27 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka today

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 27 new COVID-19 cases in its latest update (Aug. 31).

Included in the new cases are 21 unvaccinated individuals, two partially vaccinated people, and four fully vaccinated people.

New cases reported today include: 

• Collingwood (2): One person between 18 and 34 years old and one person between 45 and 64 years old. Both cases are still under investigation.  
• Springwater (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case transmission source is still under investigation. 
• Barrie (14): Six youth under 18 years old, four people between 18 and 34 years old, two people between 35 and 44 years old, and two people between 45 and 64 years old. Five cases are listed as community-acquired (no known link) and one case is linked to close contact transmission. The rest of the cases are still under investigation.
• Innisfil (4): Three people between 18 and 34 years old and one person between 65 and 79 years old. All four cases are still under investigation. 
• Severn (1):  One person between18 and 34 years old whose case is still under investigation. 
• Tiny (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is still under investigation.
• Essa (1): One person between. 18and 34 years old whose case is listed as community-acquired (no known link). 
• Muskoka District (3): One youth under 18 years old from Bracebridge, and one. youth and one person between 45 and 64 years old from Huntsville. 

There are currently 181 active cases in the region. 

Eleven people from Simcoe County are hospitalized with COVID-19, with four new hospitalizations reported since yesterday.

The health unit has confirmed 5,403 of the region's cases were variant strains. There are 118 lab-confirmed variant cases still active. 

The variant case breakdown includes: 

• 4,009 alpha cases,
• 168 gamma cases, 
• 34 beta cases,
• 531 delta cases,
• and 661 cases have screened positive and are awaiting further testing.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 12,809 cases of COVID-19 with 12,355 of those cases recovered and 256 cases ending in death. 

According to the health unit, 74 per cent of the population 12 years and older living in Simcoe-Muskoka have received both doses of vaccine and another seven per cent have had their first vaccine dose.

Approximately 28 per cent of the total population of Simcoe-Muskoka (including children) is unvaccinated and 65 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. 31.

******

*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