BARRIE, ONT. -- The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit logged 112 new COVID-19 cases Friday and seven additional deaths.
The health unit says each of the people reported to have died with the virus since Thursday resided at Roberta Place long-term care home in Barrie.
The nursing home outbreak has claimed 27 lives and infected all but three residents and 60 per cent of the staff.
There are six other seniors' homes with an outbreak, including The Pines long-term care home in Bracebridge, which has confirmed a single staff case. Another worker is isolating following contact with the positive case.
The health unit reports Kingsmere Retirement Residence in Alliston has fewer than five cases in a facility-wide outbreak.
There are now 1,159 active cases across the region, including 34 hospitalizations.
On Thursday evening, Simcoe Muskoka's community leaders held a town hall to provide an update on the pandemic.
The region's medical officer of health, Dr. Charles Gardner, warned the public that lockdowns would likely continue for weeks until the virus is under control during the virtual broadcast.
"We have perhaps 10 times as many cases that have occurred in the first wave now in the second wave," Gardner said. "We're going to need this degree of strict lockdown, this stay-at-home order, to bring it down substantially."
As the limited vaccine supply is rolled out across Simcoe Muskoka, the priority remains those most at risk and the community's most vulnerable.
On Friday, the health unit lists 14,583 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been given to health care workers and long-term care residents.
