4 MUSKOKA COVID CASES AMONG 97 IN REGION; AS SCARY OMICRON SPREADING FAST

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Omicron is real. It’s scary. And it’s here to stay — long-term.

So people age 50+ will be rushing Dec. 13 at 8 a.m. to begin booking appointments for booster shots.

That’s the group of people taking COVID and vaccines most seriously.

With Omicron spreading fast — including Durham now — vaccinations are in high demand in health units and at pharmacies where some of them are only offering them a day or two a week.

But expect more sooner as was the case with previous waves.

This as Simcoe-Muskoka reported 97 cases today — 4 of them in Muskoka.

Those northern cases were:

  1. Bracebridge woman, 45-64, under investigation, reported Dec. 1, first episode Nov. 30
  2. Huntsville boy, 0-17, close contact, reported Dec. 1, first episode Nov. 30
  3. Muskoka Lakes man, 18-34, travel, reported Dec. 1, first episode Nov. 29
  4. Bracebridge woman, 65-70, travel, reported Nov. 28, first episode Nov. 28

Ontario expects provincial numbers to be double per day the week before Christmas.

Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) says 48 of today’s cases were unvaccinated, 48 were fully vaccinated and 1 partially vaccinated.

They say that as of Thursday they’ve detected 11,115 unvaccinated residents among those testing positive.

As well, 655 cases are active, 50 were resolved since yesterday, 31 people are in hospital — 3 overnight.

Meanwhile, South Africa vaccinated 8,521 people Wednesday as Omicron continues to spread around the world.

Europe’s Centre for Disease Prevention Control (CDPC) predicts that half the EU’s cases in a couple of months will be Omicron.

Already there are 352 cases in 27 countries since Nov. 19 around the world, including 70 in 13 countries within Europe. There are 50 now in Norway.

The U.S. has recorded its first Omicron case.

THURSDAY: COVID BY THE P.H.0. NUMBERS: … 75 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (64 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 649 AND 8 DEATHS (780-6) … TORONTO 118 (96), YORK 53 (37), PEEL 75 (38) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 3 (2) … PORCUPINE 0 (0) …

Winter was a washout today, as rain washed away the last vestiges of early winter in Gravenhurst. But it meant a run on windshield washer fluid that kept CTC gas bar staff filling gas shelves outdoors. And where people are filling up – albeit temporarily – on cheaper gas before the holiday hike.

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 15,806 cases to date
  • 271 cases this week.
  • 500 last week, which was 21% higher than the 414 cases reported for the week of Nov. 14
  • From Dec. 22 there have been 1,032 confirmed COVID-19 cases among vaccinated individuals
  • 12 deaths in November, 5 each previous two months
  • From Oct. 3rd to Nov. 27, 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 13 times higher.
  • 4,008 Alpha variants of concern, 169 Gamma, 34 Beta, 2,633 Delta
  • 950,797 vaccine have been administered
  • 472,385 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
  • 85% of youth 12 to 17 have had one vaccine
  • In addition, 15% of children 5 to 11 years of age have received at least one dose of 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.
  • Young adults (18-34 years) had the highest rates of infection from February to August; however, since September, children under the age of 12 have had the highest rate of new cases

48 cases were unvaccinated today and 48 fully vaccinated, 1 was partially vaccinated.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • Quebec reports 1,176 cases and 2 deaths.
  • UN Secretary-General Antonia Guterres is condemning countries for its rush to ban travellers from south African countries, describing those policies with the loaded “travel apartheid” label. He says Omicron is around the world now and African countries shouldn’t be tainted the way China was first accused of being COVID’s source. It’s the same with how the Delta variants and others, which were identified with countries, were eventually labelled with Greek alphabet names.
  • The Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO has mysteriously quit, with no reason being given by Premier Scott Moe.
  • 2,000 students at a renowned school in Geneva are under a 10-day quarantine after 2 cases were found at the Ecole International.
  • Israel has revoked a plan to trace people’s phones to halt Omicron’s spread as an emergency measure not approved by parliament.
  • German has banned unvaccinated residents from going into non-essential businesses.
  • Two Montreal Habs players, Brendon Gallagher and Sami Niku, are the latest NHLers to test positive among dozens.
  • Health Sciences North has fired 50 workers who are unvaccinated, including hospital staff. It is the regional hospital for Northeastern Ontario, based in Greater Sudbury, where there were 32 cases today.
  • South Korea had a record day with 5,200 cases.
  • Before the pandemic the UN asked countries for $29 billion to help the world’s poorest countries. Now they’ve upped their ask to $49 billion. This as they say 1 per cent of the global population is displaced due to COVID, climate change, war and more. As well, 20 million people have been moved in to “extreme poverty” during the pandemic.
  • Japan has revoked its flight travel restriction to the country.

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EMAIL: news@muskokatoday.com

28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’

50 years of reporting Muskoka news

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