Four additional coronavirus-related deaths and six new COVID-19 cases were reported by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit on Friday, bringing the local total number of cases to 283, including 20 deaths.
One of the deaths was a woman in her 50s, while another was a man in his 60s — both passed away at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre Thursday and had pre-existing health conditions, according to Dr. Charles Gardner, the Simcoe Muskoka health unit’s medical officer of health.
Two of the other new deaths were women in their 90s who were residents at Bradford Valley Care Community, a long-term care home that’s the site of a COVID-19 outbreak.
There are currently outbreaks at four long-term care homes and at two retirement homes in the region — Bradford Valley in Bradford, in addition to the Woods Park Care Centre, IOOF Odd Fellow and Rebekah Home, Owen Hill Care Community and Chartwell Whispering Pines Retirement Residence, all in Barrie, Ont.
The other outbreak is at Bayview Retirement Home in Waubaushene, Ont.
There is also an outbreak at an unidentified group home in the region, according to the health unit.
“We continue our investigation and management of the other outbreaks,” Gardner said at a tele-press conference Friday.
“We continue doing testing for COVID-19 in the residents and the family members of those facilities. To date, we’ve tested 1,235 individuals.”
In the region, there have been a total of 49 health-care workers and two first responders who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
“The 49 health-care workers would make up about 17 per cent of all of our cases,” Gardner said. “We note that only 35 per cent of these are associated with outbreaks.”
Of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s total number of cases, 43 are outbreak-related, while 159 have recovered.
Ninety-six of the cases in Simcoe Muskoka have been community-acquired, while 65 were a result of close contact with another confirmed case and 54 were travel-related. The source of infection for the remainder of cases has been identified as undetermined or under investigation.
Seven people confirmed to have COVID-19 are hospitalized in Simcoe Muskoka, while 64 are self-isolating.
According to the local health unit, most people confirmed to have COVID-19 in the region are between the ages of 35 and 64. Eighty-five of the health unit’s cases are in people age 65 or older, while 59 cases are in individuals between the ages of 18 and 34.
Nine of the cases in the region have been among youth, between the ages of zero and 17.
On Friday, Ontario reported 421 new coronavirus cases, bringing the provincial total to 16,608, including 1,121 deaths.