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Chatham

COVID-19 deaths up to 36 in CK

Chatham-Kent Public Health is reporting another COVID-19 death.

Spokesperson Caress Lee Carpenter said the latest death was a man in his 70s who passed away at the Chatham hospital.

There are also two new COVID-19 outbreaks. Local public health officials said a new group home has seven cases and Village on the Ridge Long Term Care Home in Ridgetown has eight cases. The health unit said the new outbreaks bring the total number of outbreaks to 15 with most of them at group homes and long-term care facilities and nursing homes. The outbreaks account for a total of 127 cases.

The number of patients admitted to the hospital specifically for COVID-19 is down by two to a total of 18, according to public health officials. The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance COVID-19 numbers are not currently available because the hospital is changing the way it reports cases.

There are 55 new cases in Chatham-Kent as of Tuesday, but Dr. David Colby, the local medical officer of health, said it looks like cases are starting to plateau.

"I don't want to say we've peaked because that means we're on the downside, but our seven day rolling average of new cases has gone down from over 100 to 67," said Colby.

Colby also said Pfizer's new anti-viral pill could be a game-changer for treating people with COVID-19.

"In the hospital sector, you will see perhaps an impact there and we'll have to see how much the impact is," he added.

Meanwhile, three municipal offices in Chatham-Kent remain shut down because of high levels of COVID-19 among municipal staff.

The municipality said the offices in Ridgetown, Tilbury and Dresden will remain closed through Wednesday, January 26, 2022 due to high levels of staff under COVID-19 protocols.

The centres were closed January 12, 2022 for a minimum of five days.

The Chatham and Dresden Service Ontario offices will remain open by appointment only.

“The high transmissibility of the Omicron variant is leading to staffing issues across the general workforce and Chatham-Kent is no exception,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Cathy Hoffman. “We monitor the situation closely on a daily basis and are deploying our workforce to maximize the safety of our employees and services to the community.”

Hoffman said 101 employees are currently under COVID-19 protocols, 21 of which are working from home. Last week, Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire said 170 municipal staff members were off work because of COVID-19.

The municipality said residents may experience longer wait times for telephone inquiries during this reduced staffing period. Residents are being encouraged to use municipal online services, such as Dog Tag Licence Renewals that can be paid through the Pet and Wildlife Rescue (PAWR) website found here. The deadline for renewals is March 31st.

Property Tax Interim Payments can also be made here and are due by March 1st. General information and service request inquiries can be made by calling 311 or by clicking here.

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