He died at Lakeridge Health Ajax Pickering Hospital, but no further details have been released.
A spokesman for Ontario’s chief medical examiner said their office investigates when a death is sudden and unexpected.
“Therefore, the death of a two-year-old child may not merit an investigation if there was a known documented disease process,” Stephanie Rea, Case Manager at the Office of the Chief Coroner, told CTV News Toronto.
“For example, if a child had been admitted to hospital for health reasons and then died, the coroner would not necessarily be called upon to investigate as the medical records would record the cause and manner of death.”
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones responded to the death at a press conference Thursday, noting that she “can’t imagine how difficult this must be” for both the child’s family and the caregivers who were present.
“I will let the hospital inquest do the work they need to do to contact this family, but I don’t think any of us can understand how deeply saddened we are to hear of the death of a patient,” Jones said. he said.
A spokesman for Lakeridge, meanwhile, was unable to provide further details about the circumstances of the child’s death.
In an interview with CTV News Toronto, Dr. Doris Greenspoon, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, said everything possible was done immediately to save the child’s life.
“I’m very hopeful that the situation is not related to the crisis that we have on our hands across the province and that this is the situation that the child came to the hospital in,” she said.
“But still, the tragedy is there.”
The death investigation launched by Ontario’s chief medical examiner comes as some pediatric hospitals in Ontario struggle to keep up with an influx of patients with respiratory viruses, including RSV and the flu.
