The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported six deaths and one new hospitalization related to COVID in the latest update published March 7, which is the first report since March 4.
The deaths reported today include three women over 79 years old, a man and a woman between 65 and 79 years old, and a man over 79 years old, all from Simcoe County. Three of them died between Feb. 16 and 23, and three died between March 1 and 6.
The health unit reported 74 COVID-19 deaths in January, 50 in February, and three so far in March.
There are at least 23 people from the region hospitalized because of COVID-19.
Testing has captured 180 new COVID cases in the region since the last update. Because testing is not available to everyone, case counts are underestimated.
Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 36,076 cases of COVID-19 with 34,813 of those cases recovered and 418 cases ending in death.
Since July 18, 2021, hospitalizations of Simcoe-Muskoka residents over 11 years old have included 240 fully vaccinated people, 24 partially vaccinated, and 214 unvaccinated people. Of those, 59 unvaccinated, fewer than five partially vaccinated, and 33 fully vaccinated people have been admitted to intensive care units.
In the last six months, 95 fully vaccinated people (at least two doses) and fewer than five partially vaccinated have died after contracting COVID. Over the same time period, 62 unvaccinated people have died after contracting COVID-19.
According to health unit monitoring, about 63 per cent of the region's ICU beds are full, and about 32 per cent of ventilator beds are currently occupied. Occupancy rates are highest for the region's acute care beds with 93 per cent of them currently full.
About 81 per cent of the over-five-year-old population has been fully vaccinated with two or more doses and 15 per cent of the same population group is unvaccinated. (Percentages now based on 2021 census population data.)
There are 15 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, down from 19 on Feb. 28, including seven in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), two in congregate settings (group homes, shelters), and six at child-care centres.
The health unit is no longer reporting case counts associated with individual outbreaks. A list of outbreaks is available on the health unit website here.
