MUSKOKA SURPASSES SIMCOE IN CASES WEDNESDAY 4-2

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Two thirds of today’s COVID cases are in Muskoka.

After months of being behind in the counting — and amid renewed talk of separation from Simcoe — “we the north” top the south half of the health unit with four of six cases Wednesday.

It’s a first in pandemic memory.

Three people in Lake of Bays — two of them 17 and under — and one person in Huntsville account for 66.6 per cent of coronavirus cases.

One is a Huntsville man aged 45-64, the two under 18 from Lake Bays are male and of unidentified sex, and the fourth person is a female 18-34.

All are under investigation having reported June 6 with first episodes June 5.

Dr. Charles Gardner, the health unit’s medical officer of health, said yesterday it’s now safe to assume that most of the new cases being reported now are of the Delta variant.

Today’s other two cases are male and female from Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Barrie — aged respectively 35-44 and 0-17.

Meanwhile, as the Delta variant remains a concern for Gardner and Health Minister Christine Elliott, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reports 70 cases today — up 11 from yesterday’s reporting.

This as Public Health Ontario this morning reported 194 cases and for the first time since last October (nine months ago) no deaths. Yesterday it said there were 244 cases and 9 deaths.

Toronto saw 35 of them (112), York 3 (13) and Peel 26 (26), North Bay-Parry Sound 2 (0), Porcupine 1 (0) and Simcoe-Muskoka 1 (2).

Weather wasn’t problem for these outdoor enthusiasts at Gull Lake Rotary Park who maintained their distance while enjoying a game of volleyball today.

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 12,305 cases today
  • 9 so far this week, 36 last week, which is 10% lower than the 40 cases the week before.
  • 0 deaths in July, 6 in June, 18 May, 25 in April, 12 in March
  • 3,995 Alpha variants, 164 Gamma, 32 Beta, 70 Delta
  • 673 cases await confirmation of VOC.
  • 614,825+ vaccines have been administered in Simcoe Muskoka
  • 398,200+ residents have received their first dose of vaccine, which represents 66% of the population.
  • 76% of adults 18+ have had at least one vaccine
  • 60% of youth 12 to 17 have also their first vaccine
  • Most COVID-19 cases in Simcoe Muskoka are from the Barrie and South Simcoe areas. Click here to view the epidemic curve by municipality.
Muskoka’s cases today were the first time in memory that it surpassed Simcoe.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • Quebec is easing restrictions on Monday by allowing people to be one metre apart rather than two if they are from separate households, as it reports 103 cases today and 1 death. It is also removing retail capacity numbers. But masks must still be worn in all indoor and outdoors public spaces.
  • New York City held a ticker tape parade today for frontline health-care workers.
  • Alberta wants to cut nurses’ pay by 3 per cent to control costs as it’s in contract talks with their union.
  • Manitoba reported 71 cases today and 2 deaths.
  • Tokyo has been hit with 970 cases two weeks out from the Olympics — its most since mid-May. Only 15 per cent of Japanese are fully vaccinated.
  • South Korea, an early pandemic fighter, reports 1,200 cases with only 30 per cent of its population having had at least one vaccination.
  • Australia has extended its two-week lockdown by another week in mostly unvaccinated Sidney its largest city.

 

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