COVID update - Omicron overwhelms local testing capacity

Jeff Green | Dec 15, 2021

(Note - this article has been changed to make it clear that rapid antigen tests are not available at local medical clinics.)

Health Unit restricts gatherings in Kingston but not Frontenac or L&A - South Frontenac closes its offices and halls.

Storrington PS closed to in person learning –  school outbreak up to 9 cases, 8 of them active.

KFL&A Medical Officer of Health Dr. Piotr Oglaza has taken matters into his own hands in recent weeks in an attempt to slow the transmission of COVID in the region. He acted again early this week, this time with a focus on the activities of the 18-29 year old cohort in the City of Kingston.

KFLA& was already in the midst of a COVID spike when everything changed last Wednesday (December 8) as Kingston Frontenac Public Health (KFLAPH) announced that a single case of the Omicron variant had been detected in the region. 

In response, the advice, for individuals who had been in close contact with known Omicron cases, was to be tested and to isolate for ten days, regardless of a their vaccination status. Close contacts of Delta cases, who are fully vaccinated, were still being told to seek testing and monitor for symptoms, but were not required to self-isolate.

On Friday, KFLAPH said they were investigating over 100 possible Omicron cases. In a tacit recognition that the region had entered an Omicron wave, a new order was issued for close contacts with any person in the region who had tested positive for COVID.

“All close (high-risk) contacts must self-isolate for 10 days from the date of their last exposure to an individual with COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status or previous positive result. Regardless of a negative PCR test result, they are still required to self-isolate for 10 days from their last date of exposure,” aid the order.

As of Friday (December 10)  there were over 600 active cases in the region, and almost 500 of them among residents of the City of Kingston.

The situation escalated further over the weekend.

Queen's University, which had identified a suspected Omicron outbreak in several of its residences, cancelled in-person exams. Alarmingly, all students in residence at Queen's are double vaccinated, a demonstration of the vaccine resistance of the new dominant variant.

Then, on Sunday night, KFLAPH confirmed new cases, suspected to be Omicron cases, stemming from the McKinnon Brothers Holiday Market on December 4 and 5, and asked everyone who had attended to self-isolate until they are tested and shown to be COVID free. Thousands had attended that event. 

By Monday morning the testing capacity in KFLAPH had been overwhelmed. There were no spots available at the Beechgrove testing site in Kingston for the next 7 days, leaving KFLAPH scrambling to create new testing capacity. On Monday afternoon, KFLAPH announced that PCR test kits are being made available at family practices throughout the City, and for patients of the Verona and Sydenham Medical Centres. These PCR test kits are not the rapid tests that are available through schools and elsewhere.

Also on Monday, Dr. Oglaza announced a series of measures in the City of Kingston alone, which took effect at 6pm the very same day and will extend until December 20. The measures include reduced hours in restaurants and pubs, and a 5-person limit for all organised gatherings, indoors or outdoors.

An hour later, the update on the KFLAPH dashboard graphically demonstrated why those immediate measures had been taken. At that time, there were over 900 active cases in the region, about half being suspected Omicron cases. Of 359 new cases over the weekend, 291 were in Kingston, and 247 were among people aged 18-29, dwarfing the totals for all other age groups. The second most prevalent, the 40-49 year old cohort, had 27 new cases over the weekend

Dr. Oglaza also indicated that the short time frame for the Sec. 22 order aimed at the City of  Kingston, was chosen because of an expectation that new provincial orders will be in place before the 20.

By Tuesday, the active case rate in KFL&A had reached 1018

It should be noted that, as of November 29, KFL&A is the only region in Southern Ontario that has placed a limit of 10 on gatherings in private homes.

While not as dramatic as the City of Kingston, the case rate in South Frontenac is also rising. With 20 fresh cases over the weekend, the 7 day case rate in the township is at an all time high of 62, which translates to 341 per 100,000 people. 

An outbreak at Storrington Public School has escalated. It now has 9 cases, 8 of which are active cases. The school is closed to in-person learning until after the Christmas holiday, along with 8 other schools in Kingston. The Limestone District School Board said the closures are due to staffing shortages stemming from self-isolation orders.

South Frontenac Township put out a media release on Tuesday, saying that it will be closing all township facilities to public use as of Wednesday morning (December 15)

“The Township will be closing all indoor rental facilities and its administrative offices in Sydenham at 4432 George Street, and at 2490 Keeley Rd., to the public temporarily, until at least January 4, 2022.

“While these offices will be closed to the public, most municipal services will continue to be delivered and public communications via telephone, email and drop box will remain in place during regular business hours,” said the release.

The 7-day rate in Kingston is now 556 per 100,000. The old red zone, under the colour coded system that was in place in Ontario until early June of this year, kicks in at 50 per 100,000. The positive testing rate in the entire region is now 6.79% (the red zone kicks in at 1%)

There were also two cases confirmed in Central Frontenac early this week 

There were 31 people in hospital with COVID as of Monday, 13 in ICU and 9 on ventilators. According to Kingston hospital officials, all of the hospitalised individuals have the Delta variant, and they are down slightly from the day before

Studies in South Africa indicate a doubling rate of Omicron cases every 3.2 to 3.6 days. If KFL&A follows the same path, it would result in over 7,000 active cases by Christmas Day. The Section 22 order from Monday, which is targeted at restricting the transmission among the 18-29 year old cohort, is in part an attempt to keep that rate of increase from taking place.

And on a provincial level, Dr. Kieran Moore gave a briefing on Tuesday. He said that province-wide measures would be announced on Wednesday. Premier Ford will be making an announcement at 3pm on Wednesday.