8 MUSKOKA COVID CASES THURSDAY AS KIDS READY FOR VACCINES FRIDAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another 8 Muskoka COVID cases today were among 51 in the region as this week’s total continued to rise to 222 — with two more days of reporting yet to come.

And again Huntsville was the northern leader with 5 cases — 3 of them girls under age 18 in outbreaks. Three women from Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and Georgian Bay were in addition.

They keep Muskoka among top communities within the local health unit for increased number of positive incidents.

Those cases are:

  1. Bracebridge woman, 35-44, close contact, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 20
  2. Georgian Bay woman, 45-64, close contact, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 16
  3. Huntsville girl, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 23
  4. Huntsville girl, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 21
  5. Huntsville girl, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 20
  6. Huntsville man, 35-64, close contact, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 21
  7. Huntsville woman, 45-64, under investigation, reported Nov. 24, with first episode Nov. 23
  8. Gravenhurst woman, 35-44, community acquired, reported Nov. 19, with first episode Nov. 18

They were among 31 people who were unvaccinated or 18 fully vaccinated and 2 partially vaccinated.

In addition, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 66 cases resolved since yesterday, 28 in hospital including 4 overnight. There were no more deaths.

Meanwhile, provincewide kids are getting their first vaccines with SMDHU to begin its children’s Pfizer shots tomorrow for more than 6,500 children locally.

THURSDAY: COVID BY THE P.H.0. NUMBERS: … 55 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (60 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 748 AND 5 DEATHS (591-7) … TORONTO 77 (74), YORK 43 (48), PEEL 48 (43) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 5 (4) … PORCUPINE 3 (2) …

Food, glorious food. Tis the season of giving and folks at the GAP are busy as elves at the North Pole collecting and distributing donations in Gravenhurst.

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 15,257 cases to date
  • 222 cases this week
  • 415 cases last week, which was 25% higher than the 332 cases reported for the week of Nov. 7.
  • From Dec. 22 there have been 834 confirmed COVID-19 cases among vaccinated individuals
  • 12 deaths in November, 5 each of past two months
  • From Sept. 26 to Nov. 20 the rate of COVID-19 infection among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is seven times higher than it is for fully vaccinated population and the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 12 times higher. 4,008 Alpha variants of concern, 169 Gamma, 34 Beta, 2,187 Delta
  • 934,252 vaccines have been administered everywhere in Simcoe Muskoka
  • 466,017 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 77% of the total population
  • 88% of the population 12+ have had at least one vaccine
  • 88% of youth 12 to 17 have also received at least one vaccine

There are 28 people in hospital today, including 4 new overnight.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • Sew … cloth masks are no longer the preferred first line of defence, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. After thousands stitched together colourful, playful masks in the first wave the recommended mask now is the simple, humble blue surgical mask. It’s part of the fluidity of the pandemic — and doubling down is probably still a good idea.
  • WHO monitoring new VOC in South Africa and Botswana. There are 22 cases of the B.1.1529 variant in South Africa.
  • France and Denmark are offering booster shots countrywide for all ages rather than enacting more lockdowns.
  • Santa brought up the end of today’s Macy’s U.S. Thanksgiving parade in NYC.
  • In Quebec, where 902 cases and 5 deaths were reported today, Ombudswoman Marie Rinfret criticized the Coalition Avenir Québec government saying it put LTC residents’ care on the backburner after 4,000 deaths among them between February and June in 2020. That’s 70 per cent of the deaths in the first wave.

EMAIL: news@muskokatoday.com

28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’

Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1

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