23 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 23 new COVID-19 cases and zero deaths today for the Aug. 18 update.

New cases reported today include: 

• Collingwood (1): One person between 45 and 64 years old whose case is listed as community-acquired (no known link).
• Wasaga Beach (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is still under investigation.
• Barrie (11): Three youth under 18 years old, three people between 18 and 34 years old, two people between 35 and 44 years old, two people between 45 and 64 years old, and one person over 79 years old. Three cases are listed as community-acquired (no known link) and one case is outbreak-related. The remaining cases are still under investigation. 
• Bradford (2):  One youth under 18 years old and one person between 35 and 44 years old. One case is linked to close contact transmission and one is listed as community-acquired (no known link). 
• Innisfil (1): One person between 45 and 64 years old whose case is listed as community-acquired (no known link). 
• Orillia (4): One youth under 18 years old, two people between 18 and 34 years old and one person between 35 and 44 years old. One case is outbreak-related, one is listed as community-acquired, and two are still under investigation.
• Oro-Medonte (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is still under investigation.  
• Ramara (1): One person between 35 and 44 years old whose case is still under investigation.
• New Tecumseth (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old

There are currently 125 active cases in the region. 

There have been zero COVID-related deaths reported in Simcoe-Muskoka in August.

Four people from Simcoe County are hospitalized with COVID-19, which includes two new hospitalizations since yesterday. 

The health unit has confirmed 5,191 of the region's cases were variant strains. There are 78 lab-confirmed variant cases still active.

The variant case breakdown includes: 

• 4,006 alpha cases,
• 168 gamma cases,
• 34 beta cases,
• 312 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 12,562 cases of COVID-19 with 12,182 of those cases recovered and 255 cases ending in death.

According to the health unit, 71 per cent of the population 12 years and older living in Simcoe-Muskoka have received both doses of vaccine and another nine per cent have had their first vaccine dose. The remaining 20 per cent is unvaccinated.

Approximately 30 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 aged 12 years or older 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. 18.

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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