21 CASES IN SIMCOE TODAY, AS HIGH SCHOOLS TESTING, VACCINE TARGETS
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — High school homework is history — but not this fall when students (and teachers) can take home COVID rapid test kids.
That’s on the provincial books next month for most school boards including Simcoe-Muskoka.
This as Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 21 cases Tuesday in Simcoe after 19 Monday.
And vaccination clinics will be in at least one high school in each community Sept. 9-17
Dr. Charles Gardner, MOH, said this afternoon that they will be open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for students and their families.
And 3 to 7 p.m. for feeder schools and their families.
In his weekly media update, Gardner said the health unit is still studying whether to make vaccines mandatory for its staff as many other public and private sector groups have already done so.
This as today he said there were 146 new cases since last he reported.
It’s the fifth straight week of rising cases, which he said are where they were last October.
Today there are 165 active COVID cases, up from 122 last Tuesday.
Six people are in hospital, with 2 in ICU compared to 2 and 1 last week.
None were immunized.
Of the 21 cases today, 10 were not immunized, 5 had had one dose or had the second but not within the past 14 days and 6 were fully vaccinated.
Gardner continued to say vaccines are the best defence against the virus, but in rare cases he admitted people who have come down new symptoms have passed it on to others who afterwards tested positive.
Gardner said that while he is a “great lover of democracy…,” with “what’s happening now with the pandemic of the century” there may need to be some “limit to freedoms.”
He was speaking specifically to those reluctant to get vaccinated.
But earlier, when asked about a key resignation from Ontario’s Science Advisory Table, he added that he believes democracy also applies to political decision-making around a health “crisis” like COVID-19.
And while he has offered that same table advice in limited opportunities, he still supports a “balanced” approach to decision-making between government and health groups.
He says the province has to weigh many opinions.
He said he and other medical officers of health and provincial advisors have given professional opinions and it’s up to the government to enact them or not.
Gardner, however, was open to some form of vaccination proof or passport that the Ford and Trudeau government have yet to widely publicly support.
Gardner did say he is “quite concerned” about a fourth wave becoming a fifth wave.
Last week 100 per cent of cases were variants of concern and 97 per cent were Delta cases, which he said is now “entirely dominant here in Simcoe-Muskoka.”
Across Ontario the incidence of Delta cases is 92 per cent.
The health unit, new today, also reported in its notes (below) that since Dec. 22 there have been 91 confirmed COVID-19 cases among immunized individuals (see technical notes for definitions).
As of today, 71.1 per cent of the population have had one vaccine and 64 per cent two doses.
See the accompanying SMDHU chart below for a breakdown of immunized cases since just before Christmas.
Gardner did say the return to school will be a decisive factor in any further spread.
But with more secondary school vaccinations and testing weeks away that still leaves elementary students at a higher risk.
Asked if half a dose of vaccine could still help the youngest most vulnerable children — like say a baby Aspirin does — Gardner said it would be “dangerous” to administer that independently without evidence of advice from manufacturers, health agencies and government.
However, he said child doses are expected “early in the new year — and possibly even earlier.”
In the interim he still advises masks for junior and senior kindergarten children to go along with student in-class mask mandates as ordered by the Ministry of Education.
More modelling and projections are needed, Gardner said, to see where the virus is headed this fall.
Notably, he said, because last week the average age of cases was 31 years old. That’s the lowest age since the start of the pandemic.
Also last week those aged 18-34 had the highest number of cases.
Gardner also said that on the advice of provincial health officials that booster shots will now to be given to LTC residents, those in high-risk care homes and to people with warranted medical conditions.
He said the health unit will be contacting those eligible to provide the third shot.
Gardner also added that the health unit on its website now has some results of its waste water monitoring pilot investigation for Barrie, Orillia, Collingwood and Midland.
He said the water survey could show leading indicators of spread, which appeared early on in Barrie and Orillia — Simcoe’s two largest cities.
Quebec reports 345 cases and 2 deaths, along with 78.5 per cent of residents 12+ fully vaccinated.
TUESDAY: COVID BY THE NUMBERS … 16 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (19 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 486 AND 18 DEATHS (16 FROM TWO MONTHS AGO) (639-0) … TORONTO 128 (124), YORK 45 (91), PEEL 83 (97) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 1 (1) … PORCUPINE 0 (1) …
HEATLH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:
- 12,683 cases to date
- 35 cases this week; 128 last week, which was 28% higher than the 100 cases the week before
- Since Dec. 22 there have been 91 confirmed COVID-19 cases among immunized individuals (see technical notes for definitions).
- 0 deaths in August, 4 in July, 6 in June
- 4,007 Alpha variants, 167 Gamma, 34 Beta, 377 Delta
- 671 cases await confirmation of VOC
- 824,993 vaccines have been administered
- 429,550 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 71% of population
- 81% of population 12 years and older has had one vaccine
- 75% of youth 12 to 17 years of age have also received at least one vaccine
IN OTHER COVID NEWS …
- Toronto police finally succumb to public pressure to vaccinate all the forces’ 7,400 officers and civilian staff after other city services were forced to by Mayor John Tory.
- East coasters are containing COVID by keeping a close eye on those entering the provinces, now most recently PEI, which is ordering all in-bounders to be screened, tested and isolated if you’re not vaccinated.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci says it’ll be spring next before the virus is under control in the U.S.
- NDP’s Jagmeet Singh says if elected he would ban new for-profit LTCs.
- Major NWT outbreak sees 219 active cases today — including its first death.
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