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"<p><span>The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has just reported one of its deadliest COVID-19-related days.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>Medical officer of health Dr. Charles Gardner said May 1 that four new deaths have been linked to the novel coronavirus in the Simcoe-Muskoka region. That brings the total number of virus-related fatalities to 20.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>Two patients of Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie &mdash; a woman in her 50s and a man in his 60s &mdash; succumbed to the virus. As well, two more residents of Bradford Valley Care Community, both women in their 90s, have died.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>Bradford Valley is the site of the worst outbreak in the region. Thirty-four residents and 11 staff have contracted the virus. Nine of those residents have died.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re working very hard to carry out the testing of our facilities, both those in outbreak and others,&rdquo; Gardner said during a teleconference with reporters Friday afternoon. &ldquo;The province has required us to test, in a two-week period, all long-term-care facility residents. It will take an awful lot of work for us to achieve that, but we&rsquo;ve got a schedule that&rsquo;s very aggressive.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>\r\n<p><span>Outbreaks are declared at four long-term-care sites (Bradford Valley Care Community and Barrie&rsquo;s Owen Hill Care Community, Woods Park Care Centre and IOOF Odd Fellow &amp; Rebekah Home) and two retirement facilities (Waubaushene&rsquo;s Bayview Retirement Home and Barrie&rsquo;s Whispering Pines Retirement Residence).</span></p>\r\n<p><span>There are 11 cases linked to Owen Hill (seven residents and four staff). Two Woods Park staff are sick. Odd Fellow, Bayview and Whispering Pines each have one employee who has contracted COVID-19.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>Overall, 283 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the region to date, up six from April 30.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>This is what we know about the new cases reported Friday:</span></p>\r\n<p><span>&bull; The root cause of acquisition is still under investigation in four cases (a Bradford man in his 30s, a Barrie woman in her 40s, an Innisfil woman in her 50s and a Clearview woman in her 80s).</span></p>\r\n<p><span>&bull; An Innisfil man in his 40s caught the virus through close contact.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>&bull; An Adjala-Tosorontio woman in her 40s contracted COVID-19 through community transmission.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>Of the overall numbers, 159&nbsp;people have recovered from the virus, though seven are currently hospitalized.</span></p>\r\n<p><span>&ldquo;People need to be exercising physical distancing,&rdquo; Gardner said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s been effective in having us flatten the curve and avoiding a surge in the health-care system. It has allowed us to get to the peak and plateau and, hopefully, the beginning of the downward slope.&rdquo;</span></p>"
<https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/9967516-four-new-deaths-linked-to-covid-19-simcoe-muskoka-health-unit-reports/>