Wellington County Girl Under 10 Dies After Testing Positive for COVID-19 – Public Health | The Canadian News

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health has confirmed that a child under the age of 10 died after testing positive for COVID-19.

The Wellington County girl died Monday, but the agency was unable to provide much more information for privacy reasons.

“The case tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of death,” spokesman Danny Williamson said in an email on Friday. “There is no further information available on (the) cause of death at this time.”

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph has seen 129 fatal cases of COVID-19 during the pandemic, but it is the first time that a child in the region has died from the virus.

Medical health officer Dr. Nicola Mercer issued a statement offering her condolences and saying that each death is a “deep and permanent loss” for those who loved them.

“There are not enough words to comfort those mourning this terrible loss. At this tragic moment, I offer my condolences on behalf of everyone in public health to the family, ”said Mercer.

Children dying from COVID-19 are exceptionally rare, Ontario Medical Director of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said during a news conference Thursday.

When asked about the boy’s death, Moore said he was puzzled and unaware, but offered his condolences to the family.

He added that there are only a handful of children in an intensive care unit in all of Ontario as of Thursday.

“Currently, only 70 percent of the beds in the children’s intensive care unit are being used and we are not seeing a significant increase in admissions,” said Moore.

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“You have our assurance that we will learn from any death of any child to try to make sure it was not a failure of the health system.”

According to data from the Ontario government, only nine deaths have been recorded in the age group 19 and under since the start of the pandemic.

Toronto Public Health announced this week that a child under the age of four died after testing positive.

A boy under the age of 10 in the Waterloo region died in a hospital in September 2021 after contracting the disease. The boy had underlying health conditions, according to the local health medical officer.