A gradual surge in COVID cases and a plateau in the number of deaths and hospitalizations of Simcoe-Muskoka residents continues, based on the latest health unit reporting.
The latest COVID update from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, published March 25, includes two new deaths and three new hospitalizations.
A man and a woman, both over 79 years old and both from Simcoe County, died after contracting COVID-19. The man died on March 16 and the woman died on March 23.
The health unit has reported 53 deaths in February, and 18 so far in March.
There are 15 people from the region currently hospitalized because of COVID-19, including three patients in intensive care units.
Testing has captured 284 new COVID cases in the region since the last update on March 23. Because testing is not available to everyone, case counts are underestimated.
So far this week, the health unit has confirmed 486 new cases. Between March 20 and 24, four people have been hospitalized for COVID-19, and four people have died after contracting COVID-19.
Last week the health unit reported 595 new cases, seven new hospitalizations and four deaths, which is a decrease from the week of March 6, which brought 433 new cases, 12 new hospitalizations and five deaths.
Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 37,713 cases of COVID-19 with 36,245 of those cases recovered and 436 cases ending in death.
Of the deaths reported by the health unit since March 2020, 383 were COVID-related, 41 deaths were not related to COVID-19 but the person tested positive, and for 12 of them, the cause of death is unknown or pending.
Based on data collected since July in Simcoe-Muskoka, the rate of hospitalization from COVID-19 is four times higher for unvaccinated people than for vaccinated. The rate of admission to an intensive care unit is eight times higher for unvaccinated people, and the rate of death is three times higher for an unvaccinated person versus someone with two or more doses of a vaccine.
There are 25 active outbreaks in Simcoe-Muskoka, up from 17 outbreaks on March 18. The current active outbreaks include 12 in institutional settings (hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes), seven 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.
According to monitoring of the region's hospitals by the health unit, about 56 per cent of the region's ICU beds are full and about 13 per cent of the ventilator beds are occupied. Acute care occupancy is highest with 91 per cent of the beds in the region currently full.
