BARRIE, ONT. As the lockdown drags on and schools remain closed, kids in Barrie try to find ways to keep busy, but some activities raise the eyebrows and concerns of onlookers. A makeshift skating rink at Sandringham Park near Hewitt s Creek Public School has become a popular spot for area residents to lace up and play some hockey. A Barrie resident who wished to remain anonymous said she s witnessed massive crowds of 30-plus kids, teenagers and adults playing hockey. With Simcoe Muskoka s COVID-19 case numbers shattering records, the unnamed woman went on to say, this is why our COVID-19 numbers are going in the wrong direction.
SHARE ON: Photo of Norm Miller (centre) at Queen s Park (Photo supplied by: Office of MPP Norm Miller)
MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka Norm Miller says the next few months will decide whether the COVID-19 vaccination plan done by the province was well thought out.
So far though, Miller thinks provincial officials have done “reasonably well” rolling out the vaccine. “The next couple of months are going to be the toughest for everybody,” he tells the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom “For small businesses trying to survive and people who are just tired of being in lockdown.”
Miller says he recently spoke with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Charles Gardner who told him that long-term care and healthcare workers will be vaccinated by the end of January. “I believe they’ve vaccinated over 3,000 in Simcoe Muskoka,” he says. The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie is the only place for people in Simcoe Muskoka to get vaccinat
SHARE ON:
Since the start of the pandemic, long term care homes have been hit hard by COVID-19. They’ve had trouble keeping it away, but now vaccines are on the way. During Tuesday’s Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit update (SMDHU), Dr. Charles Gardner, Medical Officer of Health for the SMDHU says that long term care residents and staff will be number one priority when it comes to receiving the vaccine.
“I think it’s always a matter of judgement, as to who you start with first. In my mind the very highest priority people to get this would be the residents of long term care facilities. Well over half of the deaths in the province and in Simcoe Muskoka have occurred in those settings, and in that group,” said Gardner.