BARRIE -- A woman between the ages of 65 and 79 is the latest victim of the COVID-19 virus as the health unit reports 172 coronavirus cases since Friday, bringing the region's total to 7,629.
Barrie led the way in the region with 58 cases, followed by Bradford with 36, New Tecumseth with 34, and Innisfil with 16.
Several communities also reported single-digit cases, including Collingwood, Essa, and Midland.
Variant cases are also on the rise.
On Monday, the health unit added another 253 new variant cases, and now the region has more than 1,200 variant cases; 256 are currently active.
To date, 738 people have tested positive for the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant, while the total for the P.1 variant from Brazil is now at 18 after eight more tests came back positive since Friday.
Just a single case has come back positive for the B1.351 variant of concern from South Africa. An additional 453 residents have screened positive for a variant of concern but will require further testing to confirm.
Outbreaks
The region had gone weeks without a senior's home outbreak. However, three have been declared since Friday.
I.O.O.F. Odd Fellow & Rebekah home is reporting two staff cases, while one employee has tested positive at Mill Creek Care Centre.
A resident at Livita Barrington Retirement Residence tested positive while at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH), but since tested negative twice, more testing is expected.
Vaccines
On Sunday, 1,349 doses of vaccine were administered into Simcoe Muskoka residents' arms, and now nearly 18,000 people are fully vaccinated as the region surpassed 86,000 doses.
Also, about 95 per cent of long-term care residents and about 96 per cent of retirement home residents have received their first doses of the vaccine.
With files from CTV's Mike Arsalides.
