Five people have died with COVID-19 in the region in the last two days.
A woman in her 50s from Essa Township and a man in his 60s from Barrie both died at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre on Thursday. They are the youngest people in the region to die with the virus.
A woman in her 60s from Oro-Medonte Township died two days ago in a Toronto hospital.
Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for the Simcoe-Muskoka region, said the three victims each had pre-existing medical conditions.
Two more deaths were reported as residents at Bradford Valley Care Community. Both were women in their 90s. There have now been nine resident deaths at the Bradford long-term care home attributed to COVID-19.
This is the highest number of deaths recorded in a single day in the region.
“A peak in deaths follows a peak in cases,” said Gardner.
There have been 49 health-care workers and two first-responders in the region who have tested positive for COVID-19. However, not all of those are work-related cases.
“Only 35 per cent of these are associated with outbreaks,” said Gardner. “That is, having been exposed to the virus through work.”
The remaining cases include 49 per cent community-acquired, four per cent travel related, and 16 per cent were contacts of other known cases.
Two staff at the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit have also tested positive for the virus.
Overall, case increases have plateaued, and Gardner says he's hopeful this is the start of a decline in the curve.
The doubling rate — that is the number of days it takes for the total number of cases in the region to double — is now 32.9 days for the Simcoe-Muskoka region. That’s compared to the week of April 13-19 when the doubling rate was 16.9 days. In Ontario, the current doubling rate is 17.7 days compared to 12.2 days last week.
“Relaxation of control measures is something we all look forward to,” said Gardner. “My commendations to everybody for flattening the curve … but we need to continue the task of keeping it under control.”
Gardner reminded everyone it’s still important to practise physical distancing, frequent handwashing, and staying home as much as possible.
