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Additional COVID-19 Public Health Measures Strongly Recommended For Simcoe Muskoka

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Dr. Charles Gardner, Simcoe Muskoka’s Medical Officer of Health, today issued a special statement to all residents of Simcoe Muskoka asking that they increase their efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

“Since September we have observed a substantial increase in household clusters of COVID-19 cases, and in each cluster, every person in the household has been infected,” said Dr. Gardner. “We are on track for much higher disease levels unless we take more action to curb its spread, and that includes actions as individuals within our work, social and household settings.”

As of today, Nov. 24, Simcoe Muskoka has recorded 1,938 cases of COVID-19 with 52 deaths. Since the beginning of the month, there have been approximately 40 household clusters of the disease, affecting about 100 people.

The recommended actions in Dr. Gardner’s statement include:

Close Contact, Gatherings and Events

Travel within Ontario

Inter-provincial Travel

General Advice

“This pandemic has been extremely challenging for all us and I know that the additional actions I am asking for are difficult, particularly as we approach the holiday season,” he said. “However, the only way we are going to slow the spread of COVID-19, which will allow us to keep our communities safe and healthy and our schools, organizations and businesses open, is through our own actions as individuals and as a society.”

Dr. Gardner also today issued an advisory letter to municipalities strongly recommending that they prohibit access to their recreational facilities to those whose primary home lies within the Red and Grey levels of Ontario’s COVID-19 Response Framework. The movement of people from communities with a higher incidence of COVID-19 than Simcoe Muskoka carries with it the added risk of transmission, both among those travelling to Simcoe Muskoka, and to those locally. The advice is supported by the Framework, which strongly recommends that “individuals and families in higher transmission areas should avoid travel to lower transmission areas (e.g. from Red to Orange, from Yellow to Green) except for essential reasons.”

For more information on the special statement and letter to municipalities, see the health unit’s COVID-19 pages, or call Health Connection to speak with a public health professional weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 705-721-7520 (1-877-721-7520).

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