – 6 feet) and regular infection prevention (e.g., wash your hands often, cough into your elbow, don't touch your face, stay home if you are sick, etc.)

Residents who develop an illness can access the self assessment tool on the KFL&A website top find out if they should call 911, seek testing, or remain home in isolation.

“I have confidence in our community that we'll rise to this occasion and show strength and resilience,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for Kingston Frontenac, Lennox and Addington.

The numbers thus far, in this region, bear out that confidence, but as we see from LGL, if you look at Eastern Ontario as a region, the situation is more dire.