Fully immunized woman dies from COVID-19 in Kitchener long-term care home
A woman in her 90s living in a Kitchener long-term care home has died from COVID-19, marking the first related death in a fully immunized person in Waterloo Region.
On Sunday, health officials said the Village of Winston Park long-term care home is currently going through a COVID-19 outbreak.
There are nine COVID-19 cases at the home, including five residents and four staff members infected with the virus.
“I would like to express my deepest sympathy to this individual’s family at this sad time,” said Dr. Rabia Bana, Associate Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Waterloo in a news release. “Death is a very rare outcome in fully immunized individuals."
Dr. Bana adds that there are usually a lot of other factors at play when it comes to these kinds of death, like age, baseline health status, and comorbidities.
In an online update on Friday from Schlegel Villages, which runs a number of retirement and long-term care homes, they said a resident of Winston Park who had tested positive for COVID-19 passed away.
"This resident had only shown mild symptoms but, as we have seen through the course of the pandemic, the virus can change quickly and our deepest condolences are with loved ones and team members facing this loss today," the statement reads in part.
On Monday, the home's general manager, Brad Lawrence, said 98 per cent of residents have received their second dose and 89 per cent of staff have received a second dose.
Public health said Monday they suspect all the COVID-19 cases at the home are the Delta variant.
"We know that one of the cases [in the outbreak] is a Delta variant case, so we expect that the remaining and any additional cases would also be Delta variant," said Dr. Bana.
They add that Waterloo Region residents should remain vigilant in the fight against COVID-19.
"Members of the public need to continue to follow public health guidance and get immunized as soon as possible," Dr. Bana said. "Vaccines along with public health measures are still our best protection against COVID-19 and the Delta variant which is circulating in our community.”
Public Health says they are currently working with the LTC facility to manage the outbreak, as residents of these homes are more vulnerable to severe outcomes of COVID-19.
With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Heather Senoran
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Kim Kardashian brand kids' sleepwear and more: Here are some recalls to watch out for
Here are the latest recalls Canadians should watch out for, according to Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Is your password 123456? Here's why you should make it stronger
With the sheer number of passwords needed today, it may come as no surprise that over 60 per cent of Canadians feel overwhelmed, and over a third reportedly forget their passwords monthly.
Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially divorced and single
Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially divorced and single.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.