Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another day, another year, another “record.” As the calendar turns on a second devastating year, it’s not the end of the pandemic predicted. Or anywhere near it with Omicron setting daily records. How bad was 2021? The health unit reported 715 cases today — including 50 Muskoka. Last year […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — With soaring Omicron cases threatening Muskoka hospitals, a COVID outbreak at South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) has the health unit placing it in outbreak status and two impacted staff are in quarantine. That’s in addition to four other staff. There were 60 new COVID cases in Muskoka today, reports […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With school’s return delayed two days next week, Simcoe-Muskoka is dealing with 637 COVID cases today, says the health unit. Public Health Ontario makes it 441 cases. Included in those are 60 cases in Muskoka, with more than half of them — 31 — in Huntsville, says the Simcoe-Muskoka […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With 73 Muskoka COVID cases since Friday, the health unit says the self-isolation period starts when the person’s symptoms began or the day they were tested, whichever is earlier. And workers can return to the workplace after their self-isolation period if they have no fever and their symptoms have […]
BRACEBRIDGE — A disturbance call last night at a north end main street motel led a police to shoot and kill one dog and taser another “due to concerns for officer safety.” The OPP say that at 9 p.m., Dec. 28, officers responded to reports of a disturbance and mischief at the motel at the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Christmas Eve was muted much as last. Some church congregations gathered in limited numbers with services pale by past years’ celebrations — perhaps more meaningful and prayerful given COVID’s long two years. And to them still hopeful that Omicron won’t prove to be as deadly and sickly and stressful […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — On the eve of what’s meant to bring hope, this year’s new beginning is more like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Simcoe-Muskoka hit another record at 298 cases today and Ontario nearing 10,000. Muskoka’s share is 18 cases Friday — ending the week at more than […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — “Confirmed cases underestimate the true number of people with COVID-19 infection in Simcoe Muskoka.” That’s the official word today out of the health unit, as they report another record day with 229 cases. Yesterday there were 197. Ten of them are in Muskoka — Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and Huntsville. “The […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — It’s a day of firsts. Record numbers that bluntly paint another bleak picture locally, including 19 new cases in Muskoka reported today: 197 cases today are the most in one day Simcoe-Muskoka has seen; 17,931 total confirmed cases is 1,081 more than last week, which is the largest week-over-week […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — A little $5 check valve looks to be the cause of a recent water shut down here. And not a mislabelled fluoride drum that helped lead to a four-day water scare due to “low” levels of the chemical routinely added to prevent tooth decay. That was the early, preliminary […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — It’s beginning to look a lot like … Christmas is going to be a lot like last year — and possibly worse in the days leading up to Saturday. Home for the holidays is again the sound of the season as Omicron cases climb faster than Dasher and Donner […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Hundreds lined up here this morning for walk-in booster shots. No going online to book an appointment. But the wait was at least two hours after the Shoppers Drug Mart opened at 8 a.m. The line-up circled the store, down Muskoka Road, around and down on to James Street […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — With 19 Muskoka COVID cases on the weekend, Omicron’s regional effect last week was a 50 per cent increase in cases over the previous week. The 846 cases reported last week by local public health tops 564 the week before. The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) is also […]
TARA CALLUM | Contributing columnist With unseasonably mild days and the threat of yet another variant, it can be difficult for things to look a lot like Christmas. What is the season supposed to be anyway? It can create a lot of pressure. People go into debt piling presents to the ceiling. We overindulge on […]
BRACEBRIDGE — A man suspected of being impaired was confronted by group of citizens who were trying to stop the motorist from leaving when police arrived. The incident occurred Thursday, Dec. 16, on Manitoba Street near Mary Street, just before 10 p.m. Police arrested and charged 26-year-old Blair Laing, of Muskoka Lakes Twp., with Impaired […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — More than 10 per cent of 142 local COVID cases today were reported in Muskoka as the province is adding new capacity limits Sunday. And 10 of those 15 Muskoka cases were in Huntsville. They are: Bracebridge woman, 18-34, under investigation, reported Dec. 16, first episode Dec. 14 Georgian […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE MUSKOKA — An “overwhelming demand” for booster shots has local public health providing more vaccines this weekend. They say in a release at noon Friday that following the province’s announcement to rapidly expand booster eligibility to all individuals 18 and older and to decrease the wait time between second and third […]
BRACEBRIDGE — A loaded pistol and drugs worth an estimated $60,000 were seized in three police raids yesterday in which officers arrested two people after a month-long investigation here. The OPP say that in November their Muskoka Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) began investigating the drug trafficking in Muskoka. On Thursday, Dec. 16 the CSCU), […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another half dozen Muskoka COVID cases today — all likely Omicron — are among 159 regional cases being reported by the health unit. This as word spreads that Omicron is an airborne spreader. Dr. Steini Brown, co-chair of the Science Advisory Table, confirmed today that the most up-to-date modelling […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Omicron’s here. It’s “very hazardous” and it’s going to get worse “in the weeks ahead.” That’s the blunt message from Dr. Charles Gardner today as he reported 26 cases of the new variant in the region — including 4 “very likely” in Muskoka. That has hospitals “very concerned” about […]