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Public Health moves risk level to ‘moderate,’ warns that COVID still circulating

February 16, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Currently, the risk level for COVID-19 in Simcoe Muskoka is reported as ‘moderate’ by the District Health Unit, but the organization says the virus continues to pose a threat to public safety.

The Health Unit monitors cases in the region and updates the risk level on a regular basis.

After three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people contracting the virus is still reasonably high.

There have been 56,443 confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Simcoe Muskoka since the virus was first identified in Canada. The Simcoe–Muskoka District has a population of 307,050.

During the first week of February, there were 136 new cases reported to the Health Unit.

There are currently 313 active cases, of which 11 are currently in hospital, with seven of those hospitalizations occurring since the last report.

There were 24 deaths reported in January and three deaths related to COVID-19 so far in February.

To date, there have been 5,919 cases reported that tested positive for the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, and an additional 2,706 cases that are considered suspect Omicron and are waiting for confirmatory testing.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,536,807 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Simcoe Muskoka, including 123,309 individuals 12 years of age and older who have received a booster dose of the vaccine in the previous six months.

The vast majority of COVID-19 cases in Simcoe Muskoka are considered resolved.

The rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated adults age 60 and over is three times higher than those with at least one booster dose. The ratio also applies ICU admissions and death rates due to the virus.

There are currently 14 situations that are considered ‘outbreaks’ in the region. That is up from 11 the previous week.

Ten of those outbreaks occurred in an institutional setting, with the others happening in congregate and educational settings.

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