Active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa drop with low daily case count

OTTAWA -

Ottawa Public Health is reporting eight more people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19, the lowest daily case count since August.

The seven-day average is 27.7, down from 35.4 last Tuesday and down from 62.2 last month.

To date, OPH has recorded 30,535 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began. No new deaths were reported on Tuesday. A total of 602 residents of Ottawa have died due to COVID-19.

The last time OPH reported a single digit case count in its daily snapshot was Aug. 9, when five new cases were added to the total. 

The number of known active cases dropped on Tuesday amid higher numbers of resolved cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 remain low.

Daily case counts are typically lower on Tuesdays.

Public Health Ontario reported 20 new cases in Ottawa on Tuesday. Figures from OPH often differ from Public Health Ontario's because the two health agencies pull data for their respective daily snapshot reports at different times of the day. The province's total case count for Ottawa is slightly behind what OPH is reporting, at 30,522. 

Across the province, health officials confirmed 328 new infections. Four more Ontarians have died due to COVID-19 and 498 existing cases are now considered resolved.

Six cases of COVID-19 were reported in health units around Ottawa, including two in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, one in Hastings Prince Edward, two in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, and one in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa is now in Step 3 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen plan.

Ottawa Public Health data:

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Oct. 11 to Oct. 17): 19.1 (up from 17.8)   
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Oct. 11 to Oct. 17): 1.8 per cent
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 0.95

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.

UNVACCINATED CASES

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 223 of the 328 newly reported cases of COVID-19 in Ontario are in people who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, while 105 cases are in fully vaccinated people. 

There are 260 people in Ontario hospitalized with COVID-19, 35 of whom are fully vaccinated. The remainder are not or their status is unknown. Twenty-six of the 159 people with COVID-19 in ICUs across the province are fully immunized.

Ottawa Public Health data suggest that unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people are.

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health updates vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

As of Monday:

• Ottawa residents with 1 dose (12+): 826,780 
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (12+): 787,531 
• Share of population 12 and older with at least one dose: 90 per cent 
• Share of population 12 and older fully vaccinated: 85 per cent
• Total doses received in Ottawa: 1,372,642

*Total doses received does not include doses shipped to pharmacies and primary care clinics, but statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses includes anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

There are 237 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, down from 263 active cases on Monday.

Ottawa Public Health reported 34 newly resolved cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 29,696.

The number of active cases is the number of total laboratory-confirmed 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
Infogram

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are seven people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses and there are four people in the ICU.

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 0
• 10-19: 0
• 20-29: 0
• 30-39: 0
• 40-49: 2 (1 in ICU)
• 50-59: 0
• 60-69: 1 (1 in ICU)
• 70-79: 4 (2 in ICU)
• 80-89: 0
• 90+: 0

(Ottawa Public Health is now reporting people in hospital with an "active" infection)

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

• 0-9 years old: Four new cases (2,810 total cases)
• 10-19 years-old: One new case (4,045 total cases)
• 20-29 years-old: Zero new cases (6,852 total cases)
• 30-39 years-old: Three new cases (4,690 total cases)
• 40-49 years-old: One case removed from total (4,015 total cases)
• 50-59 years-old: Zero new cases (3,506 total cases)
• 60-69-years-old: Zero new cases (2,068 total cases)
• 70-79 years-old: One new case (1,140 total cases)
• 80-89 years-old: Zero new cases (874 total cases)
• 90+ years old: Zero new cases (532 total cases)
• Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data:

• Total Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases: 6,849
• Total Beta (B.1.351) cases: 513
• Total Gamma (P.1) cases: 55
• Total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases: 767
• Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 11,070
• Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 108

*OPH notes that that VOC and mutation trends must be treated with caution due to the varying time required to complete VOC testing and/or genomic analysis following the initial positive test for SARS-CoV-2. Test results may be completed in batches and data corrections or updates can result in changes to case counts that may differ from past reports.

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce said 1,993 swabs were taken at local assessment centres on Monday and labs performed 1,852 tests.

The average turnaround from when a swab is taken at an assessment centre to the result is 21 hours.

CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit: Two new cases
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: One new case
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: Two new cases
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: One new case
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Zero new cases

COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions and community outbreaks in Ottawa.

Community outbreaks:

• Workplace – Corporate/Office: One outbreak

Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks: (five elementary schools, two secondary school and one child care centres)

• École élémentaire publique Mauril-Belanger (Oct. 4)
• Dr. F. J. McDonald Catholic elementary school (Oct. 6)
• Chapman Mills elementary school (Oct. 12) 
• Pinecrest Queensway Headstart Child Care (Oct. 12) 
• Fielding Drive Public School (Oct. 13) 
• École élémentaire publique Charlotte Lemieux (Oct. 14) 
• D. Roy Kennedy Public School (Oct. 15) 
• École élémentaire publique Mamawi - Ottawa Ouest (Oct. 17) 

Healthcare and congregate settings experiencing outbreaks:

• No outbreaks