The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported five deaths and eight new hospitalizations related to COVID in the latest update published Feb. 15.
The deaths reported today were all Simcoe County residents. Two women and two men over 79 years old have died after contracting COVID-19. One of the cases was outbreak related. A man between 65 and 79 years old has also died after contracting COVID-19. The five people died between Feb. 11 and Feb. 15.
The health unit has reported 71 COVID-19 deaths in January and 26 in February.
There are at least 43 people from the region hospitalized because of COVID-19, including 14 patients in intensive care units.
Testing has captured 11 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 33,951 cases of COVID-19 with 31,908 of those cases recovered and 388 cases ending in death.
Since July 18, 2021, hospitalizations of Simcoe-Muskoka residents over 11 years old have included 196 fully vaccinated people, 22 partially vaccinated, and 198 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, 75 fully vaccinated people (at least two doses) and fewer than five partially vaccinated have died after contracting COVID. Over the same time period, 53 unvaccinated people have died after contracting COVID-19. All of the deaths have been people over 11 years old.
About 86 per cent of the over-11-year-old population has been fully vaccinated with two or more doses and 12 per cent of the same population group is unvaccinated. About 15 per cent of the population aged five and over is unvaccinated. (Percentages now based on 2021 census population data.)
There are 32 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, down from 42 on Feb. 11, including 19 in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), four in congregate settings (group homes, shelters), and nine at child care centres.
The health unit is no longer reporting case counts associated with individual outbreaks.
