There was some positive indications in the daily reports of the Leeds Grenville Lanark District Health Unit [LGLDHU] this past week. The LGLDHU reports on 21 municipalities in the region, and North Grenville is in the LGLDHU East section, which also includes Merrickville-Wolford, Augusta and Edwardsburg-Cardinal.
Between May 14 and May 20, there was just one death from covid-19 in the entire area. The number of confirmed cases went up by 11, of which 229, or 79% had recovered by the end of last week. This was a big increase over the 62% who had recovered on May 14.
The number of confirmed cases in the community at large has not increased, with the new cases happening in long-term care facilities and among healthcare workers.
As seems to be true globally, the main focus of cases is in the long-term care facilities. In the last week, the number of care homes affected by out-breaks had not changed. There were 7 such facilities, in Perth (2), Carleton Place, Mississippi Mills, Brockville, Smith’s Falls, and Athens. There are no cases in any long-term care facility in North Grenville or Merrickville-Wolford.
As of May 20, there had been 10 confirmed cases in UCLG East, which consists of NG, Merrickville-Wolford, Augusta, and Edwardsburg-Cardinal, of which 7 had recovered. This remains the area with the lowest number of confirmed cases in the LGLDHU region.
A more positive statistic is that on May 14 it was reported that there was a 64% recovery rate in the LGLDHU overall, while that figure had risen to 68% on May 20. The number of hospitalisations remained the same between those two dates, at just 2%. Around a quarter of the deaths took place in hospitals. The median age of deaths remained steady at 86 years, though 96% of those deaths occurred in the 65+ age range, also unchanged over the week.
As restrictions on movement are gradually lifted across the province, it is essential that we not become complacent, or more lax in abiding by the guidelines issued by the Health Unit. This is a time when, through carelessness, we could easily see a spike in confirmed cases, which would lead, inevitably, to more deaths. Stay safe, stay home whenever possible, and take care of each other.
