Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit announced the biggest single-day increase in lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region, bringing the total to 21 cases today.
Yesterday there were 14 confirmed cases, today there are 21, and of those, there are six people hospitalized for the virus.
Currently, SMDHU is reporting the individuals in the region live or are staying in Simcoe County (including Barrie or Orillia), except for the most recent (21st) case, which is an individual living in Muskoka. Beyond that, there is no further identifying location information.
Just over half of the cases are travel-related.
"The cases you see today have had their exposures at least two weeks ago," said Dr. Charles Gardner, chief medical officer of health for SMDHU. "We're starting to see a ramp-up, an acceleration in the number of lab-confirmed cases ... I'm expecting we're going to see more and more cases that are community-acquired."
Gardner also said it's significant how severe the impacts are for the cases in the region, with two deaths in the region and six hospitalizations. The most common age group affected in the region is 35-64 year olds.
"We have an incomplete picture of the people that are affected," said Gardner. "For sure there are people in the community who are infected that we don't know about ... We need to be exercising the physical distancing we've been exercising all along."
