BARRIE, ONT. -- The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 46 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
The infections listed in the past 24 hours make for a total of 215 since Sunday, an increase that has local health officials concerned as the holidays approach.
"Based on projections, if this level of growth continues, there will be approximately 450 cases reported during the week of Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, or about 64 cases per day," states the SMDHU website.
The spike in case numbers could send the region into the red zone, meaning much tighter restrictions, said SMDHU medical officer of health, Dr. Charles Gardner. "This is a warning to us that if we don't stabilize and start to bring things back down again, we will be moving towards the possibility of being in the red category at some point."
On Monday, a man under 35 died with the virus, the youngest in the region to pass after testing positive, bringing the local death toll to 53.
The health unit reports that more than one-third of all active cases are among young adults between 18 and 34.
Related Article: List of Simcoe County schools with COVID-19 cases grows
The latest figures bring the total number of confirmed cases across Simcoe Muskoka to 2,462 with 2,047 recoveries.
There are 10 people with COVID-19 in the hospital as of Tuesday.
The numbers show residents tested positive in Barrie, Bradford, Essa, Huntsville, Innisfil, Midland, New Tecumseth, Ramara, Springwater and Tay Township. Three locations are pending.
Meanwhile, Ontario reports a dip in new COVID-19 cases one day after adding a record-breaking 1,925 infections.
The province logged 1,676 new cases with 10 virus-related deaths.
Toronto, Peel Region and York Region remain the top three hotspots with the highest number of cases across the province.
The government says that nearly 40,000 tests were done in the last 24 hours.
