COVID COUNT 29 IN SIMCOE ON TUESDAY, SAYS HEALTH UNIT
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — A “rapidly” growing number of cases in Simcoe and Muskoka sees 29 new people with COVID-19.
All mostly in south Simcoe.
None were in Muskoka Tuesday, Nov. 3.
This as the health unit today also issued an order for “long-term care” facilities only to restrict visitors to only two essential persons. And to also restrict all social gatherings within the LTCs and prevent residents from leaving and only for medical treatment.
Today’s count is down from yesterday when 75 cases were reported for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The latest numbers come as 340 people have tested positive the past two weeks.
That includes 47 people related to Thanksgiving gatherings in Simcoe Muskoka at 23 locations involving up to 16 people, said Dr. Charles Gardner said in a media briefing this afternoon.
He added that 15 of them were people who either left the region or came here to join celebrations.
Among the cases today: 9 in New Tecumseth, 8 Barrie and 6 Bradford-West Gwillimbury.
The region also recorded its 50th death in the past week, at Simcoe Manor, where the woman in her 80s was the tenth person to die at the Bolton LTC and site of the largest institutional outbreak.
There have now been 1,455 cases, including last week’s 154 that were the most in one week since a previous total of 126 in seven days.
Of the new 29 cases 25 came via the community, three in institutions and 1 in an educational setting.
There were 17 males and 12 females ranging from under age 10 to in their 80s.
And 7 remain in hospital with 1,192 people having recovered.
One recent outbreak involves a hair salon in Barrie with 2 staff and three customers, which led contact tracing and 95 customers being alerted.
Gardner said the “rising number of cases is of great concern to me.”
Notably with an average of 25 cases per week per 100,000 residents, which is above the provincial average.
He said the local growth rate is 1.5 per cent, which is above Ontario’s overall average of 1.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Gardner said a health unit survey that went online last week asking for public comments on how people are coping with COVID has already received about 1,000 responses.
With 20 per cent of them from Muskokans.
He called it an “enormous wonderful response” they will parse.
The MOH also highlighted new changes announced today across the province, which reported 1,050.
That’s more than 871 in Quebec and 105 in Manitoba, which plummeted from 241 Monday.
Premier Doug Ford, facing mounting closure criticism, said more parts of Ontario will open up again allowing gyms and indoor dining with limitations in Ottawa, Peel and York.
Toronto asked for more time.
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