The Medical Officer of Health for Simcoe-Muskoka acknowledges overall case counts of COVID-19 are on the decline, but says variants and outbreaks are on the rise.
Dr. Charles Gardner says we currently have 28 outbreaks, up from 16 last week.
Gardner says he’s received over 200 emails about the lockdown, a majority of them opposed due to the economic impact, but maintains the status is because of the very large number of variants of concern in our district.
He adds about 2 thirds of the cases in our region are variants of COVID-19, which is more contagious.
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 32 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths related to the virus in Tuesday’s update.
It says 191 local cases have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the UK, while another 352 cases have screened positive as a variant of concern and are awaiting confirmatory testing.
For the latest on COVID-19 cases in the region, please click here.
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