The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has confirmed a young person is the latest casualty of the pandemic in the Windsor area.
The Ontario government reported the COVID-19 related death of an individual under the age of 20 in its daily epi summary on Wednesday, but the death was not reported by the health unit in its daily tally of COVID-19 cases across the region.
"All information is entered through databases that the public health unit has access to, but are also provincial databases. This happens with lots of things that are reported by the province and reported by us. Sometimes there's a difference in the timing," said CEO Nicole Dupuis.
On Wednesday, the ministry referred further questions to the Windsor Essex County Health Unit.
"We send our deepest condolences to their family. Out of respect for the family and their privacy during this difficult time we will not be sharing any further case details at this time," said Alexandra Hilkene, Press Secretary to Minister of Health Christine Elliott.
WECHU stated it would not be providing further information, including the vaccination status of the latest victim.
It's a shift from past practice where the health unit did release information including the age of the victim.
"There has been a transition in leadership, at least in the interim," said Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai. Last year, when the death of a 27-year-old migrant worker was reported, Doctor Wajid Ahmed was the Medical Officer of Health. "To me, the public health issue is the most important thing. It's not about the individual. The public health issue is that people are dying of COVID, and although most of the deaths are in people that are older and perhaps living in a residential facility, COVID is still causing deaths across the spectrum of age groups."
"In the interest of privacy and respect, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) will not be providing further information at this time beyond that which has already been reported by the provincial Ministry of Health," read the statement.
On Wednesday, the health unit did report an additional death related to the pandemic, a man in his 70s who lived in the community.