More COVID-19 deaths in Windsor-Essex

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There have been three more recent deaths from COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex, reported by the health unit on Friday.

In an update on local COVID-19 data, the region’s overall death count due to the novel coronavirus increased by three people — two men and one woman.

All three of the recently deceased were in their 80s and resided in long-term care facilities or retirement homes, the health unit said.

The fatalities bring the total death toll of COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex to 607.

While those passings involved residents of care facilities, the region’s Acting Medical Officer of Health — Dr. Shanker Nesathurai — has pointed out that many Windsor-Essex COVID-19 deaths have occurred among residents of the general community.

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At a regional Board of Health meeting on Thursday night, Nesathurai reiterated the point, and noted that COVID-19 deaths in the local community have been largely concentrated in urban areas with “material deprivation.”

According to Nesathurai, these areas — marked by higher levels of government assistance usage, residential instability, and other factors — have been particularly prone to COVID-19 deaths.

“If you’re going to die of COVID, you’re more likely to reside in an area of ​​material deprivation,” Nesathurai said. “That’s an association.”

“Health is many times affected by access to medical care, quality of treatment. But it is also substantially affected by the socio-economic status of the people that we serve.”

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“That appears to be true for COVID, based on the data in the Windsor-Essex health district, but it is also true for other disease states.”

“It’s something we collectively, both as a public health service and a community overall, have to work to address.”

Also of concern to Nesathurai has been the fact that COVID-19 has increased the amount of “premature” death in Windsor-Essex — arbitrarily defined by the health unit as men dying before the age 75 and women dying before the age of 81.

“We’re seeing, on average, two to four (COVID) deaths a week in the health district,” Nesathurai said.

“Life expectancy across the country has decreased (by 0.6 years, according to estimates)… The burden of COVID-19 continues within our community.”

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As of Friday, the health unit is counting 409 active “high risk” cases in Windsor-Essex.

According to the most recent reporting, there are 62 people in local hospitals with COVID-19 — and two of those patients are in intensive care units.

The health unit is currently monitoring 27 active outbreak situations across the region: 11 in long-term care facilities or retirement homes, seven in hospital units, eight in the community, and one in a workplace.

The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Windsor-Essex stands at 83.7 per cent of all residents ages five and older having received at least two doses.

Some 51.4 per cent of residents ages 12 and older have received a third dose/booster shot.

As of Friday, 12,124 residents had received a fourth dose, with the number rising daily.