OTTAWA -- Ottawa Public Health says 133 more people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19, marking the third straight day of triple-digit increases.

OPH reported 139 new cases on Friday and 151 on Thursday.

The new report brings Ottawa's total number of COVID-19 cases to 16,755 since the first case was confirmed on March 11, 2020.

No new deaths were reported on Saturday. Ottawa's death toll from the pandemic stands at 459 residents.

There were 2,453 new cases of COVID-19 reported across the province on Saturday. Sixteen more people in the province have died and 1,481 more cases are now considered resolved. The province reported 115 new cases in Ottawa on Saturday. Figures from OPH sometimes differ from those of the province due to different data collection times for the respective daily reports.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa is in "Red-Control" status under Ontario's COVID-19 framework.

Ottawa Public Health data:

  • COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (March 19-25): 71.9
  • Positivity rate in Ottawa: 4.6 per cent (March 19-25)
  • Reproduction number: 1.18 (seven day average)

Reproduction values greater than 1 indicate the virus is spreading and each case infects more than one contact. If it is less than 1, it means spread is slowing.

The red-control threshold is a weekly incidence rate of 40 or more cases per 100,000 people and a positivity rate of 2.5 per cent or higher and a reproduction number of 1.2 or more.

The orange-restrict category of Ontario's COVID-19 framework includes a weekly rate of cases per 100,000 between 25 to 39.9, a percent positivity of 1.3 to 2.4 per cent, and a reproduction number of approximately 1 to 1.1.  

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Public Health Ontario reported 67 new cases involving variants of concern in Ottawa on Saturday.

There are 447 variants of concern cases under investigation.

There are 22 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in Ottawa, and five cases of the B.1.351 variant.

VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of March 26:

  • Vaccine doses administered in Ottawa (first and second shots): 110,116
  • COVID-19 doses received (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna): 133,440

OPH says the city received a shipment of 36,270 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on March 22.

*OPH says staff were able to extract additional doses out of several vials, which were given to residents. In a statement on its dashboard, OPH said, "Vaccine inventory is based on an expected 5 dose per vial supply. Occasionally, an additional dose (6th dose) is successfully extracted and administered to clients."

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are 30 people in Ottawa-area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses, up from 29 on Friday.

Ten people are in the intensive care unit, up from eight.

Of the people in hospital, two are in their 30s, three are in their 40s (one is in the ICU), six are in their 50s (two are in the ICU), seven are in their 60s (four are in the ICU), six are in their 70s (three are in the ICU), and six are in their 80s.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of people with known active cases of COVID-19 is now above 900 for the first time since late January.

There are 954 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday, up from 895 active cases on Friday.

Seventy-four more Ottawa residents have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health reports 15,342 resolved cases of COVID-19 in the capital.

The number of active cases is the number of total cases of COVID-19 minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. A case is considered resolved 14 days after known symptom onset or positive test result.

 

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

  • 0-9 years old: Four new cases (1,271 total cases)
  • 10-19 years-old: 18 new cases (2,137 total cases)
  • 20-29 years-old: 28 new cases (3,664 total cases)
  • 30-39 years-old: 20 new cases (2,395 total cases)
  • 40-49 years-old: 20 new cases (2,154 total cases)
  • 50-59 years-old: 20 new cases (2,011 total cases)
  • 60-69-years-old: 15 new cases (1,206 total cases)
  • 70-79 years-old: Three new cases (712 total cases)
  • 80-89 years-old: Four new cases (728 total cases)
  • 90+ years old: One new case (474 total cases)
  • Unknown: 0 new cases (3 cases total)

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce reports 2,520 swabs were processed at assessment centres in Ottawa on March 25.

A total of 5,270 lab tests were performed in Ottawa on Thursday.

The average turnaround from the time to swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 30 hours.

The next update from the Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce will be released Monday.

Across Ontario, 61,005 COVID-19 tests were completed on Friday.

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

  • Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 23 cases
  • Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Public Health: Five cases
  • Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit: 17 cases
  • Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Eight cases
  • Outaouais (Gatineau and western Quebec): 68 cases

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 39 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

One new outbreak was declared at Louis Riel high school, involving two students. Another new outbreak was declared at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, involving one patient and two staff members.

Outbreaks have ended at Pierre Savard high school, John McCrae Secondary School, Rodnichok Daycare, Riverside South II Elementary School, Vincent Massey Public School, and Carleton Heights Public School. 

There are six active community outbreaks: one is linked to a construction workplace, one is linked to a health workplace, one is linked to recreation, one is linked to a services workplace and two are linked to restaurants.

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

  1. École élémentaire publique Séraphin-Marion (March 14)
  2. Nature and Nurture Childcare Services (March 14)
  3. St. Luke's Childcare Centre (March 15) 
  4. École élémentaire catholique Arc-en-Ciel (March 19)
  5. École élémentaire catholique Horizon-Jeunesse (March 19)
  6. École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde (March 19)
  7. Henry Larsen Elementary School (March 19)
  8. École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité (March 21)
  9. Fallingbrook Community Elementary School (March 23)
  10. St. James Elementary School (March 23) 
  11. École secondaire publique Louis-Riel (March 25) [NEW]
  12. St. Elizabeth Elementary School (March 25)

The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

  1. Shelter (Jan. 26)
  2. The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (Feb. 19)
  3. Madonna Care Community (Feb. 26)
  4. Sarsfield Colonial Home (Feb. 27)
  5. Group Home (March 3)
  6. Perley-Rideau Veterans' Health Centre – Gatineau Building (March 4)
  7. St. Vincent Hospital (March 6)
  8. Extendicare Medex (March 9)
  9. Peter D. Clark LTCH (March 10)
  10. Group Home (March 11)
  11. Amica Westboro Park RH (March 12)
  12. University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 12)
  13. Chapel Hill RH (March 13)
  14. The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (March 13)
  15. St. Patrick's Home (March 14)
  16. Osgoode Care Centre (March 15)
  17. St. Vincent Hospital (March 15)
  18. Carlingview Manor (March 16)
  19. University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 16)
  20. Elisabeth Bruyere Hospital (March 18)
  21. Portobello Retirement Residence (March 18)
  22. Extendicare West End Villa (March 19)
  23. University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 21)
  24. Supported Independent Living (March 23)
  25. Timberwalk Retirement Home (March 24)
  26. Longfields Manor (March 24) 
  27. University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 26) [NEW]

A single laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home or shelter triggers an outbreak response, according to Ottawa Public Health. In childcare settings, two children or staff or household member cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a 14-day period where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the childcare establishment is considered an outbreak in a childcare establishment.

Under provincial guidelines, a COVID-19 outbreak in a school is defined as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before or after school care).

Two staff or patient cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a specified hospital unit within a 14-day period where both cases could have reasonably acquired their infection in hospital is considered an outbreak in a public hospital.