Most new measles cases in Ontario over the past week were reported in a popular summer travel area.

Public Health Ontario is reporting 32 new measles cases, 19 of which are in Huron Perth.

The public health unit located west of Kitchener includes Stratford, known for its annual theatre festival, as well as Lake Huron beach spots including Clinton and Goderich.

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That brings Ontario’s total case count to 2,276 since an outbreak began last fall.

Public health experts have encouraged cautious optimism on Ontario’s slowing case counts given the ebb and flow of the highly contagious infectious disease.

Alberta is also battling an outbreak, reaching 1,340 total cases since the outbreak there began in March. It surpassed the United States’ case count earlier this week.

Also this week, New Brunswick declared a measles outbreak and has reported five confirmed cases in the south-central region of the province.

Ontario’s solicitor general says the province is adding 150 beds to three jails across the province using modular construction.

Michael Kerzner made the announcement Thursday at the Niagara Detention Centre, which will expand by 50 spaces, as will the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, and the Cecil Facer Youth Centre in Sudbury, which is also being converted to an adult facility.

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Construction is expected to begin next year and cost the province more than $180 million.

The announcement comes not long after the province’s ombudsman raised concerns about an overcrowding “crisis” in Ontario’s correctional facilities, saying some are operating at more than 150 per cent of their capacity, compromising safety for inmates and staff alike.

Premier Doug Ford has also recently been pushing the federal government for stricter bail laws and urging judges and justices of the peace not to let violent, repeat offenders out on bail when they are charged with a new crime.

Provincial jails hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day, but the vast majority fit into the first category and have not been convicted.

A teenager accused in the attack on an eight-year-old girl in Quadeville, Ont., that investigators initially linked to an animal is set to return to court next month.

The 17-year-old suspect made a brief appearance this morning at the courthouse in Pembroke, Ont., where he stood in shackles as his case was put over until Aug. 21.

The teen, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.

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He was arrested last Tuesday, after investigators discovered there was no trace of animal DNA from the girl’s wounds, and remains in custody.

Police initially believed the girl was attacked by an animal, after the child was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 in the small community in eastern Ontario.

Quadeville residents pressed OPP officers at a town hall last weekend about why investigators initially suspected an animal attack and told people to keep their small children indoors.

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Ontario community demands answers in violent assault of 8-year-old