BARRIE, ONT. -- The COVID-19 death toll in Simcoe Muskoka has hit 91, with another death reported on Tuesday.

"We've had many more deaths in the second wave than we had in the first wave," said the region's medical officer of health, Dr. Charles Gardner.

There have been 16 deaths linked to COVID-19 in the past week. The latest is a woman in her 80s, a resident at Roberta Place.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) lists 79 new infections on Tuesday, including 37 hospitalizations related to the virus. Of those, four people are in the ICU.

The numbers released Tuesday show Barrie with the most cases at 51, more than half of which are outbreak-related.

There are 12 institutional outbreaks in seniors' homes, the most devastating at Roberta Place. "Certainly, this has been a severe outbreak," Gardner said.

The Barrie long-term care home is battling a deadly outbreak that has claimed the lives of 10 residents. On Tuesday, the facility reports 92 residents and 57 staff members infected with the virus.

The health unit reports almost 40 per cent of the region's long-term care homes to have active outbreaks, including Trillium Manor, which has 34 infections.

Since the start of 2021, 198 residents and two long-term care staff have died with the virus, according to SMDHU's website.

Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre continues its own fight against the virus after adding another unit at the Barrie hospital to the list of outbreaks. Twenty-eight people have been infected, including 18 staff and 10 patients. Three patients have died.

Meanwhile, the health unit reports 89 per cent of the region's long-term care residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The next vaccination phase will focus on those living in retirement homes, which will start next week. The health unit hopes to immunize more than 3,000 residents across the region's 52 homes over 10 days.