Muskoka on alert as Ontario cases bounce back up

Deerhurst Resort reports group of guests infected after long-weekend stay

Ontario boomeranged to almost 100 cases of COVID-19 after a sharp one-day dip, as Muskoka health officials wait to see if any infections develop locally following an outbreak among guests who stayed at a Huntsville resort on the August long weekend.

The Ministry of Health reported 95 cases Wednesday, up from an unusually low 33 the previous day that involved an adjustment of statistics from Toronto Public Health.

“Locally, 28 of the province’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 16 of them reporting no new cases,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.

Wednesday’s case numbers were in line with last week, when the province was slightly below 100 new infections daily for seven days running. Health officials are closely monitoring the tallies, with children set to return to school in September.

The Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit said it has been informed by other health units in the province that a total of 11 people from a group of 30 staying at Deerhurst Resort developed symptoms after returning home.

Some from the multi-family group also ate at Three Guys and a Stove, a restaurant on Hwy. 60 in Huntsville.

Both the resort and the restaurant went public with the information, and the restaurant has voluntarily closed for a few days as a precaution while staff are tested. One staff member considered most at risk is in isolation, officials said.

“An important takeaway message from this would be that there is potential for transmission … even when our rates are very low,” said local medical officer of health Dr. Charles Gardner, who noted the region that stretches north from Barrie has just10 active cases of COVID-19 and only one person in hospital for it.

Deerhurst said it remains open and is working with the health unit to ensure the safety of staff, guests and the surrounding community.

“The resort continues to operate with reduced occupancy and extensive COVID prevention measures and are confident that these measures will prove effective in safely handling this situation, as well as the possibility of similar situations in the future.” Deerhurst said in a statement.

Toronto had the most new infections reported Wednesday with 19, followed by Peel with 16 and Ottawa at 13. The WindsorEssex region — which moved into Stage 3 of business reopenings on Wednesday — had eight new cases, while neighbouring Chatham-Kent had seven, Hamilton had six and Niagara had four, according to the ministry figures calculated at 4 p.m. the previous day.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit said Wednesday it has 121 active cases of the virus and is down to nine outbreaks on farms and in manufacturing facilities. Of seven patients in hospital in the region, two were in intensive care.

Across the province, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 fell to 49, a drop of 11 since Tuesday, with 20 in intensive care and 10 of them on ventilators.

That’s the lowest number of patients in intensive care in months.

Federal public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Canadians under the age of 40 have accounted for more than half the new cases of COVID-19 in the past two weeks, with most of them in their 20s. The country has averaged 443 COVID cases daily over the past week.

There have been 120,421 cases of the virus in Canada since late January and 8,991 deaths.

A Star compilation of data from Ontario health units at 5 p.m. Wednesday showed 74 new and probable cases of the virus in the previous 24 hours, for a total of 42,379 in the past eight months. There have been 2,825 deaths.

“An important takeaway message from this would be that there is potential for transmission … even when our rates are very low.”

DR. CHARLES GARDNER MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR SIMCOE-MUSKOKA