Orillia woman among 52 new confirmed COVID cases today

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 52 new cases of COVID-19 in the region today.

The health unit reported one new death today. A fifth Midland resident has died after testing positive for COVID-19. Sixty-eight Simcoe County residents have died after contracting COVID-19. 

Included on the health unit's Jan. 7 list of new COVID-19 cases are 12 Barrie residents, one Orillia resident, one Oro-Medonte resident, one Collingwood resident, one Clearview resident, one Wasaga Beach resident, 11 Bradford West Gwillimbury residents, three Innisfil residents and three Midland residents.

As of today, the health unit is no longer indicating a reporting lag. Case information reported today is current as of 11:59 p.m. yesterday. 

The health unit has also declared COVID outbreaks (all of which are still ongoing) at the following facilities: 

• Georgian Bay General Hospital in Midland, outbreak declared Dec. 4
• Trillium Manor, Orillia, Dec. 14
• Revera Sara Vista, Elmvale, Dec. 25
• Lakeside Retirement, Innisfil, Dec. 26
• Good Samaritan Retirement Lodge, Alliston, Dec. 26 
• Unnamed child care centre, Wasaga Beach, Dec. 27 
• Georgian Manor, Penetanguishene, Dec. 27
• Tiffin Retirement Residence (first floor), Midland, Dec. 27
• Roger's Cove Retirement Residence, Huntsville, Dec. 29
• Woods Park Care Centre Retirement Home, Barrie, Jan. 1
• Villa Retirement Lodge, Midland, Jan 2
• Simcoe Manor, Tosorontio Unit, Beeton, Jan. 3
• Grove Park Home (Aspen), Barrie, Jan. 4
• The Pines Long Term Care Residence (Cedar), Bracebridge, Jan. 5

The provincial government requires an outbreak be declared at a retirement or long-term care home where one staff or resident tests positive. There does not have to be evidence of spread within the home for an outbreak to be declared. In most other cases, the health unit does not declare an outbreak unless there is evidence of transmission at the facility. 

The breakdown of cases provided by the health unit is as follows. All case transmissions are under investigation unless otherwise indicated: 

• Orillia (1): A woman between 18 and 34 years old. 
• Oro-Medonte (1): A woman between 45 and 64 years old. 
• Collingwood (1): A man between 18 and 34 years old whose case is attributed to community transmission.
• Wasaga Beach (1): A woman between 45 and 64 years old.
• Clearview (1): A man between 45 and 64 years old. 
• Barrie (12): Five women and three men between 18 and 34 years old, a woman and three men between 35 and 44 years old. One case is linked to an outbreak in a congregate setting, one to a workplace outbreak out of the region, and one to close contact.
• Springwater (4): Two boys under 18 years old, a woman between 18 and 34 years old, and a woman between 35 and 44 years old. One case is linked to close contact and one to a congregate setting outbreak. 
• Innisfil (3): Two women between 18 and 34 years old and a man between 35 and 44 years old. One case is linked to a workplace outbreak out of the region. 
• Bradford West Gwillimbury (11): Two boys under 18 years old, two women and two men between 18 and 34 years old, a woman and a man between 35 and 44 years old and two women and a man between 45 and 64 years old. 
• Midland (3): A woman between 18 and 34 years old and a man and a woman between 45 and 64 years old. One case is linked to an institutional outbreak.
• Essa (6): Two men between 18 and 34 years old, and four men between 45 and 64 years old. One case is linked to close contact.
• New Tecumseth (4): Two girls under 18 years old and two men between 18 and 34 years old. 
• In Muskoka, there is one new case in Huntsville, a man between 45 and 64 whose case is linked to a congregate setting outbreak. 
• There are three cases listed with location information still pending. They include a man between 18 and 34 years old, a man between 45 and 64 years old, and a man between 35 and 44 years old whose case is linked to travel. 

Since the pandemic began, the local health unit has confirmed 4,017 cases of COVID-19 with 2,736 of those cases recovered and 71 cases ending in death. There are more than 1,200 active, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, with the majority of those in Simcoe County.

In the last week, the health unit reported 443 new COVID cases, which is up from 377 reported the week before. 

There are at least 25 people from Simcoe County hospitalized. 

According to the health unit, there have been more than 4,300 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine administered in Simcoe Muskoka to health care workers in local hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes.

*Incidence rate is number of cases per 100,000 people in the local population.

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