Simcoe Muskoka logs 26 new COVID-19 infections as Ontario enters Step 1
As residents across Simcoe Muskoka line up at businesses that reopened Friday as part of Ontario's Step 1, the health unit reported an uptick in the number of new COVID-19 cases.
There are 26 new infections Friday, more than three times the case count reported 24 hours earlier. The health unit reported eight new cases on Thursday, the lowest single-day case count in eight months.
Still, the daily case counts are well below where they were back in April when the health unit logged over 100 daily infections.
Breakdown
Friday's numbers show eight positive tests in Oro-Medonte, five in Barrie, three each in Bradford and Collingwood, two in Innisfil and single cases in Ramara, Severn, Tay, Wasaga Beach and Orillia.
There are currently 239 active infections, including 25 hospitalizations.
Deaths
No new virus-related deaths were reported this week, marking the first week since November to have zero lives lost to COVID-19 in the region.
In May, 18 local residents died with the virus, and 25 died in April.
Vaccines
According to the health unit, 60 per cent of residents have had their first shot, while nine per cent have had both.
The health unit is offering youth-focused clinics for children 12 to 17 to get their shot.
Additionally, a pop-up immunization clinic is open in Bradford West Gwillimbury on Friday and Saturday for anyone 12 and older to get their first dose. Second doses are also being offered to Simcoe Muskoka residents 70 and older.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.