Thirty-three locals among 480 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 480 new COVID-19 cases and one death in its Jan. 6 update.

An Orillia woman between 65 and 79 years old died on Dec. 29 after contracting COVID-19. 

Though the health unit is providing updates on local lab-confirmed cases, a notice on its website indicates the case numbers are underestimating COVID transmission in the community. COVID testing is only available for select groups and is therefore not catching all the cases in the community.

According to the health unit, 98 per cent of the cases confirmed in the last week were caused by the omicron strain. 

Included in the new cases reported today are 64 unvaccinated, 22 partially vaccinated, and 312 fully vaccinated people. 

There are 6,577 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, but this total doesn't include those who did not get tested.

Thirty-two Simcoe-Muskoka residents are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and nine are in intensive care units. The health unit has confirmed it is only reporting hospitalizations of individuals with COVID-related illneses.

Over the last eight weeks, there have been 86 unvaccinated people, eight partially vaccinated, and 33 fully vaccinated people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Simcoe Muskoka. All have been over 12 years old. 

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 24,361 cases of COVID-19 with 17,493 of those cases recovered and 291 cases ending in death. 

A little over 75 per cent of the entire population of Simcoe-Muskoka has been fully vaccinated. Currently, 84 per cent of the population that is five years of age or older has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. More than 32 per cent of the over-12 population has had three doses of COVID vaccine. 

Because of the high number of cases being reported to the health unit, transmission source is now being listed as either sporadic or outbreak-related. There are 18 cases linked to outbreaks included in today's report, and the rest are listed as "sporadic" cases. 

Included in the new cases reported today are 50 youth under 18 years old, 173 people between 18 and 34 years old, 74 people between 35 and 44 years old, 120 people between 45 and 64 years old, 43 people between 65 and 79 years old, and 20 people 80 years old and older.

The new cases reported in Simcoe County today include: 

• Midland (15)
• Tiny (7)
• Tay (4) 
• Penetanguishene (7)
• Collingwood (11)
• Clearview (8)
• Wasaga Beach (12)
• Barrie (170) 
• Springwater (23)
• Innisfil (53)  
• Bradford (39)
• Orillia (39) 
• Oro-Medonte (10)
• Severn (15)  
• Ramara (7)  
• Essa (10)
• New Tecumseth (20) 
• Adjala-Tosorontio (2)
• One case is listed with location information pending.

New cases reported in Muskoka District include:

• Bracebridge (7) 
• Gravenhurst (9) 
• Huntsville (9)
• Muskoka Lakes (2)
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Breakdown by municipality

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 Jan. 6.

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~Fully vaccinated means an individual whose second dose was 14 or more days before the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

*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

***Weekly COVID-19 incidence rate per 100,000 by municipality for week of Dec. 26. N/A indicates fewer than five cases in a week