Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With COVID hitting the highest office in the land, local public health reports 355 weekend cases.

As of yesterday 61 were in hospital and 7 in ICU, says the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.

They also report 4 new deaths since their last update Friday, including 1 more in Muskoka, the date of which is “unknown,” the health unit says.

• Male 80+, Simcoe, OB-related, DOD – Jan 27, 2022
• Male 65-79, Simcoe, Sporadic, DOD – Jan 28, 2022
• Female, 80+, Simcoe, OB-related, DOD – Jan 30, 2022
• Male, 80+, Muskoka, OB-related, DOD – Unknown

And one of the previous deaths Jan. 22 — a man 80+ from Simcoe in outbreak, was removed as they were from another health unit.

This as Justin Trudeau said this morning he has the virus, but is feeling well and will continue working from home.

The prime minister — who said he got it from one of his kids — now knows how other parents feel about school precautions.

Trudeau also came out more definitively against the weekend national truckers’ convoy, which forced the first family to flee their cottage home for security reasons.

“This is not the story of our pandemic, of our people,” Trudeau said. “… there is no place in our country to threats and hatred.”

He praised the other “90 per cent” of truckers who he said are keeping the goods and supplies Canadians have relied on during COVID moving.

Premier Doug Ford also condemned the “Freedom Convoy.”

“I was extremely disturbed …to see some individuals desecrate our most sacred monuments and wave swastikas and other symbols of hate and intolerance this weekend. That has no place in Ontario or Canada. Not now. Not ever.”

What’s for dinner?

Chances are some of you will be dining out again tonight.

This as Ontario lifted more restrictions Monday, which allow restaurants, gyms and cinemas — among other services — to throw open their revolving doors again.

At the Boston Pizza in Gravenhurst they were open at 11 a.m., but business was slow with only a few in for lunch.

See provincial regulations of what’s open again here.

School/public clinic Tuesday Monck public in Bracebridge

Meanwhile, the health is beginning school vaccination clinics starting tomorrow, including one in Bracebridge at Monck Public School on Wellington Street.

They are open for students in the afternoon after school into the early evening.

They are offered by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) in partnership with local school boards. The other two elementary clinics are at Pine River Elementary in Angus and Holy Cross Catholic in Innisfil.

The clinics will operate during school hours from 1 to 3:30 p.m. for eligible students and staff of the host school.

Children will not be vaccinated without signed parental consent. Clinic hours will continue for walk-ins from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for these same individuals as well as for all other eligible community members 5 years of age and older for first, second or booster doses. In the event of bus cancellations for inclement weather, school vaccination clinics will be cancelled and rescheduled.

As well, the vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds continues to be offered at community clinics throughout Simcoe Muskoka by appointment or walk-in for first and second doses. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to book their child’s vaccine appointment at the earliest opportunity using the online COVID-19 vaccination portal at Ontario.ca/bookvaccine or by calling the provincial vaccine contact centre at 1-833-943-3900 for appointments at health unit community clinics.

Additional vaccination options include appointments through a family health team, pharmacies and some primary care providers.

SMDHU encourages parents and guardians to discuss COVID-19 vaccination with their children before their appointment.

Regardless of vaccination status, everyone in the school community must continue to follow public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Measures include completing the COVID-19 school and child care screening tool, staying home when feeling ill, maintaining a physical distance of 2 metres from those living outside of your household and wearing a mask when physical distancing is not possible, covering your cough, and washing your hands regularly.

 

MONDAY: CONFIRMED PHO COVID CASES: … 63 IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (150 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 3,043 AND 31 DEATHS (3,960- 58); 2,983 IN HOSPITAL (3,019, 583 IN ICU (587) … TORONTO 603 (721) … YORK 165 (234) … PEEL 431 (557) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 28 (35) …

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

• 31,708 confirmed cases to date
• 58 cases this week
• 1,227 cases last week, 32% lower than the 1,816 cases reported for the week of Jan. 16.
• 53 deaths in January, 10 in December
• From July 18 to Jan. 30 the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is 6 times higher than it is for those who have received at least two vaccine doses, the rate of COVID-19 ICU admissions is 13 times higher and the rate of deaths is 4 times higher.
• To date 439 cases have tested positive for the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of concern, and an additional 1,900 cases are considered suspect Omicron (awaiting confirmatory testing).
• 1,238,934 vaccines have been administered in Simcoe Muskoka, including doses administered by local pharmacies
• 493,910 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 82% of the total population
• 86% of the population 5+ have had at least one dose of vaccine including 82% of youth 12 to 17
• 47% of children 5 to 11 years of age have received at least one dose of vaccine

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

• Remember last fall when it seemed to some that few new anyone who tested positive? Well, according to a new Angus Reid survey one in five Canadian homes has had at least one positive case since Dec. 1. More than a third of them the first two weeks of January; and 42 per cent in December. Quebec had the most and the Atlantic provinces the fewest.
• British opposition parties and the public are crying “whitewash” after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson blew off a report critical of government-related COVID partying. He told the British House of Commons his government “can be trusted.”
• “I get it and I will fix it,” he said of the “party-gate” scandal.
• Moderna has finally received full approval in the U.S. from the Federal Drug Administration for its vaccine.

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