Orillia, Oro-Medonte residents among 78 new COVID cases in region today

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 78 new cases of COVID-19 in the region today.

Included on the health unit's Jan. 8 list of new COVID-19 cases are 13 Barrie residents, one Collingwood resident, one Clearview resident, two Wasaga Beach residents, 11 Bradford West Gwillimbury residents, four Innisfil residents, and two Orillia residents. 

This week the health unit reported 516 new COVID cases, compared to 376 the week of Dec. 27. 

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
• Roberta Place (Home Area 5), Barrie, Jan. 8

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 (2): A boy under 18 years old, and a woman between 18 and 34 years old. The boy's case is linked to close contact. There have been 18 cases reported in Orillia this week.  
• Oro-Medonte (5): A woman and a man between 18 and 34 years old, a woman between 35 and 44, a man between 45 and 64, and a man between 65 and 79. One case is reported as community transmission. There have been 15 cases reported in Oro-Medonte this week. 
• Collingwood (1): A man between 18 and 34 years old. This is the 12th case reported in Collingwood this week. 
• Wasaga Beach (2): A woman between 18 and 34 years old and a man between 45 and 64 years old. There were 21 cases reported in Wasaga Beach this week. 
• Clearview (1): A woman between 18 and 34 years old. This is the seventh case reported in Clearview this week. 
• Barrie (13): A boy under 18, one woman and four men between 18 and 34 years old, a woman and a man between 35 and 44 years old, a woman and two men between 45 and 64 years old, a woman between 65 and 79 years old and a man over 80 years old. One case is linked to travel and one is attributed to close contact. There were 128 cases reported in Barrie this week.
• Springwater (4): One boy under 18 years old, a man and a woman between 45 and 64 years old, and a woman between 65 and 79 years old.  There were 19 cases reported in Springwater this week. 
• Innisfil (4): Two women and one man between 45 and 64 years old and a man between 65 and 79 years old. Two cases are reported as community transmission and one is linked to close contact. There were 28 cases of COVID reported in Innisfil this week. 
• Bradford West Gwillimbury (11): Three women and five men between 18 and 34 years old, a man between 45 and 44 years old, a woman and a man between 45 and 64 years old and a woman between 65 and 79 years old. One case is linked to a workplace outbreak outside of the region. There were 92 cases of COVID reported in Bradford this week. 
• Midland: No new cases today. There have been 17 cases reported in Midland this week
• Essa (3): A girl under 18 years old, a woman between 18 and 34, and a woman between 45 and 64. The girl's case is linked to close contact. There have been 33 new cases reported in Essa this week. 
• New Tecumseth (16): Three women between 18 and 34 years old, four women and one man between 35 and 44, one woman and four men between 45 and 64, and two women and a man between 65 and 79. One case is linked to close contact. There have been 64 COVID cases reported in New Tecumseth this week. 
• Adjala Tosorontio (1): A man between 18 and 34 years old. There have been eight new cases reported in Adjala-Tosorontio this week. 
• In Muskoka, there are two new cases in Huntsville, and two in Muskoka Lakes. 
• There are 11 cases listed with location information still pending. 

The local health unit has now confirmed 4,089 cases of COVID-19 with 2,832 of those cases recovered and 71 cases ending in death. There are more than 1,100 active, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, with the majority of those in Simcoe County.

There are at least 28 people from Simcoe County hospitalized. There are three people hospitalized with COVID-19 at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. 

According to the health unit, there have been more than 5,400 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