

Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





Doctors in Barrie have reported a second death from COVID-19 at their hospital, raising Ontario's total death toll to three.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) says the patient was a man in his 70s who was being treated at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie.

"(He) was the region’s third case of COVID-19 under investigation by the health unit, and was a close contact of an individual with COVID-19 who died at RVH on March 11," the health unit said Saturday.

Officials say there are now nine active cases of COVID-19 in Simcoe, Barrie and Muskoka.

The most recent case is in a woman in her 30s from Bradford West Gwillimbury.

She is in hospital in serious condition and it is believed her case is an example of community transmission of the virus.

Earlier on Saturday, health officials say 59 more people tested positive for COVID-19 infection from Friday to Saturday, raising Ontario’s case count including deaths and recoveries to 377.

Saturday’s morning disclosure includes one more patient who has made a full clinical recovery, raising Ontario’s total to six.

Of the new cases, at least one, a man in his 40s from Simcoe-Muskoka who recently returned from England, has been hospitalized for treatment.

The new cases include nine cases tied to travel to Europe, the U.S., Ecuador and the Philippines.

Five other cases are attributed to close contact with a previously confirmed patient.

Seventeen of the 59 new cases were identified by the region of Ontario they were located in, including two cases in Toronto, four in Peel Region, one in Hastings—Prince Edward County, one in Durham Region, three in Simcoe-Muskoka, five in York Region and one in Ottawa.

All information concerning the remaining 42 cases, including location of the patient, gender, age and cause of transmission and status, was not provided.

Throughout all of Friday, the province disclosed 60 new COVID-19 infections.

More than 7,200 other people across the province are still awaiting test results.

Health officials previously said they were working to increase the province's testing capacity to complete 5,000 tests per day.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said he was not surprised to see the spike in numbers Saturday and added that the province continues to work to ramp up testing capacity.

He said that the next few weeks will be key to limiting the spread of COVID-19, stressing that everyone returning to Canada must self-isolate for 14 days to stop the virus.

“We are expecting them to do so regardless of age and where you have come from,” he said. “Everyone knows what the plan is. We just need to do it, and do it well.”

Meanwhile, Ontario's health minister said the province is asking the doctors and pharmacists not to re-fill prescriptions with more than a 30 day supply to prevent drug shortages during the pandemic.

On Friday, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said Toronto had 161 active cases of COVID-19, including a homeless person, a paramedic and a resident of a Scarborough seniors’ home.

Canada now has 1,331 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 20 deaths and 16 recoveries.

-with files from The Canadian Press