AT LEAST 15 CASES IN SIMCOE TODAY, AS QUESTION OF VOTING COMES UP

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Should unvaccinated Canadians be able go to the ballot box in a federal election?

It’s too late for a plebiscite on that question.

But with 15 to 25 COVID cases in Simcoe-Muskoka today, 513 in Ontario, Justin Trudeau expected to call for a national vote within days and more business and health groups calling for mandatory shots, it’s a legitimate question.

Could a fourth wave be a tipping point?

For some, perhaps, but enough to change the course of the pandemic?

Unlikely.

Still, we’re headed that direction — like it or not.

A Mainstreet Research poll shows 65 per cent of us don’t want to go to the polls two years after the last.

Not at least with the coronavirus a threat to the physical and economic health of the country.

Locally all 15 of today’s COVID cases are in Simcoe as reported by the health unit (the province said it there were 25).

And ….

  • 69 of the 12,543 cases to day remain active
  • 33 of 5,099 variants positively ID’d are active
  • 230 of the variants of concern are Delta cases

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS …

  • 12,468 cases to date
  • 50 this week; 37 last week, which was 32% higher than the 28 cases the week before
  • 0 deaths in August, 4 in July, 6 in June
  • 4,000 Alpha variants, 168 Gamma, 34 Beta, 230 Delta
  • 676 cases await confirmation of VOC
  • 802,812 vaccines have been administered
  • 422,935+ resident have had one shot, which is 70.5% of the population
  • 80% of the population 12+ has had one vaccine
  • 70% of youth 12 to 17 have also received at least one vaccine
With more vaccine clinics now and next week in Muskoka they’ll improve these numbers.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • Tokyo city government health panel member says it’s now impossible to halt the spread ahead of the Paralympics Games a week away.
  • Wonder why the U.S. is keeping both its borders closes? Try Mexico, where cases were up yesterday by 22,711 to 3,020,596, according to their health ministry. And 727 people died Wednesday.
  • Winnipeg Jets fans can fill their arena this season, but they must be vaccinated.
  • TIFF, TIFF. Toronto film fest won’t make vaccines mandatory to movie watch.
  • B.C. orders LTC and assisted living staff and volunteers to be vaccinated.
  • And vaccines will be mandatory at the University of Guelph and Queen’s University for all students, staff, profs, along with those at UofT, Western and Ontario Tech in Oshawa. 
GAP volunteers and supporters came with masks and umbrellas today for the kickoff of their million-dollar new home campaign in Gravenhurst.

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