13 COVID CASES IN SIMCOE TUESDAY, AS ONTARIO GIVES TEACHERS, HOSPITAL WORKERS PASS ON VACCINES
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — The health unit reports 13 COVID cases in Simcoe today, as the Ontario’s Conservative government refuses to mandate vaccines for teachers and hospital workers.
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) says 10 of Tuesday’s cases were among people unvaccinated.
They bring to 17 the number of cases this week in the region.
Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Health Minister Christine Elliott claims forced vaccines on health care workers could lead to worker shortages in hospitals.
This as the province says it will double the number of inspectors at LTC homes to 344 by adding 193 new inspectors by next September at a cost of $20 million. They say that means more than two inspectors for every one home.
Meanwhile, those wishing to enter the U.S. by land Nov. 8 will have to have a negative test three days before crossing.
In Alberta a fifth wave is threatening 19 northern communities near Fort McMurray. The Conservative government there reports that vaccine rates there are only 40 to 55 per cent.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro faces “crimes against humanity” charges for his government’s handling of the pandemic. An 11-member panel has spent six months investigating and making the recommendation. But it will now be up to a sympathetic justice minister to lay the charges.
TUESDAY: COVID BY THE P.H.0. NUMBERS: … 12 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (10 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 269 AND 5 DEATHS (326-0) … TORONTO 39 (39), YORK 13 (31), PEEL 36 (33) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 1 (0) … PORCUPINE 0 (0) …
HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHT:
- 13,928 cases to date
- 17 cases this week; 121 last week, which was 9% higher than the 111 cases the week before
- From Dec. 22 there have been 377 confirmed cases among vaccinated residents
- From Aug. 29 to Oct. 23 the rate of COVID-19 infection among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is 10 times higher than it is for fully vaccinated population and the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 19 times higher.
- 4,007 Alpha variants of concern, 169 Gamma, 34 Beta, 1,535 Delta
- 904,228 vaccines have been administered
- 459,511 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 76% of the total population
- 86% of the population 12+ have had at least one vaccine
- 86% of youth 12 to 17 have also received at least one vaccine
IN OTHER COVID NEWS …
- B.C. mandates vaccines for health care workers as of today.
- Quebec reports 340 cases and 4 deaths.
- Some federal Public Service Alliance Workers (PSAC) workers claim their union isn’t doing enough for them in their fight against mandatory vaccines. The group, which reportedly represents 4,000 national civil servants, says they’re not anti-vaxxers — but that the federal order “violates their rights to privacy and bodily autonomy.”
- The U.S. will let in unvaccinated youth under 18 and those from dozens of other countries that have had few vaccines available.
- Sweden, with a population of 10 million, has had 15,000 deaths. They have taken a mostly hands off approach to COVID restrictions. By comparison Denmark has had 2,703 deaths, Finland 1,150 and Norway 895. Those three Scandinavian countries each have about half Sweden’s population.
- Moderna says it will give 115 million vaccines to Africa, including 15 million by the end of the year. And 35 million the first quarter of 2022 followed by 60 million the Q2. Only 5 per cent of Africa’s 1.3 billion residents are vaccinated. This is in addition to Moderna giving 500 million doses to COVAX for low- and middle-income countries.
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