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16 Barrie residents among 39 new COVID cases in region today

Testing has now confirmed all three variant strains in Simcoe-Muskoka
2020-07-28 SMDHU offices 1
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 39 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths in today's update. 

There are 357 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, most of which are in Simcoe County.

The health unit has reported 710 cases have screened positive and/or been confirmed with sequencing as variant cases, which is up by 37 cases since yesterday's update. Of those, 142 are still active cases. Screening and sequencing tests can take several days, and sometimes results are not returned until after the individual has recovered. 

Sequencing tests have confirmed 232 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant strain that originated in the UK in Simcoe Muskoka. There have also been four cases of the P.1 variant that first originated in Brazil in the region and one case of the B.1.351 strain that originated in South Africa.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 6,801 cases of COVID-19 with 6,178 of those cases recovered and 190 cases ending in death. 

There are 20 people from Simcoe County hospitalized with COVID-19, which includes three new hospitalizations since yesterday. 

The health unit has administered 51,675 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 in Simcoe Muskoka.  

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

  • Collingwood (1): A woman between 45 and 64 years old. 
  • Wasaga Beach (1): A youth under 18 years old. 
  • Barrie (16): Five youth under 18 years old, a woman and five men between 18 and 34 years old, a woman between 35 and 44 years old, a woman and a man between 45 and 64 years old, and two men between 65 and 79 years old. Four cases are linked to close contact and one is attributed to community transmission. 
  • Bradford West Gwillimbury (4): A woman and a man between 35 and 44 years old, a man between 45 and 64 years old, and a man between 65 and 79 years old. One case is linked to close contact, one to community transmission, and one to an outbreak. 
  • Innisfil (6): A man and a woman between 18 and 34 years old, and three women and a man between 45 and 64 years old. One case is linked to close contact. 
  • Midland (1): A man between 45 and 64 years old whose case was community-acquired. 
  • Penetanguishene (1): A man between 45 and 64 years old whose case was community-acquired. 
  • Essa (1): A youth under 18 years old. 
  • New Tecumseth (2): A man and a woman between 45 and 64 years old. One case was community-acquired. 
  • Adjala-Tosorontio (1): A woman between 35 and 44 years old whose case is outbreak-related. 
  • One case is listed with location information pending. 
  • There are four new cases in Muskoka: two in Huntsville and two in Bracebridge. 

For a list of ongoing outbreaks at institutions, 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 March 10. 

Municipality Total cases** Recoveries Deaths In Hospital Last case reported Weekly incidence rate*** Cumulative incidence rate*
Barrie 2,373 2,101 99 5 Mar. 9 64 1,589
Bradford W-G 1,040 961 28 9 Mar. 9 42 2,420
New Tecumseth  826 785 15 2 Mar. 9 41 1,993
Innisfil 577 535 5 1 Mar. 9 22 1,416
Orillia 167 145 7   Mar. 7 18 499
Collingwood 144 138 2   Mar. 9   600
Wasaga Beach 142 131 3   Mar. 9   618
Clearview 76 71 3   Mar. 4   514
Springwater 180 170 1   Mar. 8 29 857
Midland 132 120 6 1 Mar. 9   736
Oro-Medonte 129 121 4   Feb. 28   554
Adj-Tosorontio 107 105     Mar. 7   918
Essa 281 266 2   Mar. 9 46 1,175
Ramara 53 50   1 Mar. 8   511
Tiny 60 57 1   Mar. 3 61 458
Tay 88 80 2   Mar. 7 63 795
Penetanguishene 133 84 7 1 Mar. 9 72 1,370
Severn 48 40 2   Mar. 7 40 321

*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

***Weekly incidence rate is the number of cases per 100,000 people reported for the week of Feb. 28. Where municipalities have had low or no weekly increase, no rate is included


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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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