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 […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Flags were at half staff here as McDonald’s staff mourned the loss of their beloved manager who died suddenly last Monday. Chris Lewis had just returned from hospital in Toronto where he’d begun radiation and chemotherapy care after learning weeks before that he had a rare form of thyroid […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another suspected case of the United Kingdom variant outside Barrie shows “the very real possibility it is circulating in community,” Dr. Charles Gardner said today. The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) was informed late yesterday by Public Health Ontario Laboratory of an additional individual with the United Kingdom […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE MUSKOKA — The health unit is “concerned” a COVID-19 variant “will spread into our community and into other long-term and retirement homes.” “Barrie has become ground zero for what is likely a COVID-19 variant of concern, which has spread rapidly throughout Roberta Place and we are concerned that it will […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — The devastating COVID outbreak at a Barrie LTC has driven cases to triple digits today. And no vaccines were distributed yesterday. The health unit reports 112 cases — all in the Simcoe and none in Muskoka. They date back a week to Jan. 14. The Roberta Place outbreak, which […]
SLEMIN, Joan (nee Lowe) On January 19, 2021, age 100, Joan Slemin passed away peacefully at St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Guelph. Beloved wife of the late Dick, cherished mother of Elaine Caldwell (Jim), Randy Slemin (Teresa), and the late Kate Slemin. Adoring Bubba to Chris and Kelly Caldwell, Jeff and Beth Slemin, Heather Alison […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Two more Muskoka people are among 88 cases of COVID being reported today by the health unit. And 9 new deaths in the region since yesterday, all in Simcoe, for a total of 101. Three of them have been in Muskoka. One of the new cases is a Bracebridge […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BARRIE — A major COVID outbreak at Roberta Place may have been caused by the first variant strain in the region early testing shows. Dozens of cases that began last Friday at the LTC home that have led to at least eight deaths are being investigated further and the results are […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com BRACEBRIDGE — A day after a COVID outbreak ended at The Pines, two staff members of the retirement and LTC home were sent home today after one of them tested positive for COVID-19. It is the fifth outbreak at the home since Aug. 30. This after just last Saturday, Jan. 16, […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — A young Bracebridge woman is among an encouraging number of new COVID cases being reported by the health unit today, which date back to Boxing Day. The other 46 of 47 cases were all in Simcoe and come a day after 79 cases were reported on Tuesday. She is […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSOKA — A Barrie LTC outbreak of 87 confirmed and unconfirmed reports among staff and residents contributed to today’s COVID count to 79. None of which are in Muskoka in Tuesday Jan. 19 reporting. However 16 new deaths have been reported the past week, including 13 at long-term care residents, including […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com GRAVENHURST — Fears about police enforcing stay-at-home orders are real — if rare. A young woman in Gravenhurst was stopped on the main street Saturday night by three officers, one of whom told her “being homeless is no excuse” for not staying-in-place and being on the street instead of where she […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Has the lockdown since Boxing Day helped? Some numbers hint at that. But a deeper dive makes it difficult to determine as the sometimes dizzying array of numbers are all over the map as to when and where cases happened and the dates that they are sometimes untimely reported […]
TORONTO — The province says “the disturbing increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths” means it will extend restrictive reopening orders to Feb. 19. In a release today, Sat. Jan. 16, it says the government, in consultation with the chief medical officer of health, is extending most orders currently in force under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible […]
BRACEBRIDGE — It’s safe to drink town water again. The boil water advisory issued for the Town of Bracebridge Sunday Jan. 10 has been lifted by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). Effective Thursday, Jan. 14. Lab tests confirmed that the water is free from contamination and is safe to drink. As a precaution, residents […]
ORILLIA — Confused about what the cops will do if they see you outside your home this week in violation of the province’s stay-at-home order? Here’s the official word this afternoon — at least from the OPP — in a release from their provincial headquarters here in Orillia. They say they officers will enforce the […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another 83 cases of COVID include four from Muskoka today, according to the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). And there were four more deaths in the region bringing the number to 86. Three of the new cases are in Gravenhurst and one in Huntsville, both towns that lead […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Day 1 of Ontario’s stay at home order — which came with a smart phone reminder — saw the post holiday fallout kick in with two more Muskoka cases in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge. The health unit says the Muskoka males — reported yesterday an occurring over the past two […]
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com TORONTO — The Ontario Fire College in Gravenhurst is being “decommissioned” as the province moves to train firefighters closer to their homes. In a release this evening, the Ford government said it is strengthening fire safety training across the province by increasing access to on-site and online courses in communities where […]
ORILLIA — Police are looking for help in finding a missing First Nations teen here. Ontario Provincial Police are trying to locate, 17-year-old, Keira Keeshig, who was reported missing from the City of Orillia. She was last seen by her family on January 11, 2021, at 5 p.m., when she left her residence saying that […]