30 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka today

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 30 new COVID-19 cases today (Aug. 26).

Included in today's new cases are 23 unvaccinated individuals, three partially vaccinated people, and four fully vaccinated people.

New cases reported today include: 

• Collingwood (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is under investigation. 
• Springwater (1): One youth under 18 years old whose case is outbreak-related.
• Barrie (6): Three youth under 18 years old, one person between 18 and 34 years old, one person between 45 and 64 years old, and one person between 65 and 79 years old. One case transmission is linked to travel, one to close contact, and one is outbreak-related. The rest are still under investigation. One of the Barrie cases reported today was confirmed through testing in January but was not previously reported. 
• Bradford (4): Three people between 18 and 34 years old, and one person between 45 and 64 years old. One case is listed as community-acquired (no known link) and the rest are still under investigation. 
• Innisfil (5): Three people between 18 and 34 years old, one person between 35 and 44 years old, and one person over 79 years old. One case is linked to close contact and the rest are still under investigation. 
• Penetanguishene (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is listed as community-acquired (no known link).  
• Essa (2): Two people between 45 and 64 years old. One case is listed as community-acquired (no known link) and the other is under investigation.
• New Tecumseth (9): Three youth under 17 years old, three people between 18 and 34 years old, one person between 35 and 44 years old, one person between 45 and 64 years old, and one person between 65 and 79 years old. Two cases were outbreak-related, one was community-acquired (no known link),  five are linked to close contact, and the remaining cases are still under investigation.
• Muskoka (1): One youth under 18 years old from Huntsville.

There are currently 173 active cases in the region.

Nine people from Simcoe County are hospitalized with COVID-19, with no new hospitalizations reported since yesterday.

The health unit has confirmed 5,274 of the region's cases were variant strains. There are 74 lab-confirmed variant cases still active.

According to the health unit, 100 per cent of the new cases reported over the last week were variants of concern and 97 per cent were the delta variant.

The variant case breakdown includes: 

• 4,008 alpha cases,
• 167 gamma cases, 
• 34 beta cases,
• 403 delta cases,
• and 662 cases have screened positive and are awaiting further testing.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 12,728 cases of COVID-19 with 12,299 of those cases recovered and 256 cases ending in death.

According to the health unit, 73 per cent of the population 12 years and older living in Simcoe-Muskoka have received both doses of vaccine and another eight per cent have had their first vaccine dose. The remaining 19 per cent is unvaccinated.

Approximately 29 per cent of the total population of Simcoe-Muskoka (including children) is unvaccinated and 62 per cent is fully vaccinated. 

For more on the vaccination status of Simcoe-Muskoka cases and hospitalizations, click here.

Anyone born in 2009 or earlier living in Simcoe-Muskoka region can book their first or second dose of vaccine online via Ontario vaccine booking system. More appointments are added regularly for clinics throughout the region.

The health unit does sometimes remove a case or move them based on further investigation of location data. The chart below reflects updated totals for each municipality as reported by the health unit on Aug. 26.

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*Cumulative incidence rate is the number of cases per 100,000 people reported to date

**Total cases include the number of cases currently recovering at home as well as any that have recovered, died, or are in hospital