11 CASES IN HUNTSVILLE, 1 IN GRAVENHURST AS VARIANTS UP, VACCINES DOWN

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Red flags went up today after 11 people in Huntsville — including 4 under the age of 18 with close contact — tested COVID-positive over the weekend

A man from Gravenhurst was part of an outbreak.

And 109 people from Simcoe brought the three-day total since Friday to 121.

The health unit said 44 of them were counted as of today, Monday March 8 (the province reported 48).

On top of that the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reports a total of 655 variants of concern so far — 225 confirmed and 430 waiting second confirmed testing.

And only 714 vaccines were distributed on Sunday; however SMDHU has surpassed 50,000 injections to date.

All this on Day 1 of a return to the province’s red-control re-opening framework for Simcoe-Muskoka.

12 MUSKOKA CASES:

Here are the dozen weekend cases, with their reported date first, episode date, age, sex, home and cause.

  1. 03/07 — 03/06 — 35-44 — male — Huntsville — close contact.
  2. 03/07 — 03/03 — 45-64 — male — Huntsville — under investigation
  3. 03/07 — 02/28 — 65-79 — female — Huntsville — community acquired
  4. 03/07 — 02/28 — 65-79 — male — Huntsville — community acquired
  5. 03/06 — 03/05 — 35-44 — female — Huntsville — close contact
  6. 03/05 — 02/28 — 35-44 — male — Gravenhurst — outbreak
  7. 03/05 — 03/03 — 0-17 — female — Huntsville — close contact
  8. 03/05 — 02/28 — 0-17 — female — Huntsville — close contact
  9. 03/05 — 03/02 — 0-17 — female — Huntsville — close contact
  10. 03/05 — 03/03 — 0-17 — female — Huntsville — close contact
  11. 03/05 — 03/01 — 8-34 — male — Huntsville — close contact
  12. 03/04 — 03/03 — 35-44 — female — Huntsville — under investigation

Local public health also reports 1 new death and 18 people in hospital.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for a “national day observance” for the pandemic Thursday, March 11.

Meanwhile, the province also saw a huge jump for the second straight day, with 1,631 cases and 10 deaths. Sunday there were 1,299 cases and Saturday 990 after 1,250 Friday.

Toronto accounted for 568 on Monday March 8; Peel 322 and York 119.

North Bay-Parry Sound had zero cases and Thunder Bay 91.

Quebec said it had 579 cases and 9 deaths; Manitoba 64 cases and 1 more death.

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • To date 225 local cases have been tested positive for the COVID-19 variant of concern UK B.1.1.7 and an additional 430 cases have screened positive (awaiting confirmatory testing)
  • 50,068 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered in Simcoe Muskoka.
  • This includes more than 15,500 individuals who have received both of the required doses of the vaccine. In addition, 2,984 (or 93%) long-term care residents and 3,416 (or 94%) retirement home residents have received their first dose.
  • There have been 44 new cases reported to the health unit for the current week. Last there were 208, which was nearly 20% lower than the 255 cases the week before starting Feb. 21.
Variants are up and vaccines down today across Simcoe-Muskoka, reports the health unit.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who are fully vaccinated can gather indoors with others who have also had one or both injections.
  • Toronto launches online portal to book appointments for residents 80+ and others eligible, including vulnerable and frontliners. It’s at vaccineto.ca.
  • Ontario is to take over vaccine bookings as of next Monday, March 15.
  • Ontario now officially has no “stay-at-home” orders, the most restrictive condition of the province’s zoning framework. Toronto and Peel dropped down to the grey-lockdown zone, the same one Simcoe-Muskoka left for red-control today, the second step down from the top.
  • Pope Francis said he travelled to Iraq believing God would protect residents from further possible exposure to the pandemic.
  • Palestinian workers begin getting vaccine from Israelis today.
  • Ontario’s attorney general office says only 990 of 5,584 charges the past year have been paid, according to the Toronto Star, some of which were withdrawn.
Simcoe-Muskoka’s red-control zone as of today means it is two steps down from the stay-at-home and grey-lockdown in the province’s re-opening framework.

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