One person has died of COVID-19 at Brockville General Hospital, the facility’s top administrator confirmed Monday.

Meanwhile, the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit started the week by revising the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths downward, citing a reporting error over the weekend.

So while the health unit on the weekend reported there were 191 cases as of 4 p.m. Saturday, including 15 deaths, the revised figure Monday afternoon was 176 cases and 14 deaths.

The revised figures are based on data as of 4 p.m. on Sunday.

“There was a discrepancy in the way the data was extracted on the weekend; it was not harmonized with the Ministry of Health reporting,” health unit officials added on their website.

Health unit officials suggested more revisions might be needed in the coming day to make the data consistent with provincial reporting.

BGH president and chief executive officer Nick Vlacholias confirmed on local radio station JRFM Monday morning that the hospital has suffered its first death from the disease.

As of Sunday night, there were two patients with the disease at the hospital, he added.

In an email to The Recorder and Times later Monday, Vlacholias said he would provide no further details or comments on the BGH fatality, “to respect the family at this difficult time, and to maintain patient privacy.”

But in a Facebook post Sunday morning, Amanda Manning identified the victim as her mother, Brenda Skakum, 65, adding she died late Saturday night “due to complications from the COVID-19 virus.

“Mom has struggled with health complications for many years and this was one battle she was not able to win,” Manning wrote.

“Despite the circumstances this pandemic has created, Mom did not die alone. She was in the company of some of the most caring, compassionate and professional nurses I have met. I cannot thank the staff at Brockville General Hospital ICU enough for guiding me through this process from a distance (since I now live in Quebec).”

Asked about the status of staff at the hospital, BGH spokeswoman Abby McIntyre responded, via email, that “no staff or physician at BGH has tested positive for COVID-19.”

“Everyone at BGH has been working incredibly hard to keep our patients, and each other, safe,” she added.

Vlacholias told the local radio station BGH is preparing for a possible influx of COVID-19 patients.

“We’re hoping that we’re over-planning and we don’t have to utilize those extra resources,” he added.

A more precise breakdown of the tri-county numbers reveals that, of the 176 lab-confirmed cases, 43, or 25 per cent, are in the community, while 101 (57 per cent) are residents of long-term care facilities and 32 (18 per cent) are health-care workers.

Of the 14 people who died, 11 were long-term care residents and three were in the community.

A revised geographical breakdown of the community cases shows 10 in the area that includes Brockville, Elizabethtown-Kitley, Front of Yonge and Athens Township, while there were six in the western end including Leeds and the Thousand Islands, Gananoque Rideau Lakes and Wesport.

The breakdown listed Grenville County, including Prescott, as having fewer than five cases.

On Saturday, the health unit issued a statement confirming COVID-19 was reported at the Tincap Restaurant – but people who took out food from the establishment were at low risk of getting the disease.

Health unit officials Saturday put out a statement confirming the agency did an assessment at the Tincap Restaurant related to COVID-19.

“If an employee of a restaurant has lab-confirmed COVID-19, then the health unit will follow up to assess whether the public was at risk from contact with this individual,” the statement reads.

“This was done with the Tincap Restaurant” on County Road 29.

“From our assessment, the risk is low for the public who visited the restaurant from the end of March until it was closed on April 4. People who picked up their food would have spent a very short time interacting with employees at the take-out counter. Masks were used by staff interacting with the public for much of this time period.”

In keeping with their confidentiality policy, health unit officials did not elaborate further on the Tincap case.

Health unit officials quoted the Public Health Agency of Canada, which said “there is currently no evidence to suggest that food is a likely source or route of transmission of the virus and there are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 transmission through food. People are unlikely to be infected with the virus through food.”

The health unit added its inspectors “have worked with each restaurant to ensure they adhere to safe food handling practices.

“The public health inspectors have also suggested ways to minimize the contact with the public as people pick up their food – keeping the duration of contact to a minimum, maintaining a distance of six feet, and washing hands or using hand sanitizer between exchanges of food with the public. People who pick up food should wash their hands before they eat the food.”

The health unit has staff answering COVID-19-related questions and concerns for the public from 8:30 to 4:30 every day at 1-800-660-5853 x2499.

On Monday, Brockville city hall also launched a dedicated phone line where residents can call to get access to resources and information in the community related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Staff members will be available by phone Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 613-341-2282.

“We want to have one central number where people can call in with their questions or concerns,” Baker said in a prepared statement, adding police dispatchers had been fielding unnecessary calls during the crisis.