The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported two deaths and five new hospitalizations related to COVID in the latest update published Feb. 24.
The deaths reported today include two Simcoe County residents. A man between 65 and 79 years old died on Feb. 18 and a woman over 79 years old died on Feb. 21.
The health unit has reported 71 COVID-19 deaths in January and 35 in February.
There are at least 42 people from the region hospitalized because of COVID-19, including five new hospitalizations reported today. Eight of those patients are in an intensive care unit.
Testing has captured 119 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 34,867 cases of COVID-19 with 33,096 of those cases recovered and 397 cases ending in death.
Since July 18, 2021, hospitalizations of Simcoe-Muskoka residents over 11 years old have included 219 fully vaccinated people, 22 partially vaccinated, and 202 unvaccinated people. Of those, 56 unvaccinated, fewer than five partially vaccinated, and 31 fully vaccinated people have been admitted to intensive care units.
In the last six months, 82 fully vaccinated people (at least two doses) and fewer than five partially vaccinated have died after contracting COVID. Over the same time period, 55 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 22 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, down from 30 on Feb. 17, including 11 in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), four in congregate settings (group homes, shelters), and seven at child care centres.
The health unit is no longer reporting case counts associated with individual outbreaks. A list of outbreaks is available on the health unit website here.
