BARRIE, ONT. -- The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 56 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, for a total of 322 so far this week.

There are 942 active cases across the region, with 29 infected people in hospitals, a 35 per cent increase over the holiday period. ICU bed occupancy across Simcoe Muskoka sits at 67 per cent.

"We have resources that are stretched now," says Collingwood General and Marine Hospital's Dr. Michael Lisi. "We had to open up our alternate health facility just to keep up with demand for our beds.

We are particularly concerned about the number of new cases being diagnosed through our COVID assessment centre in the community because every increase in those numbers is going to result in more hospital and ICU admissions in January."

The region's COVID-19 death toll sits at 64, with the latest victim, a man 65 to 79, who died amid the outbreak at GBGH.

Staff at GBGH continue to try to contain the outbreak at the Midland hospital that infected 27 staff members and 31 patients since it was declared earlier this month.

The health unit lists four new facilities among those with outbreaks, including Roger's Cove Retirement Residence in Huntsville.

In Penetanguishene, a unit at the Central North Correctional Centre is also battling a COVID-19 outbreak that has made several inmates and some staff ill.

To date, Simcoe Muskoka has had 3,519 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 2,496 of those have since recovered. The health unit reports that most people who become infected do recover. The hardest hit are residents of long-term care and retirement homes, with one-quarter of cases dying with the illness.

Transmission of the highly-contagious virus is rampant as the health unit predicts the region could see 70 daily cases by mid-January, well above the province's red zone levels if it isn't controlled during the lockdown.

The projections don't take into account the after-effects of holiday get-togethers.

The health unit lists close contact with a positive case as the most common source among known cases. Still, it continues to have difficulty finding sources of infections contracted within the community, which make up for about 20 per cent of cases.

While schools are closed for an extended winter break, the health unit listed a new outbreak at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Midland. The outbreak at Portage View Public School in Barrie has ended.

The health unit also declared an outbreak at Stepping Stones Child Care in Wasaga Beach.

List of childcare centres across the region with COVID-19 cases

Meanwhile, a health unit spokesperson says they expect the Moderna vaccine to arrive sometime this week. "However, the vaccine needs to be stored in a freezer at -20, and we are awaiting the delivery of the freezer, and then once it is in place, we hope to have a better idea when [the] Moderna vaccine can be delivered."

Ontario says 50,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine will be distributed to long-term care and retirement homes this week.

The province says more than half of Ontarians should be able to be immunized by the end of July.

Ontario reported 2,923 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.

The province also logged 19 new deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

Despite being in lockdown, the province's top hotspots continue to spike with COVID-19 cases. Of the new cases reported, 1,069 are in Toronto, 441 in Peel Region, 408 in York Region, 158 in Durham and 144 in Windsor-Essex County.

With files from The Canadian Press