51 DEATHS AND 227 PEOPLE AFFECTED IN BARRIE OUTBREAK

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — The residents of Muskoka are being “very vigilant” in keeping COVID and its variant at bay.

“And we hope they keep it that way,” Dr. Colin Lee, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s (SMDHU) associate medical officer of health, said today.

In a Friday afternoon news briefing on the UK variant, he added that despite provincial concerns yesterday that the number of vaccinations may be twice as high as reported, Lee said “I believe our numbers are accurate.”

But with that news from the province “we will go back and look at them.”

As of today, SMDHU reports 16,282 people have received first or second vaccinations — including 287 yesterday.

Meanwhile, Lee confirmed 51 deaths at the heart of a tragic outbreak the health unit believes to be related to the UK variant at Roberta Place where 227 people associated with it have tested positive.

Only 1 of 129 residents at the Barrie LTC has been unaffected.

And 83 of the original staff at the home — when the outbreak occurred the first week of January have also been affected.

That’s an “attack rate” of 56 per cent, said Lee.

Another 10 people have since tested positive. Seven of those are among additional staff brought in by the home and another three outside caregivers — one who is among those who have died.

He said it’s a “good sign” that there haven’t been any more cases the past day and that health officials are “erring on the side of caution” when they get any reports of it.

He said “we don’t wait” for confirmation before acting on any “exposures where there is evidence of transmissions” or “penetration of the community.”

Lee also added that at Bradford Valley Community Care, site of the second of three area facilities with UK variant in them, 2 staff have been confirmed with the UK variant and 5 residents have also been screened in a first test indicating they, too, have it.

The same variant is also in Penetanguishene at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, with 2 residents and one staff member in the geriatric ward, according to their website.

Dr. Colin Lee, associate medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka, said he is confident in accuracy of their numbers in regard to vaccines issued to date. Yesterday the province expressed concern that the total across the province may be twice as high due the the number of doses that can be squeezed out of each vial of the Pfizer vaccine may differ between five and six.

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