61 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka since Friday

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 61 new COVID-19 cases since Friday.

New cases reported today include: 

• Collingwood (1): One youth under 18 years old whose case transmission is under investigation. 
• Wasaga Beach (1): One person between 45 and 64 years old whose case transmission is reported as close contact. 
• Springwater (2): Two people between 18 and 34 years old. One case is listed as community-acquired (no known link) and the other is still under investigation. 
• Barrie (21): Four people under 18 years old, nine people between 18 and 34 years old, two people between 35 and 44 years old, five people between 45 and 64 years old, and one person between 65 and 79 years old. Case transmission sources include: four close contact, one community-acquired (no known link), and the rest are still under investigation.
• Bradford (8): Three youth under 18 years old, Four people between 18 and 34 years old, and one person between 45 and 64 years old. The case transmission source for all cases is still under investigation.
• Innisfil (5): One youth under 18 years old, two people between 18 and 34 years old, and two people between 65 and 79 years old. The case transmission source for all cases is still under investigation. 
• Orillia (4): Four people between 18 and 34 years old. Two cases are still under investigation, one is outbreak-related, and one is attributed to close contact transmission. 
• Oro-Medonte (1): One person between 65 and 79 years old whose case transmission is linked to close contact. 
• Essa (4): One youth under 18 years old, and three people between 45 and 64 years old. The case transmission for all four cases is still under investigation. 
• New Tecumseth (12): One youth under 18 years old, two people between 18 and 34 years old, four people between 35 and 44 years old, four people between 45 and 64 years old, and one person between 65 and 79 years old. One case is linked to close contact, one is listed as community-acquired (no known link) and the rest are still under investigation. 
• Adjala-Tosorontio (1):  One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is still under investigation. 
• Muskoka District (1): A person between 18 and 34 years old from Gravenhurst whose case transmission source is still under investigation. 

There are currently 183 active cases in the region.

There were 128 new cases confirmed last week, which is up by 29 per cent compared to 99 cases during the week of Aug. 15.

Two people from Simcoe County are hospitalized with COVID-19. There have been zero new hospitalizations since Friday's report.

The health unit has confirmed 5,237 of the region's cases were variant strains. There are 85 lab-confirmed variant cases still active.

The variant case breakdown includes: 

• 4,007 alpha cases,
• 167 gamma cases, 
• 34 beta cases,
• 358 delta cases,
• and 671 cases have screened positive and are awaiting further testing.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 12,664 cases of COVID-19 with 12,225 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. 23.

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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