Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA  — It’s a day of firsts.

Record numbers that bluntly paint another bleak picture locally, including 19 new cases in Muskoka reported today:

• 197 cases today are the most in one day Simcoe-Muskoka has seen;
• 17,931 total confirmed cases is 1,081 more than last week, which is the largest week-over-week increase;
• 141 cases per 100,000 population per week is the highest that’s ever been (the previous high was 120 cases in the third wave);
• 6.8 per cent positivity rate for people who were tested for COVID;
• 72 per cent of cases this week are the Omicron variant — last week it was 41 per cent

That’s only part of the “blunt” picture today that has Dr. Charles Gardner “very concerned” about this latest “tough situation.”

And admitting that the two previous vaccines aren’t enough and that everyone needs a booster shot.

He said last week there were 852 cases, an increase of more than 50 per cent from the previous week with 564.

Simcoe County experienced a 55 per cent increase and Muskoka was up 14 per cent.

Kids cases under age 12 also rose, 19 per cent.

Ontario saw a 109 per cent spike and is now at 127 cases per 100,000 (61 the week prior).

The Muskoka cases, including a dozen in Huntsville (see yellow chart) were:

1. Bracebridge woman, 18-34, under investigation, reported Dec. 21, first episode Dec. 12

2. Bracebridge man, 18-34, under investigation, reported Dec. 21, first episode Dec. 21

3. Gravenhurst boy, 0-17, under investigation, reported Dec. 21, first episode Dec. 19

16. Lake of Bays woman, 45-64, under investigation, reported Dec. 21, first episode Dec. 16

17. Muskoka Lakes man, 18-34, outbreak, reported Dec. 21, first episode Dec. 20

18. Georgian Bay man, 18-34, under investigation, reported Dec. 20, first episode Dec. 19

19. Gravenhurst woman, 45-64, undetermined, reported Dec. 19, first episode Dec. 14

There is also a case at Hospice Huntsville.

So with 34 confirmed Omicron cases — and 208 believed to be — along with 143 fully vaccinated people testing positive yesterday and only 43 unvaccinated (9 partially), it helps explain why Gardner, MOH, for the SMDHU, is worried more than usual.

In his weekly briefing he added there are currently 1,495 active cases, compared to 886 last week.

And that the reproduction rate is up to 1.6 from 1.3. Anything over 1 means cases are rising, he said.

Today 31 are in hospital, including 8 in ICU (24-5 last week).

There were also 2 more deaths in Simcoe since last week — a woman 80+ and a man 45-64.

Gardner said he is investigating the time lapse between when people test positive and when they end up in hospital.

He said the recent “high attack rates” of the Omicron variant has local hospitals struggling to cope with over-capacity surge due to “very, very limited” resources.

The same, he said, applies to health unit workers who have had to off-load some of their contact tracing responsibilities over to provincial partners so they can concentrate more on LTCs and other like facilities as opposed to individuals.

That, Gardner said, puts the onus on people who test positive to tell others around them that they have tested positive. And inform any locations they may have been to share that information. The health unit has a help sheet on its website to explain how to do your own contact tracing.

He said that emphasizes the fact that it’s “very important for all of us to take responsibility to limit the spread.”

Especially around the youngest and residents 50+ who remain most susceptible to COVID and the reason they are the focus of vaccination clinics now.

He said “soon” the Omicron variant will be by far the dominant strain.

As of Wednesday more than 78,000 people have booked booster shots among the 600,000 residents in the region.

And that 85 per cent of spots next week have been filled and 90 per cent of them in January.

He called that a “high, high uptake.”

As well, 37 per cent of children 5-11 have had their first vaccine.

Gardner was also glad Ontario ordered more limitations, which he said last week he would have done locally with a LOI had the province not done so.

The MOH also acknowledged the one-year anniversary of vaccinations in which regionally more than a million residents (1,048,874) have rolled up sleeves to receive.

Acknowledging that “this ins not going to be gone for along time yet,” Gardner’s parting message for Christmas and the holidays is to wear a mask anywhere you can. Definitely indoors and even outdoors if you can’t space out two metres.

He said it will mostly be business as usual for the health unit through the end of the year — though community clinics won’t be open Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year.

He said they are making arrangements with some pharmacies to provide services on those days.

WEDNESDAY: COVID P.H.0. NUMBERS: … 159 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (82 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 4,383 AND 9 DEATHS (3,453-11) … TORONTO 1,284 (901), YORK 479 (345), PEEL 335 (280) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 17 (9) … PORCUPINE 22 (0) …

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

• 17,391 cases to date
• 393 cases this week
• 852 last week (Dec. 12), which was 51% higher than the 564 cases the week before
• From Dec. 22 there have been 2,153 cases among vaccinated individuals
• 6 deaths in December, 14 in November, 5 each in October and September
• From Oct. 24 to Dec. 18 the rate of COVID-19 infection among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is five times higher than it is for fully vaccinated population and the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 15 times higher.
• 3,482 Delta cases
• 34 confirmed Omicron, 208 believed to be latest variant
• 883 cases await confirmation of VOC
• 1,048,874 vaccines have been administered in year since vaccines became available
• 483,880 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 80% of the total population
• 84% of the population 5+ have had at least one dose of vaccine; including 82% of youth 12 to 17 years of age
• 37% of children 5 to 11 years have received at least one vaccine

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

Quebec reports a whopping record 6,361 cases and 2 deaths.

Pfizer has received approval for a pill combat early COVID treatment, which previously required IV or injection.

Ontario lab workers are the latest to feel the pressure of testing, saying they are being asked to forego vacations and work through the holidays.

South Africa saw a drop in Omicron cases between last Thursday’s 27,000 and Tuesday’s 15,424, offering hope that the latest VOC may be easing a bit.

And a U.K. epidemiologist claims Omicron may actually be as severe as Delta.

Ontario is offering businesses a tax break equivalent to 50 per cent of their property tax and energy costs.

Game on! While NHLers may not be going to Beijing, World Junior players will be playing to half-packed hockey halls in Alberta come Boxing Day.

And Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is bound and determined to send kids back to school in 2022.

EMAIL: [email protected]

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