WELLINGTON COUNTY – A man in his 90s from Wellington County has died due to COVID-19.
The death, reported on Nov. 26 by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH), is the third COVID death in the county this month – and the fifth since the outset of the pandemic.
Public health officials would not say where the man lived.
Case numbers continue to surge in Wellington County, which has reported 68 new cases in the last six days, outpacing both Guelph and Dufferin County.
Cases reported on Nov. 26 include:
- Wellington: 13 new cases, 61 active cases and one hospitalizations;
- Guelph: 11 new cases, 54 active cases and zero hospitalizations; and
- Dufferin: five new cases, 18 active cases and two hospitalizations.
“COVID-19 is still circulating in our region. It can be deadly,” stated WDGPH spokesperson Danny Williamson.
Seniors may be more likely to die from the disease, but Williamson warned younger people to not be complacent, as many young adults are now getting sick from the novel coronavirus.
“For those of us who think we are relatively young and healthy, we may think getting the virus isn’t a big deal,” he said.
“It may not be. But, COVID can have serious implications for people at any age.”
He added, “Even for those of us who experience relatively mild COVID symptoms, we run the very real risk of spreading it to someone who may become very sick or worse.”
Health officials have also repeatedly stated the long-term affects of contracting COVID-19 are not yet known.
Though the WDGPH region currently remains in the province’s orange (restrict) COVID-19 alert level, it now has a confirmed case rate (weekly moving rate) of 52.1 cases per 100,000 population and a 2.6% test positivity rate.
Both are at the red (control) level, though several other local indicators, including health system capacity, meet the yellow or green thresholds.
For comparison, Ontario’s latest case rate is 8.2 and rates in other regions include 46 in Halton and 191.2 in Peel, which was recently placed in the grey (lockdown) level.
The province reported 1,478 positive tests for COVID-19 on Nov. 26 and 21 new deaths.
