2 GRAVENHURST RESIDENTS AMONG 130 COVID CASES THIS WEEKEND

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — What were you doing this weekend as 19 more people died of COVID and 130 more tested positive?

Public Health Ontario reports 41 of them in Simcoe and Muskoka.

Two of them were Gravenhurst residents — and the only ones reported in Muskoka for the past three days.

A male and female, both aged 45-64. The man with a close contact, who became aware last Wednesday; and the woman who is under investigation and became aware on Thursday.

Muskoka Shores retirement and LTC in Gravenhurst reported an outbreak involving a staff member Friday. The home is owned by Sienna Senior Living and is part of a chain that includes Bradford Valley Community Care, where a second possible outbreak this weekend of the UK COVID variant is highly suspected by the health unit.

Unconfirmed sources tell MuskokaTODAY.com that a Muskoka Shores staff member with a positive test result was to be quarantined at a local hotel.

This as today Ontario extended the provincial emergency another 14 days to Feb. 9, unless extended further.

And the federal government announced Canada won’t receive any new vaccines this week.

All orders under Ontario’s emergency act, including stay-at-home were also extended.

As well, orders under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA) continue to be in force.

And the province is accelerating the vaccination of residents in long-term care, high-risk retirement, and First Nations elder care homes by a new target date of Feb. 5.

They say to protect access to second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those who have already received their first dose, Ontario will maintain the maximum interval of 21-27 days for long-term care, retirement and First Nations elder care home resident groups and up to 42 days between the two doses for all other groups.

The adjustments are being made following notification by the federal government of reductions in Pfizer vaccine shipments.

Their plan is to accelerate vaccination of the most vulnerable populations across Ontario with the goal of visiting each care and high risk retirement home in the province pending week of Feb.1 delivery dates.

As well, doses of the Moderna vaccine will be reallocated to 14 public health units to ensure vaccines are administered at each long-term care home in the province.

Yesterday Simcoe North and Muskoka administered just 95, bringing their total so far to 15,012.

Muskoka enjoyed a good sunny weekend and with just 2 people testing positive in Gravenhurst for COVID-19 among 130 in the region.

This as Ontario saw a promising drop in numbers Monday Jan. 25 province-wide.

There were 1,958 cases and 43 deaths, as Toronto made up for just 727, Peel 365, York 157 and hard-hit Windsor-Essex only 85. Niagara saw 82, Durham 62 and Hamilton 55.

See more numbers below for today from the province, which may differ from health units.

The latest numbers reported by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) bring to 5,180 the total number of cases the past year with 1,229 still active cases.

But with 127 deaths now (including 19 on the weekend since Friday) hospitalizations continue to remain close to 40 per day — 39 today including 9 more over the weekend.

NOTES:

  • There have been 15,012 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTec vaccine administered in Simcoe North and Muskoka, mainly to health care workers in local hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes.
  • But just 95 Sunday.
  • This includes 932 individuals that have received both of the required doses of the vaccine.
  • In addition, 2,846 (or 89%) long-term care residents have received their first dose.
  • There have been 35 new cases reported to the health unit for the current week.
  • Last week they recorded 439 cases (starting Jan. 17), slightly lower than the 448 cases reported the week before beginning Jan. 10.
  • More than a quarter of all cases reported last week were associated with Roberta Place Long-Term Care Home outbreak in Barrie.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS:

  • Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the first COVID case at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital. Today there have been more than 200,000 cases, with most of them older Ontarians in LTCs and who have been the mostly likely to die.
  • As school classes in various parts of Ontario — but not in Muskoka and only in the eastern part of the Trillium Lakelands District School Board — some medical experts are calling for rapid COVID testing of students.
  • U.S. vaccinating 1 million people a day.
  • Biden keeps U.S. ban on travellers from Brazil and Britain, Ireland and 26 other countries in Europe that was due to expire Tuesday.

 

Jan. 25 more Public Health Ontario case counts:

  • Simcoe Muskoka: 41
  • Windsor-Essex: 85
  • Niagara Region: 82
  • Durham Region: 62
  • Hamilton: 55
  • Halton Region: 54
  • Ottawa: 51
  • Middlesex-London: 46
  • Waterloo Region: 39
  • Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 35
  • Huron-Perth: 29
  • Southwestern: 28
  • Chatham-Kent: 22
  • Lambton: 19
  • Eastern Ontario: 11
  • Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge: 11

 

 

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