Today, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reported one new COVID-19 case in Huntsville, bringing this month’s total to 21 cases, the highest monthly total since the pandemic began. The newest case is a male aged 0-17 who is a close contact of another case.
Within Muskoka there have been 33 cases identified as variants of concern as of March 25—four confirmed as the UK B.1.1.7 and the rest having screened positive for a VOC. (Variant testing is a two-step process with the screening occurring first, followed by whole genome sequencing upon positive screening results. Delays in reporting of up to 10 days are possible for the initial screening, while WGS can take between three and six weeks depending on volume and laboratory capacity, according to the health unit.)
Simcoe Muskoka has the highest number of variants of concern in Ontario. Most of the VOC cases in Simcoe Muskoka have been in Simcoe County. To date 306 cases have tested positive for the COVID-19 variant of concern UK B.1.1.7 (UK), nine cases have tested positive for the P.1 variant of concern (Brazil), one case has tested positive for the B.1.351 variant of concern (South Africa), and an additional 785 cases have screened positive for a VOC and are awaiting confirmatory testing.
Of the 90 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Huntsville to date, three are active. None are currently in hospital in Huntsville. Two people have died from the disease in Huntsville, as well as a third person in Muskoka Lakes.
There have been 47 COVID-19 cases in Huntsville since Jan. 1. In Lake of Bays, there have been seven cases in total, all of which are resolved.
There have been a total of 259 cases reported in Muskoka to date (seven of them currently active) and 7,154 in Simcoe County (470 active). (For a full list of Huntsville and Lake of Bays cases to date, and other COVID-19 updates for the area, visit our COVID-19 page.)
For more COVID-19 information from the health unit, visit simcoemuskokahealth.org.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
Click here to support local news
0 Comments