Health unit reports 1 death, 4 more COVID patients hospitalized

The latest COVID update from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, published May 2, includes one death and four new hospitalizations.

A man over 79 years old from Simcoe County died on April 26 after contracting COVID-19. 

Testing has captured 265 new COVID cases in the region since the last update on April 29. Because testing is not available to everyone, case counts are underestimated. 

Cases have decreased week-over-week with 785 cases reported between April 24 and 30, which is down from 1,155 new cases reported during the week of April 17-23. More cases may still be reported for the week of April 24 as there are some reporting lags. 

There are 37 people from the region currently hospitalized because of COVID-19. There are four Simcoe-Muskoka residents in intensive care units because of COVID-19. These totals do not include people who were hospitalized for other reasons and also test positive for COVID-19. 

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 43,771 cases of COVID-19 with 41,880 of those cases recovered and 469 cases ending in death. 

Of the deaths reported by the health unit since March 2020, 412 were COVID-related, 47 deaths were not related to COVID-19 but the person tested positive, and for 10 of them, the cause of death is unknown or pending. 

Twenty-five people from the region died in April after contracting COVID-19.

To date, 83 per cent of the population aged five years old and up are fully vaccinated with two or more doses, and 18 per cent of the region's total population (including children) is unvaccinated.

There are 37 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, up from 35 outbreaks on April 25. The current active outbreaks include 18 in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), 15 in congregate settings (group homes, shelters), and four at child-care centres.

A list of outbreaks is available on the health unit website here.

According to monitoring of the region's hospitals by the health unit, about 74 per cent of the region's ICU beds are full and about 26 per cent of the ventilator beds are occupied. Acute care occupancy is highest with 95 per cent of the beds in the region currently full. 

Here's a look at the Ontario COVID update for May 2.

The Collingwood General and Marine Hospital is reporting as of May 2, there are five 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.