COVID CASES ARE CLIMBING FASTER THAN SPRING TEMPERATURES, WITH 234 TODAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — A rush to get second booster shots isn’t holding back COVID-19.

A week of vaccinations for the 60+ still sees corona winning the virus war.

Total numbers are up locally and provincially today.

Simcoe-Muskoka almost doubled to 234 from 122 yesterday, according to Public Health Ontario.

Across the province the hike was 3,833 compared to 2,300 day-over-day.

Locally, 7 more people were admitted to hospitals in the region — bringing the total to 29.

Ontario had a dozen new deaths, none of them in Simcoe-Muskoka.

Masks continue to be the problem — a lack of enough of them, that is.

Face coverings have fallen faster than the amount of snow in your backyard.

And it’s showing up in case counts again.

Dr. Charles Gardner told media yesterday that he didn’t recommend to the province they drop the masks and or that they allow businesses re-open fully last month.

But he and other medical officers of health were overruled by Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservative government.

As in the past new numbers are bearing out their science advisories.

And, said Gardner, those numbers have a two-week lag that’s expected to continue the upward trend in to Easter and after as Ontarians gather in greater numbers for this weekend’s holiday celebrations.

He recommends the same personal safety precautions as the past two years.

More specifically he says celebrate out doors.

WEDNESDAY CONFIRMED COVID CASES (PHO): 234 IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (122 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 3,833 (2,300) AND 12 DEATHS; 1,332 IN HOSPITAL AND 183 IN ICU … TORONTO 892 (460) … YORK 199 (177) … PEEL 166 (137) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 40 (22) …

Megan, a medical radiation technologist at South Muskoka Memorial Hospital, says they are gearing up for another busy summer doing CT scans and other procedures in the diagnostic imaging department.
Visitors to South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) will happy to grab a coffee on the go now that the Mocha Muskoka kiosk reopened this week, after being closed since Christmas due to COVID. Staff certainly welcomed the break nook, including Mikalah Iverson, a respiratory therapist, who stopped for a bite and a chat with Liz Curran this afternoon.

HEALH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 40,902 confirmed cases to date
  • 465 this week
  • 1,339 last week (April 3), 22% higher than the 1,094 cases the week of March 27
  • 6 deaths in April, 23 in March, 54 in February
  • From Dec. 12 to April 12, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is 3 times higher than it is for those who have received at least two vaccine doses, the rate of COVID-19 ICU admissions is 5 times higher and the rate of deaths is 3 times higher.
  • To date, 1,471 cases have tested positive for the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of concern, and an additional 2,348 cases are considered suspect Omicron (awaiting confirmatory testing)
  • 1,290,581 doses of vaccine have been administered, including doses administered by local pharmacies.
  • 502,925 residents have received at least one vaccine, which represents 82% of the total population
  • 86% of the population 5+ have had at least one vaccine, including 82% of youth 12 to 17
  • 49% of children 5 to 11 have also received at least vaccine

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • Health Canada has destroyed 1.5 million vaccines that have expired dates. That’s 2 per cent of the 118 billion doses Canada has received since December 2020. The remaining 18 million left in storage are due to expire in August.
  • UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t resign after being fined by London police for violating lockdown rules with Christmas parties by his Conservative government staff.

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