28 new COVID cases reported in Simcoe-Muskoka since Friday, 9 in Barrie

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 28 new COVID-19 cases and no deaths since Friday. 

New cases reported today (Aug. 9) include: 

• Wasaga Beach (2): Two people between 65 and 79 years old whose case are linked to close contact transmission. 
• Springwater (3): One youth under 18 years old, one person between 18 and 34 years old, and one person between 45 and 64 years old. One case is linked to close contact transmission and the other two are still under investigation. 
• Barrie (9): Three youth under 18 years old, two people between 18 and 34 years old, two people between 35 and 44 years old, and two people between 45 and 64 years old. One case transmission is attributed to travel, the rest are still under investigation.
• Innisfil (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case transmission is still under investigation. 
• Bradford West Gwillimbury (5): One youth under 18 years old, one person between 18 and 34 years old, two people between 35 and 44 years old, and one person between 45 and 64 years old. Two cases are listed as community-acquired (no known link) and the rest are still under investigation. 
• Orillia (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case transmission is still under investigation. 
• Midland (1): One youth under 18 years old whose case is outbreak-related. 
• Penetanguishene (1): One person between 18 and 34 years old whose case is listed as community-acquired (no known link). 
• Essa (3): One person between 18 and 34 years old and two people between 345 and 64 years old. All three case transmission sources are still under investigation.
• New Tecumseth (2): Two people between 45 and 64 years old. One case is linked to close contact transmission, the other is still under investigation.

Today's report is the first from the health unit since Friday. According to data collected by the health unit, there were 37 new cases reported during the week of Aug. 1 and there have been 37 cases reported so far for the week of Aug. 8. 

There are currently 55 active cases in the region. 

One person from Simcoe County is hospitalized with COVID-19, and there have been no new hospitalizations reported since Friday.

Locally, the per cent positivity is 0.5 per cent, which represents the percentage of people who test positive for COVID-19 compared to the number of people tested. The health unit's goal is to keep this rate below one.

The health unit has confirmed 5,088 of the region's cases were variant strains with 28 of them still active. 

The variant case breakdown includes: 

• 4,000 alpha cases,
• 167 gamma cases,
• 34 beta cases,
• 214 delta cases, 
• and 673 cases have screened positive and are awaiting further testing.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 12,428 cases of COVID-19 with 12,118 of those cases recovered and 255 cases ending in death.

According to the health unit, 69 per cent of the population 12 years and older living in Simcoe-Muskoka have received both doses of vaccine and 11 per cent have had their first vaccine dose. The remaining 21 per cent is unvaccinated.

Approximately 30 per cent of the total population of Simcoe-Muskoka (including children) is unvaccinated. 

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. 9.

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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