Adam Prudhomme
Editor
COVID-19 cases continue to rise in KFLA, climbing to a rate not seen in the region since early spring.
KFLA Public Health medical officer of health Dr. Piotr Oglaza addressed the gradual spike in positive cases during a virtual media call via Skype on Thursday.
“In the KFLA region our cases are unfortunately rising,” said Oglaza. “We have 91 active cases as of (Thursday). Our per cent positivity is now at 1.47 per cent and our case count per 100,000 population per week is 31.9 which is what we have not seen since mid-May this year. What’s also important and of note to the public is that in the last 30 days the rate of cases in the unvaccinated population is four times that of the rate of the cases in the vaccinated population so that is truly showing first of all the protective effect of the vaccine, but also the impact of the pandemic now on the unvaccinated population. Cases are present throughout the entire KFLA region. No part of the region is truly not impacted by the pandemic. The pathogen is present throughout the province and throughout the KFLA region.”
Under the province’s previous colour coded system, KFLA would fall into the ‘orange’ restrict zone-two steps worse than the ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ zone.
Recent positive cases have been mostly contained to those under the age of nine as well as those between the ages of 18-29. Of the five active outbreaks in the region, four are in Kingston-area schools.
“What’s important and of note is that our contact tracing team has done a great job of quickly identifying contacts and limiting transmission,” said Oglaza. “Based of the data I have today, 70 per cent of our active cases were already identified as close contacts before testing positive. This means that they were already home and asked to self-isolate and that was helping to limit transmission.”
Oglaza says November is the time of year when they’d generally expect to see a rise, but notes predicting trends can be difficult.
“With COVID-19 it’s a virus at times that behaves unpredictably,” he added. “Trying to make predictions or trying to explain things might be a lot of times just be pure speculation. From what we know about the virus, this is a virus that spreads very readily in the cold and flu season where people are more indoors and the weather changes and that promotes the spread of respiratory viruses. It’s also linked to population density and activities that are undertaken by individuals who are not immunized, who are not protected against the virus. We know that based on the groups that we see becoming cases and based on our case contact investigation, I can say that a lot of that spread is potentially coming from unstructured get together that are happening among the population of individuals who are vulnerable. That’s truly something that unfortunately is expected and brings the recommendations of really being extra cautious and mindful of the fact unimmunized children would still be able contract the virus.”
As of Thursday, none of the 91 current cases required a stay in a local hospital. Since the start of the pandemic KFLA has reported 1,974 total cases with 1,877 recoveries and six deaths. In terms of vaccination, 89.6 per cent of the population age 12 and older has received at least one dose while 86 per cent has had two shots. A total of 2,732 third shots have been administered to those considered to be at high risk.