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Two new local COVID-19 cases among 61 reported in region

Penetanguishene man and Tay youth have tested positive for COVID-19
2020-07-28 SMDHU offices 3
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit offices are located on Sperling Drive in north-end Barrie. Raymond Bowe/BarrieToday

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 61 new COVID-19 cases and one death in its update today. 

The death reported today was a woman over 80 years old from Bradford. She died on Feb. 20.

There are currently 564 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, most of which are in Simcoe County.

According to the health unit, 171 local cases have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the UK and an additional 216 cases have screened positive (awaiting confirmatory testing). 

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 6,298 cases of COVID-19 with 5,504 of those cases recovered and 187 cases ending in death. 

There are 23 people from Simcoe County and one person from Muskoka hospitalized with COVID-19. There has been one new hospitalization since yesterday's update. 

The health unit has administered 35,170 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 in Simcoe Muskoka to health care workers in local hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes, as well as to all eligible long-term care home residents. The health unit reports more than 15,000 people in the region have received both required doses of the vaccine. 

There are five ongoing outbreaks at health care facilities in Simcoe County including Grove Park long-term care home in Barrie, Bradford Valley care Community, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care (Penetanguishene), Bayshore Transitional Care Unit (Barrie), and Sara Vista long-term care home in Springwater. 

There are ongoing outbreaks at a private school in Simcoe County (two cases), and at Innisfil Central Public School (three cases). 

The new cases reported in Simcoe County and Muskoka District today include (case transmission is under investigation unless otherwise specified): 

  • Penetanguishene (1): A man between 45 and 64 years old whose case is outbreak-related. 
  • Tay (1): A youth under 18.
  • Collingwood (1): A man between 18 and 34 years old. At outbreak at a local apartment building remains at 25 cases, with no increase this week.
  • Barrie (42): Three youth under 18 years old, 28 people between 18 and 34 years old, six people between 35 and 44 years old, and four people between 45 and 64 years old, There is also one case identified as a male but without age information. Six cases are linked to close contact, two are attributed to community transmission, and one is outbreak-related.
  • Bradford West Gwillimbury (3): A man between 35 and 44 years old, a woman between 18 and 34 years old, and a woman between 45 and 64 years old. One case is linked to close contact and one is outbreak-related.
  • Innisfil (3): A youth under 18 years old, a man between 18 and 34 years old, and a woman between 45 and 64 years old. The youth case is outbreak-related.
  • Ramara (1): A woman between 65 and 79 years old whose case is linked to close contact. This is the first case reported in Ramara since Feb. 3.
  • New Tecumseth (3): A man between 18 and 34 years old, and two men between 45 and 64 years old.
  • There are three new cases in Muskoka, including two in Huntsville, and one in Muskoka Lakes. 
  • There are also three cases included in today's report with location information still pending.

For a list of ongoing outbreaks at long-term care and retirement homes and hospitals in the region, click here.

For more on the local trajectory of COVID-19 from the health unit, click here.

The health unit does sometimes remove a case or move them based on further investigation of location data. The chart below reflects updated totals for each municipality as reported by the health unit on Feb. 23.

Municipality Total cases** Recoveries Deaths In Hospital Last case reported to health unit Cumulative incidence rate*
Barrie 2,154 1,782 98 10 Feb. 22 1,782
Bradford W-G 986 877 26 11 Feb. 22 2,295
New Tecumseth  790 715 15 1 Feb. 22 1,906
Innisfil 541 487 5 1 Feb. 22 1,328
Orillia 151 131 7   Feb. 19 451
Collingwood 140 122 2   Feb. 22 584
Wasaga Beach 136 119 3   Feb. 21 591
Clearview 72 65 3   Feb. 16 487
Springwater 172 162 1   Feb. 18 819
Midland 128 112 6   Feb. 17 714
Oro-Medonte 119 112 4   Feb. 13 511
Adj-Tosorontio 102 100     Feb. 12 875
Essa 262 251 2   Feb. 20 1,096
Ramara 51 49     Feb. 22 491
Tiny 52 49 1   Feb. 21 397
Tay 78 69 2   Feb. 22 705
Penetanguishene 107 77 7   Feb. 21 1,104
Severn 41 39 2   Feb. 7 274

*Cumulative incidence rate is the number of cases per 100,000 people reported to date

**Total cases include the number of cases currently recovering at home as well as any that have recovered, died, or are in hospital


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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