No local residents among 44 new COVID-19 cases reported in region

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 44 new COVID-19 cases, while also removing 35 previously reported cases from the cumulative total in today's report (March 17). 

The 35 cases removed include 20 from Barrie, three from Clearview, three from Innisfil, three from Severn, three from Springwater and one each from Essa, Bradford and New Tecumseth. One case was removed from the list and transferred to a different public health unit. 

Of the 35 cases removed today, 34 are the result of error correction. The reporting error is attributed to a laboratory data error traced back to a Barrie testing site from tests administered on March 14.

There were a total of 42 negative cases reported as positive. The remainder, according to the health unit, will be removed from the health unit COVID statistics over the next couple of days.

Residents whose tests were wrongly reported will be contacted directly.

There are 386 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, most of which are in Simcoe County.

The health unit has reported 861 cases have screened positive and/or been confirmed with sequencing as variant cases, which is up by 11 cases since yesterday's update. Of those, 155 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 252 cases of the B.1.1.7 (variant strain that originated in the UK) in Simcoe Muskoka. There have also been seven 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 7,079 cases of COVID-19 with 6,424 of those cases recovered and 193 cases ending in death. 

There are 22 people from Simcoe County hospitalized with COVID-19, which includes two new hospitalizations since Friday. 

The health unit has administered 58,698 doses of vaccines 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): 

• Wasaga Beach (1): A woman between 18 and 34 years old.
• Barrie (23): Three youth under 18, 16 people between 18 and 34 years old, one woman between 35 and 44 years old, three people between 45 and 64 years old. Six cases are attributed to close contact and one to community transmission.
• Springwater (1): A youth under 18 whose case is attributed to close contact. 
• Bradford West Gwillimbury (5): A man between 18 and 34 years old, a man between 35 and 44 years old, a woman between 45 and 64 years old, and a man and a woman between 65 and 79 years old. Two cases are attributed to community transmission.
• Innisfil (6): Five youth under 18 years old and a man between 18 and 34 years old. One case is attributed to close contact and one to community transmission. 
• Essa (1): A man between 65 and 79 years old whose case is attributed to close contact.
• New Tecumseth (4): A youth under 18, and two women and a man between 18 and 34 years old. 
• There are three cases in Muskoka including one in Huntsville and two in Muskoka Lakes.

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.

*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 Mar. 7. Where municipalities have had low or no weekly increase, no rate is included