The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton continued to rise Monday and the death toll is now at four.
Lambton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Sudit Ranade told local media by teleconference late Monday morning that three of the four deaths are from Sarnia's Landmark Village retirement home.
"There are at least six cases that we know of from that facility," said Ranade. "And I believe there have been three deaths in that facility to date."
Bluewater Health Communications Chief Julia Oosterman said Monday that two new deaths were confirmed at the hospital before 11 a.m.
"Today we have a female 75-year-old and an 89-year-old female, both individuals had been in the hospital for a few days and both have confirmed COVID, so that makes a total of four deaths at Bluewater Health," she said.
As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, Bluewater Health's website indicated there were 15 patients in hospital confirmed to have the virus. A total of 23 patients had tested positive in hospital and nine were in hospital suspected of having COVID-19 with tests pending.
Oosterman said the hospital, so far, is handling the patient surge well with capacity brought down to 65 per cent last week.
"Over the weekend we were able to drop it probably another 10 points lower, somewhere around 50-55 per cent. This is really important because it means that we have the rooms and the availability of staff to ensure that we're able to care for any COVID patients that may make their way through our doors."
Dr. Ranade provided a community update in an interview with Sue Storr on CHOK radio (103.9 FM, 1070 AM CHOK) at 8:30 a.m. Monday.
He said the number of cases in Sarnia-Lambton had risen to 28 with most of them in the older demographics.
"By far the majority of the cases we're seeing are people in their 70s and 80s," said Ranade. "That doesn't mean it's not affecting people in their 20s and 30s, it's just the ones that have been the sickest and in the hospital have been in that age range and their tests have been prioritized. We think there's probably underlying illness in people who are younger, but it's just not showing up as being that severe."
Dr. Ranade said the local testing backlog is now clearing and a large number of cases are coming back.
Since March 25, the number of confirmed cases in Lambton County has climbed from zero to 28.
Doctor Ranade said that may be due in part to this area's aging population.
"I think it just reflects what we know about our population which is that we have a demographically older population than the Ontario average. If we know that the risks are higher in older people, we would expect there to be more severe illness in communities that have a population that's older than the provincial average. I think that's what we are seeing."
As they track back, he said they see that some of the cases are related to travel and some are related to prior gatherings and events that were held here. He said he expects the case numbers to go up.
For updates and instructions visit the Lambton Public Health and Bluewater Health websites.