The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has confirmed there’s a total of 133 cases of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7. variant, which was first discovered in the U.K., in the region, while 93 total people have screened positive for a “variant of concern.”
Testing is still underway to determine the exact COVID-19 variant strain for the 93 cases.
On Thursday, the health unit confirmed 34 new coronavirus cases and two additional COVID-19 deaths.
Eighteen of the new cases are in Barrie, while six are in Innisfil and five are in Bradford. The rest are in Collingwood, Essa, New Tecumseth, Oro-Medonte and Springwater.
Fifteen of the new cases are a result of close contact with another positive COVID-19 case, while six are community-acquired and five are outbreak-related. The rest of the new cases are all still under investigation.
Of the health unit’s total 5,844 COVID-19 cases, 84 per cent — or 4,916 — have recovered, while 30 people remain in hospital.
On Wednesday, a total of 1,055 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in the region. There have been 24,121 coronavirus vaccine doses given in Simcoe Muskoka in total.
There are also currently 24 COVID-19 outbreaks in the region — at 14 institutional settings, six workplaces, two educational settings, one congregate setting and one community setting.
On Thursday, Ontario reported 945 new coronavirus cases, bringing the provincial case count up to 282,511, including 6,614 deaths. The province noted there were issues with data in Toronto, meaning there was an under-reporting of cases.