The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported three deaths and two new hospitalizations related to COVID in the latest update published Feb. 23.
The deaths reported today include three Simcoe County residents, two men between 65 and 79 years old and a woman over 79 years old. They died between Feb. 16 and Feb. 20, and one of the cases was linked to an outbreak.
The health unit has reported 71 COVID-19 deaths in January and 34 in February.
There are at least 42 people from the region hospitalized because of COVID-19, including two new hospitalizations since Friday. There are eight Simcoe-Muskoka residents currently receiving care for COVID-related illness in an ICU.
Testing has captured 87 new COVID cases in the region since the last update. Since testing is not available to everyone, case counts are underestimated.
Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 34,741 cases of COVID-19 with 32,965 of those cases recovered and 396 cases ending in death.
Capacity is opening up in the region's hospitals with about 75 per cent of ICU beds occupied, 23 per cent of ventilator beds occupied, and 86 per cent of acute care beds occupied.
Since July 18, 2021, hospitalizations of Simcoe-Muskoka residents over 11 years old have included 216 fully vaccinated people, 22 partially vaccinated, and 201 unvaccinated people. Of those, 56 unvaccinated, fewer than five partially vaccinated, and 30 fully vaccinated people have been admitted to intensive care units.
In the last six months, 81 fully vaccinated people (at least two doses) and fewer than five partially vaccinated have died after contracting COVID. Over the same time period, 55 unvaccinated people have died after contracting COVID-19.
About 81 per cent of the over-11-year-old population has been fully vaccinated with two or more doses and 15 per cent of the same population group is unvaccinated. (Percentages now based on 2021 census population data.)
There are 23 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, down from 31 on Feb. 16, including 12 in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), four in congregate settings (group homes, shelters), and seven at child care centres.
The health unit is no longer reporting case counts associated with individual outbreaks.
Collingwood General and Marine Hospital is reporting, as of Feb. 23, there are 12 COVID-positive inpatients at the hospital. This can include people admitted because of COVID and those hospitalized for other reasons who also test positive for COVID.
Grey-Bruce
On Feb. 22, the Grey Bruce Health Unit reported 12 new COVID cases confirmed through limited testing, with 10 people from the region currently hospitalized.
On average, over the last seven days, there have been 25 new cases per day.
Since the start of the pandemic, 31 Grey Bruce residents have died in the region and another 10 residents have died while receiving treatment outside the Grey Bruce region.
In Grey and Bruce Counties, about 79 per cent of the eligible population (five and older) has two or more doses of a vaccine. About 17 per cent of those eligible for a vaccine remain unvaccinated in the region.
