2nd COVID-19 death occurs in Newmarket's Renoir retirement home outbreak

An 86-year-old man is Newmarket's 33rd COVID-19 related fatality, and the second resident death linked to the outbreak at the Renoir Retirement Residence.

The man passed away Thursday, Jan. 14 at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, with COVID-19 confirmed Dec. 31, after symptom onset Dec. 28.

As of Jan. 19, six residents and three health-care workers have acquired the virus in the outbreak declared Dec. 30 at the home operated by Revera.  

An 87-year-old woman who passed away Jan. 7 was the first resident to die with COVID-19 acquired in the outbreak at the Renoir, and was Newmarket's 32nd death of the pandemic.

Twenty-four Newmarket residents have died with COVID-19 acquired in an institutional outbreak, which include long-term care, retirement and group homes, and the hospital. The nine other fatalities are cases acquired through close contact and local transmission — four each — and one at a workplace outbreak.

The majority of Newmarket's COVID-19 deaths are males (73 per cent) and aged 80 and older (64 per cent). 

At 58 in total, the number of active institutional outbreaks in York Region remains at the highest level of the pandemic, with 21 at long-term care and retirement homes.

Nearly 1,500 residents and workers at York Region long-term care and seniors homes have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and 220 residents have died.  

The pandemic death toll in York Region has now reached 419 residents, which is two per cent of the total 23,494 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 19.