OTTAWA

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ottawa surge to levels not seen since first wave

Ted Raymond CTV News Ottawa Digital Multi-Skilled Journalist

Published Wednesday, April 7, 2021 10:32AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, April 7, 2021 12:42PM EDT

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OTTAWA -- Ottawa Public Health is reporting another 196 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the city and one more person has died.

The city has now seen 18,632 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 470 deaths since the pandemic began.

The number of people in hospitals with COVID-19 has surged to levels not seen since the first wave.

OPH reported 69 people in hospital and 20 in the ICU. The previous peak for hospitalizations was 63 in late April 2020, while ICU admissions hit 20 in mid-April of last year.

The number of active cases continues to climb to record highs, hitting more than 1,900.

Public Health Ontario reported 3,215 new cases of COVID-19 across the province on Wednesday, along with 17 new deaths from the disease and 2,407 newly resolved cases. The province also reported 225 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, but figures from the province often differ from OPH due to different data collection times for each health unit's respecitve reports.

The weekly incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 residents climbed to more than 132 and the testing positivity rate is now nearly 9 per cent.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa entered Ontario's COVID-19 "shutdown" at 12:01 a.m. April 3.

Ottawa Public Health data:

COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (March 30-April 5): 132.1
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 8.8 per cent (March 31-April 6)
Reproduction number: 1.06 (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.

VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of April 7:

Dose 1 administered: 152,971 (+12,057 since Monday)
Dose 2 administered: 27,154 (+213 since Monday)
Total doses received: 223,150 (+29,440 since Monday)

OPH says the city received 25,740 new doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 11,800 doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 11,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on April 4.

RELATED: How do I get the coronavirus vaccine in Ottawa?

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data*:

Total B.1.1.7 (UK variant) cases: 23
Total B.1.351 (South Africa variant) cases: 6
Total P.1 (Brazil variant) cases: 0
Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 612
Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 5

*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.

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are 69 people in Ottawa-area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses, up from 56 on Tuesday.

This is the highest number of COVID-19 patients in Ottawa hospitals ever seen during the pandemic. The previous high was 63 on April 29, 2020, according to OPH data.

Twenty people people are in the intensive care unit, up from 18.

Of the people in hospital, two are in their 20s, four are in their 30s, five are in their 40s (one is in the ICU), 17 are in their 50s (four are in the ICU), 15 are in their 60s (nine are in the ICU), 14 are in their 70s (five are in the ICU), nine are in their 80s (one is in the ICU), and three are 90 or older.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health is reporting its highest figure of known active cases so far this pandemic.

There are 1,926 known active cases in Ottawa, up from 1,852 on Tuesday.

121 more Ottawa residents have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health reports 16,236 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
Infogram

COVID-19 TESTING

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce said Tuesday that 2,545 swabs were processed at local assessment centres on April 5 and labs performed 4,065 tests.

The average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 26 hours.

The Ontario government says 49,889 COVID-19 tests were completed provincewide on Tuesday.

CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION

Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 32 new cases
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 18 new cases
Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 22 new cases
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 12 new cases
Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 0 new cases
Outaouais (Gatineau and western Quebec): 178 new cases

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 38 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

New outbreaks were declared Wednesday at two local retirement homes. Outbreaks at the Chapel Hill Retirement Home and St. Luke's Child Care Centre have ended.

There are seven active community outbreaks: Three outbreaks are linked to restaurants, two outbreaks are linked to services workplaces, one is linked to a private social event and one is linked to construction.

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

St. Elizabeth Elementary School (March 25)
Centrepointe Home Daycare (March 26)
St. Gabriel Elementary School (March 29)
St. Leonard Elementary School (March 30)
St. Isidore Elementary School (March 31)
Connaught Public School (April 2)
Fallingbrook Community Elementary School (April 2)
Sacred Heart High School (April 3)
École secondaire publique Louis-Riel (April 3)

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

The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (Feb. 19)
St. Vincent Hospital (March 6)
Extendicare Medex (March 9)
Peter D. Clark LTCH (March 10)
University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 12)
St. Patrick's Home (March 14)
St. Vincent Hospital (March 15)
University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 16)
Shelter (March 21)
University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 21)
Supported Independent Living (March 23)
Longfields Manor (March 24)
University of Ottawa Heart Institute (March 26)
St. Vincent Hospital - 5N (March 26)
Jardin Royal Garden (March 27)
Sisters of Charity (March 28)
Landmark Court Retirement Home (March 30)
Hillel Lodge (March 30)
Group Home A-11533) (March 31)
Manotick Place Retirement (March 31)
Queensway Carleton Hospital (April 2)
Forest Hill (April 3)
Garry J. Armstrong (April 3)
Group Home (April 3)
Roberston House (April 3)
William E. Hay Centre (April 3)
Park Place (April 4)
Viva Barrhaven Retirement Community (April 5) NEW
Heritage Manor Retirement Home (April 6) 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.