The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported one death and two new hospitalizations related to COVID in the latest update published Feb. 22, which is the first report since Friday.
The health unit has reported 71 COVID-19 deaths in January and 31 in February.
There are at least 43 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 239 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 34,665 cases of COVID-19 with 32,858 of those cases recovered and 393 cases ending in death.
Since July 18, 2021, hospitalizations of Simcoe-Muskoka residents over 11 years old have included 214 fully vaccinated people, 23 partially vaccinated, and 200 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, 79 fully vaccinated people (at least two doses) and fewer than five partially vaccinated have died after contracting COVID. Over the same time period, 54 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 29 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, down from 32 on Feb. 15, including 16 in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), three in congregate settings (group homes, shelters), and 10 at child care centres.
The health unit is no longer reporting case counts associated with individual outbreaks.
