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COVID cases surpass 40,000 in Simcoe Muskoka

April 21, 2022   ·   0 Comments

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s region has now surpassed 40,000 since the start of the pandemic.

Over the three days from April 10 – 12, the Health Unit reported 170 cases per day diagnosed.

During the week of April 3 to 9, there were 1,284 cases which is an incident of 208 cases per 100,000 population – up 17 per cent from the previous week

Over the previous four weeks, the region recorded a higher number of cases than the provincial weekly number of cases on a per capita basis. The province has an incidence of 148 cases per 100,000 population per week.

The Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario indicated during a press conference that the province is now in a sixth wave of the pandemic.

Of the new cases in Simcoe Muskoka, 83 per cent have had two or more doses of the COVID vaccination.

“It’s very important for people to know that vaccination is important but it is not going to be totally protective and people have to take other precautions as well as be fully immunized, as well as have received all vaccinations for which we are recommending for which they are eligible, and go beyond that and practice other protective measures to reduce your risk,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, Medical Officer of Health for SMDHU. “Those who are unvaccinated are three times more likely to be hospitalized than those who have had two or more doses of the vaccine, and are five times more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and three times more likely to die.”

Currently regional residents in hospital due to COVID-19 range in age from their 40s to their 90s.

Since the week of February 27, there have been an average of five deaths per week due to the pandemic.

The Health Unit has now started a second series of boosters for the COVID-19 vaccination with 8,080 individuals who have received a fourth dose of the vaccine.

By Brian Lockhart

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