Five Barrie residents among 17 new COVID cases in Simcoe-Muskoka

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 17 new COVID-19 cases today (Aug. 25).

Included in today's new cases are 13 unvaccinated individuals, and four fully vaccinated people.

New cases reported today include: 

• Barrie (5): Two people 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 linked to close contact with other cases, one is attributed to travel. Two cases are still under investigation.
• Bradford (1): One person between 35 and 44 years old whose case is still under investigation.
• Innisfil (5): Two people 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 one is linked to close contact. Two cases are still under investigation.
• Orillia (2): One person between 18 and 34 years old and one person between 45 and 64 years old. Both cases are under investigation. 
• Essa (1): One person between 18 and 34 year sold whose case is linked to close contact.
• New Tecumseth (2): Two youth under 18 years old. Both cases are still under investigation. 
• Severn (1): One person between 35 and 44 years old whose case is under investigation.

There are currently 158 active cases in the region.

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

The health unit has confirmed 5,272 of the region's cases were variant strains. There are 75 lab-confirmed variant cases still active.

According to the health unit, 100 per cent of the new cases reported over the last week were variants of concern and 97 per cent were the delta variant.

The variant case breakdown includes: 

• 4,008 alpha cases,
• 167 gamma cases, 
• 34 beta cases,
• 394 delta cases,
• and 669 cases have screened positive and are awaiting further testing.

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 12,698 cases of COVID-19 with 12,284 of those cases recovered and 256 cases ending in death.

According to the health unit, 73 per cent of the population 12 years and older living in Simcoe-Muskoka have received both doses of vaccine and another eight per cent have had their first vaccine dose. The remaining 19 per cent is unvaccinated.

Approximately 29 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 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. 24.

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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