The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 17 new coronavirus cases since Friday, bringing the local total number of cases to 733, including 37 deaths.
Twelve of the new cases involve people who are under the age of 35, including four who are under the age of 17.
Eight of the new cases are in Barrie, Ont., while three are in Bradford, Ont., and two are in New Tecumseth, Ont. The other new cases are in Ramara, Innisfil, Wasaga Beach and Huntsville, Ont.
One of the cases is related to an institutional outbreak in Barrie, while another is related to a workplace outbreak in Huntsville.
Seven of the new cases are a result of close contact with a positive COVID-19 case, while three are travel-related and one is community-acquired. The rest are under investigation.
“This upward trend is worrisome,” Simcoe Muskoka health unit’s medical officer of health, Dr. Charles Gardner, said at a tele-press conference Tuesday.
If people start to let go of coronavirus public health safety measures, like physical distancing and mask-wearing, Gardner said the region’s cases could continue to grow and become a second wave.
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The local health official also noted Simcoe County and Muskoka’s COVID-19 infection rate has gone up. The region’s coronavirus reproductive number — an indication of whether the pandemic is growing locally — is 1.05, Gardner added, which indicates that it’s growing.
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Of the region’s total 733 cases, 91 per cent — 665 people — have recovered, while two remain in hospital.
“Ontario right now is having an increase in cases as well,” Gardner told reporters Tuesday. “Certainly that’s noteworthy considering for much of the summer, we were under 100 cases a day.”
On Tuesday, Ontario reported 190 new coronavirus cases for Labour Day Monday and 185 for Tuesday, marking almost 400 new infections in the province over the last two days.
The same day, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the province is taking a four-week pause in further loosening COVID-19 restrictions amid a recent uptick in cases.
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