Two Tay men among 32 new COVID-19 cases reported by health unit today

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 32 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths in its update today, Feb. 19.

The two deaths reported today were both Barrie residents. One woman, over 80 years old, died on Feb. 11, and her case was linked to the outbreak at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre's Integrated Stroke and Rehabilitation Unit and the Transitional Care Unit.

The second death reported today was a man between 65 and 79 years old whose case was linked to the outbreak at Roberta Place, which has been declared over. He died on Feb. 16.

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 158 cases have screened positive (awaiting confirmatory testing). This is an increase of three cases over yesterday's confirmed variant cases, all of which are secondary transmission cases from the original outbreak at Roberta Place.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 6,099 cases of COVID-19 with 5,400 of those cases recovered and 184 cases ending in death. There are 472 active, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, with the majority of those in Simcoe County. 

There are 22 people from Simcoe County hospitalized with COVID-19. There have been five new hospitalizations since yesterday's update. 

The health unit has administered 30,369 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 13,600 people in the region have received both required doses of the vaccine. 

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

• Tay (2): Two men between 18 and 34 years old, both are linked to close contact.
• Collingwood (2): A boy under 18 whose case is linked to close contact and a woman between 18 and 34 years old whose case is outbreak-related.
• Wasaga Beach (1): A man between 18 and 34 years old whose case is linked to close contact.
• Barrie (19): A girl under 19, five women and three men between 18 and 34 years old, a man and a woman between 45 and 64, six women and a man between 65 and 79 years old, and a woman over the age of 80. Four cases are linked to close contact, four are attributed to community transmission, and two are outbreak-related.
• Springwater (1): A woman between 45 and 64 years old whose case was community-acquired.
• Bradford West Gwillimbury (4): A boy under 18 years old, two women between 45 and 64 years old and a woman between 65 and 79 years old. One case is outbreak-related and one is linked to close contact.
• New Tecumseth (2): A man between 18 and 34 years old and a woman between 35 and 44 years old. One case is linked to close contact. 
• There is one new case in Muskoka, a woman between 45 and 64 years old from Huntsville.

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.

*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