73 MUSKOKA CASES OVER HOLIDAY, AMONG 300 REGION-WIDE WEDNESDAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With 73 Muskoka COVID cases since Friday, the health unit says the self-isolation period starts when the person’s symptoms began or the day they were tested, whichever is earlier.

And workers can return to the workplace after their self-isolation period if they have no fever and their symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours.

“Workers do not need a negative COVID-19 test to return to the workplace after self-isolating for the full period.”

That’s the latest guidance today from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) today as it reports 298 cases region-wide in the Omicron wave.

And as new confusion arises over the duration of isolation.

Ontario — with 10,346 cases Wednesday — is considering the new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation about cutting quarantine time for those with asymptomatic COVID-19 to five days from 10.

“In light of the recently updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on shortening the recommended isolation and quarantine period, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and Public Health Ontario are evaluating this guidance against Ontario-specific evidence,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott’s communications director.

The CDC also advises that the five-day quarantine is recommended for those exposed to the virus, including those who are unvaccinated.

That advice sparked widespread concern from the public and health experts in Canada and the United States.

Local cases up 91 per cent over previous week

Local public health also reports 989 cases this week. And 1,625 cases last week as December 19, which was 91% higher than the 853 cases reported for the week of December 12.

It also says there are 300 new active cases since last Friday, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,836.

But there were no deaths since its last update Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, Ontario is to announce this week whether it will send kids back to school; as Newfoundland and Labrador have already shut the doors on in-person classes.

Quebec continues to lead Canada in case counts of 13,149. Hospitalizations were up 102 yesterday to 804, with 122 in ICU. They also had 15 deaths.

Ontario had 3 deaths overnight and 726 people in hospital, 190 in ICU.

Cases since last Friday’s SMDHU reporting:

WEDNESDAY: COVID P.H.0. NUMBERS: … 395 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (330 TUESDAY, 364 MONDAY, 330 SUNDAY, 282 SATURDAY, 270 FRIDAY) … ONTARIO 10,436 … TORONTO 2,715, YORK 1,252, PEEL 1,036 … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 53 … PORCUPINE 74 … KINGSTON 132 …

Remember masks? Sure you do. And if, like the Currie Brothers in Gravenhurst say, you better cover up chin to nose and above as Omicron continues to get worse.

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • As of today, only outbreak and sporadic (i.e. non-outbreak) sources of infection are now reported as a result of changes in data collection practices due to extremely numbers of reported cases.
  • Note: December 29: 6 cases, including 1 from Huntsville, removed as they were transferred to other PHU or considered duplicates.
  • December 23: 4 cases, including 1 from Huntsville, removed as they were transferred to other PHU. And 1 previously reported as Simcoe County that was re-assigned to Muskoka.
  • 20,152 cases to date
  • 989 this week
  • 1,625 new cases last week as December 19, which was 91% higher than the 853 cases reported for the week of December 12
  • From December 22nd, 2020 onwards, there have been 3,697 confirmed COVID-19 cases among vaccinated individuals.
  • 7 deaths in December, 14 in November, 5 each in October and September
  • From October 31 to December 25 the rate of COVID-19 infection among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is four times higher than it is for fully vaccinated population and the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 18 times higher.  Please note that due to the smaller number of unvaccinated hospitalized cases, one or two additional hospitalized cases will noticeably change the ratio listed above.
  • 4,007 Alpha cases, 169 Gamma, 34 Beta, 3,587 Delta
  • 111 Omicron
  • 1,280 cases await screening for VOC
  • 1,087,767 vaccines have been administered
  • 485,087 individuals have received at least one vaccine, which represents 80% of the total population
  • 84% of the population 5+ have had at least one vaccine; including 82% of youth 12 to 17 39% of children 5 to 11 have also received at least one dose of vaccine

There were no new deaths reported over the weekend, but active cases are up to 300 Wednesday,

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • Italy is the latest planning to allow health care workers with symptoms to continue working to keep hospitals and the like running with enough workers to cope with rising demands.
  • An average of 265,000 Americans a day is a new U.S. record, topping 250,000 mid-January, says Johns Hopkins University.
  • While Omicron hasn’t hit Asia as badly as the West, eastern countries are bracing for the inevitable as questions about the effectiveness of the Chinese-made vaccines used in China and large areas of the developing world are emerging.
  • WHO says global cases up 11 per cent last week to almost 5 million, including a 39 per cent rise in the Americas.

EMAIL: [email protected]

28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’

Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1

Leave comments at end of story

SUBSCRIBE for $25 by e-transferring to [email protected]

Or go online to https://muskokatoday.com/subscriptions