“We’re not out of the woods by any means,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, medial officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit in his weekly media briefings.
He said the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region is holding, but he fears there may be a slight upward trend.
The data shows a total of 401 confirmed cases, with 258 having recovered, and 32 deaths.
COVID-19 has claimed the life of a Clearview woman in her eighties who died at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. She is one of seven Clearview residents to test positive for the virus.
The highest number of cases (123) are affecting those in the 45-64 age range. The majority of cases (142) were acquired in the community, meaning there is no known contact with a confirmed case, while 87 are due to close contact, and travel related acquisition has leveled off at 55 cases.
“We are continuing to see a steady number of cases from day-to-day-to-day in the range of eight cases per day and unfortunately this has not stopped, it is not declining. It’s continuing on,” said Gardner. “I think it’s fair to say that we’re still on a plateau, we’re still not starting to come off of the plateau and it’s really important that people continue to exercise the physical distancing. This is what it takes for us to control the pandemic in Simcoe Muskoka.”
Gardner said precautions will be more and more important as businesses continue to open, and he continues to urge people to remain in their primary residences, and not go to their cottages.
The health unit is also busy testing all residents and staff at long term care facilities totaling about 7,800 people in the region, to be done by May 15.