A man in his 70s is the latest COVID-19 death in Chatham-Kent.
Chatham-Kent Public Health reported the death on Monday morning. Public health unit spokesperson Jeff Moco said the death is linked to the current COVID-19 outbreak at the Chatham Hospital. Chatham-Kent is now up to 15 COVID-19 deaths.
"We do acknowledge one COVID-19 death which is linked to the outbreak. Due to patient confidentiality, CKHA is unable to provide further details. We offer our sincere condolences to all families who have lost a loved one to COVID-19," read a statement provided by CKHA late Monday afternoon.
The hospital outbreak in the Medicine Unit was declared on May 11, 2021 and has reached a total of 12 cases, one of which is still active. The President and CEO of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance anticipates the outbreak will be declared over by June 3 if everything goes well.
The health unit also reported seven new cases and three resolved cases to bring the total number of cases up to 17. The small workplace outbreak has also been declared over.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance reported eight COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Seven are local residents, one is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and seven are in the Medicine Unit but all except one are not related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The hospital also said one COVID-19 patient is on a ventilator in the ICU and the ICU continues to be 90 per cent full with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. Occupancy in the Medical, Surgical, and Critical Care Unit remains high at 86.9 per cent.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance currently has zero transfer patients.
Chatham-Kent Public Health said 57 per cent of the eligible population in the area 12 years of age and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
