The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit confirmed 23 new COVID-19 cases in the region on Wednesday, bringing the local total number of cases up to 12,562, including 255 deaths.
Local public health also reported 16 new cases of a COVID-19 variant on Wednesday, bringing that total to 5,191, including 78 cases that are active.
Eleven of the new cases are in Barrie, while four are in Orillia and two are in Bradford.
The rest are in Collingwood, Innisfil, New Tecumseth, Oro-Medonte, Ramara and Wasaga Beach.
Seven of the new cases are community-acquired, while two are a result of close contact with another positive COVID-19 case and two are outbreak-related. The rest are all still under investigation.
Meanwhile, 70.4 per cent of the region’s population has received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 62.5 per cent has received both necessary doses.
Of the region’s total 12,562 COVID-19 cases, 97 per cent — or 12,182 — have recovered, while four people are currently in hospital.
On Wednesday, Ontario reported 485 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial total up to 556,920, including 9,431 deaths.