Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Dr. Charles Gardner “feels for the people impacted” by trucker protests and says continuation of the vaccine passports while not generally providing that much protection to the public will still “help reduce transmission to those who are unvaccinated.”

The region’s medical officer of health said today: “I do note that there are people who are opposed to vaccinations and have very strong feelings about it and do not intend to become vaccinated. They now represent less than 10 per cent of our population.

“It’s very good that everyone else has come forward to receive vaccination. We would have seen much higher numbers with regard to hospitalization and mortality if that had not been the case.

“But there are certainly people who are quite convinced they will never receive a vaccination. And we know that in the majority of cases we’re not going to be able to change their minds.”

Gardner said he thinks “it’s helpful to continue the passport proof of vaccination system, because it does help to reduce transmission those who are unvaccinated. They are much more vulnerable to severe disease. And with that system they would not get that exposure in those environments, since they would not be able to get into premises. So it’s helpful from that point of view.

“I don’t know if it’s providing an incentive for vaccination at this time because it’s been in place for quite a while. And I don’t think you could claim that it reduces transmission generally, because two-dose vaccination by itself really doesn’t reduce to a large degree transmission. It helps protect against severity, but not against transmissions.

“So it’s helpful for protecting those who are unvaccinated from getting infected and therefore having a severe outcome.”

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott also said today the province won’t be lifting mask mandates in public facilities. And that non-elective surgeries will resume — including cancer and cardiac.

This as his Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) today reported 185 cases — up considerably from 124 yesterday. That after recent days’ downward tracking to as low as 70 cases two days ago, according to Public Health Ontario (PHO).

The good news is there were no more deaths reported since Tuesday.

Hospitalizations were down to 44 from 45, with overnight admittances dipping to 4 from 6.

To date 33,078 regional residents have gotten COVID — 1,047 confirmed the past week.

Fifth wave cases now account for almost totally as many as the first four waves.

The 88 deaths in the fifth wave since Dec. 1 compared to the 154 in the most deadly wave two when dozens died in LTCs and retirement homes in particular.

In the past nine weeks 40 per cent of deaths have been in LTCs.

Last week 27 people have died, including 3 in Muskoka. They ranged in age from 2 in their 30s to over 100 years in age; 18 were men, 9 women. The average weekly number of deaths locally is 10.

Hospitalizations per week now average 25.

Gardner added that of 10 cases in ICU half were considered fully vaccinated with two doses.

Fifty-one per cent of residents have received their booster shot — up a percentage point from last week.

As well, 49 per cent of kids 5-11 have had at least one dose and Gardner added that there remains “lots of capacity” for all others to be immunized.

This as news out of Queen’s Park that free five-pack rapid tests will be available at grocery stores and pharmacies was welcomed by Gardner.

He said Simcoe-Muskoka is among high-case areas to receive them after most of them in a rollout before Christmas — he noted — went to residents in the GTA.

Meanwhile, local pharmacies were getting calls today about the rapid test rollout, but say they haven’t received any shipments yet. But they expect them this week.

However, the Rexall in Gravenhurst says it continues to get daily requests for vaccinations.

“Always.”

NDP demands Ford, Elliott order companies

not to require minimum purchases to get rapid test

The NDP is calling on the province to rein in Walmart.

They say that at Walmart, to get a “free” rapid test you must make a minimum $35 online-only purchase.

Leader Andrea Horwath says in a release this afternoon that they want Premier Doug Ford to stop all corporations from forcing people to pay anything to get access to a rapid test.

“What we need is free access to an important health care tool,” said NDP Deputy Leader Sara Singh. “Not free-with-minimum-purchase.

“This is a tool in the fight against COVID-19. Not a prize in the bottom of the cereal box, and not a promotional item to help multi-billion-dollar big-box empires draw more customers in.”

The NDP wants rapid tests accessible to everyone, for free, distributed through the mail and in person.

They also wants Ford to reverse his decision to block people from getting a PCR COVID test if they’re worried they might have the illness. In December 2021, Ford cut off access to the gold-standard lab-based testing.

WEDNESDAY: PHO CONFIRMED COVID CASES: … 150 IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (124 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 3,162 AND 65 DEATHS (22,092-42); 2,049 IN HOSPITAL (2,254; 499 IN ICU (474) … TORONTO 482 (328) … YORK 143 (130) … PEEL 283 (198) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 51 (20) …

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

• 33,078 confirmed cases to date
• 262 cases this week
• 948 cases last week, 31% lower than the 1,365 cases last week
• There were 71 COVID-19 related deaths reported in January 2022 and 16 deaths in February to date.
• From July 18th to February 8th, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is 6 times higher than it is for those who have received at least two vaccine doses, the rate of COVID-19 ICU admissions is 10 times higher and the rate of deaths is 3 times higher.
• 1,256,716 vaccines have been administered
• 495,447 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 received at least one vaccine

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

• At least unvaccinated truckers are keeping to themselves, quips one observer of the chaos at borders and parliament buildings. But as protests mount clogging roads and further affecting supply chains, Canadians’ reputation for patience is running thinner than back bacon. Governments governed by polls are waiting on growing public pressure to do politicians’ work by using media peer pressure gauge and to do the right thing by all. What a difference a year makes when Canadians thought they were different than Americans. What can you expect when you’re fed a daily dose of U.S. propaganda? Luckily the state of things in the States has allowed PEI potatoes to go to Puerto Rico — but not the continental U.S. Now how to get them trucked to the nearest cargo ship.
• Kenney … Kennedy. What’s ‘D’ difference? Another politician has stuck his foot in his mouth. After a Holocaust misspoke two weeks ago by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when he compared American hardship to Anne Frank, comes Jason Kenney, no newcomer to controversy. The western sheriff compared the unvaccinated to the AIDS movement in the ’80s, when he said they were denied access to hospitals. Both Ks have apologized since being called out. And after it was falsely claimed that in “The Simpsons” they had predicted Canada’s latest chaos, could the Alberta premier get passing mention in “South Park?” — “Who killed Kenney?”
• New StatsCan census data from last year shows Canada topped the G7 with a large migration of immigrants. And that both large and small communities are benefiting. Toronto, it’s reported, saw growth of 16 per cent, but not any the flight of fright during predicted during the pandemic.
• The newly released census numbers put Canada’s population at 36,991,981 in the spring of last year, with close to 27.3 million Canadians living in one of Canada’s 41 large urban centres.
• There are approximately 1.8 million more people living in Canada than there were in 2016, a growth rate of 5.2 per cent between 2016 and 2021. Immigration outranked Canadian births as part of the growth that compares about the same with India.
• The Maritimes grew at a faster pace than the Prairie provinces for the first time since the 1940s. For the first time since the 1986 census, more people moved to the Maritimes from other parts of Canada, 134,841, than moved away, 98,086. However Newfoundland and Labrador lost 1.8 per cent of its population during the 2016-2021 census count.

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