The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has confirmed 283 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths since Friday, bringing the local total number of cases up to 10,097, including 221 deaths.
Of Monday’s new cases, 101 are in Barrie, 57 are in Bradford, 45 are in Innisfil and 29 are in New Tecumseth.
The rest of the new cases are in Adjala-Tosorontio, Bracebridge, Collingwood, Essa, Gravenhurst, Huntsville, Midland, Orillia, Oro-Medonte, Ramara, Severn, Springwater, Tay Township, Tiny Township and Wasaga Beach.
Of the new cases, 107 are a result of close contact with another positive COVID-19 case, while 40 are community-acquired and eight are outbreak-related. The rest of the new cases are all still under investigation.
So far in April, there have been 19 COVID-19 deaths. There were 12 deaths related to the virus in the region in March.
To date, there have been 2,373 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first discovered in the U.K., and 29 cases of P.1 variant, which was first discovered in Brazil, in the region. There have also been two cases of the B.1.351 variant, which was first discovered in South Africa.
According to the health unit, 607 people have screened positive for a coronavirus variant of concern and testing is underway to determine the exact strain.
There have been more than 187,400 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine administered in the region. More than 27 per cent of the local population has received a first dose of the vaccine.
Of the region’s total 10,097 coronavirus cases, 80 per cent — or 8,123 — have recovered, while 53 people are currently in hospital.
On Monday, Ontario reported 3,510 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial total up to 448,861, including 7,935.