BARRIE, ONT. -- The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reports 120 COVID-19 cases and 80 new variant cases since Friday.

The origin of the 80 variant cases listed Monday were not specified.  The UK B.1.1.7 remains the most common variant of concern in Simcoe Muskoka.

The health unit says there have been 252 individuals who have tested positive for the UK B.1.1.7 variant to date. Seven tested positive for the P.1 from Brazil, and one came back positive for the B.1.351 South Africa variant.  Currently, the health unit reports there are 170 active variant cases.

There are an additional 571 cases that screened positive for a variant of concern but require further testing for confirmation.

Variant testing is a two-step process. First, the test is screened for a mutation, with results taking up to 10 days. Then the lab conducts whole-genome sequencing to establish the variant's identity, which can take between three and six weeks for results.

Public health estimates variants of concern to be up to 75 per cent more contagious than the original strain of COVID-19.

COVID-19 Outbreaks

The SMDHU reports COVID-19 outbreaks in three institutional settings, five workplaces and four schools.

The active school outbreaks are listed at Our Lady of Grace Elementary School in Angus, Andrew Hunter Elementary School in Barrie, Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Bradford and Maple Grove Public School in Barrie.

There are currently 390 active COVID-19 cases in Simcoe Muskoka.

COVID-19 Vaccine

The health unit has administered 55,927 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to date across the region to priority groups, including health-care workers, adults ages 80 and older and seniors' facility residents.

Additionally, more than 340 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have gone into the arms of adults 60 to 64 by four Family Health Teams in Simcoe Muskoka.

The province launched its online booking portal Monday morning, and within minutes, thousands of people logged on, causing a wait time of over an hour.

The SMDHU said the province hadn't inputted all the region's clinic locations in the system. The health unit added the province was troubleshooting and hoped to resolve the issue by the end of the day.