The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit confirmed eight new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the local total number of cases up to 12,379, including 255 deaths.
Local public health also reported three new cases of a coronavirus variant on Friday, bringing that total to 5,058, including 19 that are active.
Three of Friday’s new cases are in Georgian Bay, while two are in Clearview, one is in Barrie, one is in Wasaga Beach and another is in Bradford.
The Georgian Bay cases are all travel-related, while the Barrie case is community-acquired and the Bradford case is outbreak-related, officials said. All the rest of the new cases are still under investigation.
Meanwhile, 68.8 per cent of the region’s population has received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 56 per cent has received both necessary doses.
Of the region’s total 12,379 COVID-19 cases, 98 per cent — or 12,088 — have recovered, while two people are currently in hospital.
On Friday, Ontario reported 226 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial total up to 550,178, including 9,339 deaths.