40 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka Friday

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 40 new COVID-19 cases today (Aug. 27).

Included in the new cases are 32 unvaccinated individuals, five partially vaccinated people, and three fully vaccinated people.

New cases reported today include: 

• Wasaga Beach (2): One person between 18 and 34 years old and one between 45 and 64 years old. Both cases are under investigation. 
• Clearview (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is still under investigation. 
• Barrie (8): Two youth under 18 years old, five people between 18 and 34 years old, and one person between 65 and 79 years old. One case transmission is linked to travel, and one is outbreak-related. The rest are still under investigation. 
• Bradford (2): One youth under 18 years old and one person between 35 and 44 years old. Both cases are still under investigation. 
• Innisfil (7): Three youth under 18 years old, two people between 18 and 34 years old, one person between 35 and 44 years old, and one person between 45 and 64 years old. Six cases are linked to close contact transmission and the other case is still under investigation. 
• Orillia (3): Two youth under 18 years old and one person between 45 and 64 years old. The youth cases are linked to close contact and the adult case is travel-related. 
• Tay (1): One person between 45 and 64 years old whose case is linked to close contact. 
• Essa (5): One youth under 18 years old, three people between 18 and 34 years old, and one person between 35 and 44 years old. One case is linked to close contact, one is outbreak-related, and one is listed as community-acquired (no known link). The other two cases are still under investigation. 
• New Tecumseth (11): Five youth under 18 years old, five people between 18 and 34 years old, and one person between 45 and 64 years old. Four cases are linked to close contact transmission, two are listed as community-acquired (no known link) and the rest are still under investigation.

There are currently 182 active cases in Simcoe County and none in Muskoka.

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

The health unit has confirmed 5,292 of the region's cases were variant strains. There are 77 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: 

• 4,007 alpha cases,
• 167 gamma cases, 
• 34 beta cases,
• 422 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 12,762 cases of COVID-19 with 12,324 of those cases recovered and 256 cases ending in death. 

According to the health unit, 74 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.

Approximately 29 per cent of the total population of Simcoe-Muskoka (including children) is unvaccinated and 65 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. 27.

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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