deaths of ottawa patients at home being investigated by coroner

four ottawa-area residents with covid-19 have died suddenly in their homes in the past few weeks — the most recent over the weekend, this newspaper has learned.the deaths are part of a disturbing trend that was flagged by ontario’s chief coroner last week: growing numbers of people becoming ill so quickly with covid-19 that they don’t have time to seek medical help.dr. dirk huyer, who is ontario’s chief coroner and head of the province’s outbreak response team, said covid-19-related deaths in the community are something his office has been seeing in greater numbers in recent weeks, with as many as two cases some days.his office is investigating at least 28 deaths involving people who appear to have died from covid-19-related illness while in their own homes, not realizing the severity of their sickness. those include the ottawa-area deaths.the people whose deaths are now being investigated had symptoms “but not severe symptoms to the point they would anticipate going to the hospital,” huyer said in an interview. “people are appearing to die outside of hospital, which we hadn’t seen earlier.” the majority of the people who died were living with others.he raised the issue at a press briefing last week in the hopes of better informing members of the public about the potential risks from covid-19 during the third wave of the pandemic in which more transmissible and dangerous variants are dominant.huyer said the coroner’s office was investigating three such deaths in recent weeks in the ottawa area. on monday, ottawa public health confirmed a fourth death of an ottawa resident in a private residence. it occurred over the weekend. no other information was available.all of the ottawa-area deaths being investigated were among people under the age of 70.the office of the chief coroner is investigating 25 cases from the central region of the province, which includes the hard-hit gta. all the deaths occurred since the beginning of april, huyer said.the coroner’s office only gets involved in deaths if something “non-natural or sudden” takes place, he said.investigations into all of the deaths are ongoing, some including toxicology reports. but huyer said he felt moved to speak out when he realized the number of deaths at home in this wave compared to previous waves in the pandemic.“it was important for people to have the perspective that it can be very serious and fatal.”the ages of those whose deaths are being investigated ranged between 30 and 80, huyer said, but the majority were younger. sixteen of 25 people who died in the central region of the province were under the age of 60.health officials report that patients during the third wave in ontario are both younger and sicker than in earlier waves. that partly reflects the fact that most of long-term care and retirement home residents are vaccinated, as are large proportions of the elderly living in the community.huyer said it is too soon to say whether those who died in their homes were infected with variants of concern. the province’s deputy chief coroner is leading a review of the cases.huyer said the apparent trend is both worrisome and sad.“it is really sad for the people who were ill with this and for the people they lived with. for us as ontarians, it is such a tough thing. it is another example of the seriousness and sadness that comes along with this terrible virus.”mpps observed a minute of silence at queen’s park on monday for emily viegas, a 13-year-old brampton girl who died just hours after her father found her unresponsive in bed and she was rushed to the hospital. she was one of the youngest canadians to die after contracting covid-19. her family said she died, on april 22, just days after first exhibiting symptoms of the illness.