Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — So much for a return to in-person learning in much of Ontario.

School buses in Muskoka were cancelled this morning by local school boards due to snowfalls and students were offered remote learning on the first day of the much anticipated — and debated — end of the Christmas break due to snowfalls.

This as Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) says it started the week off with 247 cases yesterday, reports public health.

And with 1,166 since Friday.

Public Health Ontario reported 416 cases Sunday in the region and 407 Saturday.

SMDHU reports 699 active cases as of Monday.

Meanwhile, 28 people are officially listed in hospital, with 8 in ICU — though the health unit says on its website those numbers, too, may not be accurate.

Ontario has 578 people in ICU and 3,887 in hospital.

This as some provincial hospitals are rationing COVID medicines and dispensing them to those who can best benefit from them. It’s due to a shortage of the drugs.

Jan. 17 vaccination clinics closed today

The health unit also said due to the weather that “for the safety of our staff and clients,” it is closing community vaccine clinics including Gravenhurst.

Those with booked appointments who provided their email address at time of booking have been notified of the cancellation by email.

If you have an appointment booked for today, please rebook it using the COVID-19 Vaccination Portal or by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900. We will have appointments available in the coming days. You may also visit the next clinic in your area and we will do our best to accommodate you as a walk-in.

Its clinic at 29 Sperling in Barrie and the Algonquin Family Health Team clinic in Huntsville are open today.

If you have an appointment but don’t feel safe traveling to it, you can rebook an appointment for later this week.

For more information about COVID-19 and details about where and how to get your vaccination, please visit our website at www.smdhu.org/COVID19.

Huntsville hospital outbreak over

Also today, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare says in consultation with the health unit it has declared the COVID-19 outbreak on south wing at Huntsville District Memorial Hospital over.

The outbreak lasted 11 days, and through outbreak management protocols including testing, 7 patient cases and 1 staff case were attributed to the outbreak in total.

The unit has reopened to admissions as well as visitors, in line with MAHC’s visitation policy currently at phase 1 to allow the patient’s designated care partner to visit once a day between visiting hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

MONDAY: CONFIRMED COVID CAESS: … 416 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (407 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 8,521 AND 22 DEATHS … TORONTO 1,742 (2,196), YORK 791 (880), PEEL 1,302 (1,652) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 34 (30) … PORCUPINE 8 (46) … KINGSTON 39 (50) … HALTON 439 (552) …

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

• 28,567 confirmed cases to date
• 247 this week
• 2,517 last week, 18% lower than the 3,075 cases reported for the week of January 2nd.
• From December 22 on there have been 9,330 confirmed cases
• 8 deaths in January, 10 in December
• From July 18th to January 16th, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is 11 times higher than it is for fully vaccinated population, the rate of COVID-19 ICU admissions is 19 times higher and the rate of deaths is 7 times higher.
• 1,191,269 vaccines have been administered
• 489,780 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 81% of the total population
• 85% of the population 5+ have had at least one dose of vaccine; including 82% of youth 12 to 17
• 43% of children 5 to 11 have received at least one vaccine

More interesting stats:

• Over 3% of COVID-19 cases have been hospitalized and 1% of COVID-19 cases have passed away.
• The number of active ICU admissions in the month of April 2021 was the highest since the start of the pandemic. Active ICU admissions have remained near or below 5 since early July.
• The median age of those admitted to hospital since September is 66 years, which is 11 years older than the median age of those admitted from May to August. The median age of those admitted to the ICU since September is 62 years, which is six years older than the median age of those admitted to the ICU from May to August.
• 81% of hospitalized COVID-19 cases have recovered. This excludes cases currently in hospital.
• Roughly half of deaths were never hospitalized. This is due to the disproportionately large impact of COVID-19 mortality on long-term care and retirement home residents who passed away without being hospitalized.
• Since the onset of wave 2 (October 2020) and continuing into the third wave (March 2021), a higher proportion of cases required hospitalization and ICU care when compared to the first wave (March 2020-June 2020).
• There have been eight COVID-19 related deaths reported in January 2022 to date.
• 16 of the past 17 deaths have been in adults 65 years of age and over.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

• Health Canada approves Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid pill, which reduces hospitalizations and deaths among people with high risk of COVID.
• A Chinese health authorities claim that a letter or parcel from Canada sent through Hong Kong spread Omicron is being dismissed here as “ludicrous.”
• Quebec reports, 5,400 cases, 54 deaths and 81 more hospitalizations Monday.
• LTC workers must get booster shot by Jan 28. So far 64 per cent have done so.
• Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 68, is back at work after isolating for the second time with COVID.
• Beijing says it has its first case of Omicron just weeks before the Winter Olympic open.

EMAIL: news@muskokatoday.com

28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’

Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1

Leave comments at end of story

SUBSCRIBE for $25 by e-transferring to news@muskokatoday.com

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