COVID-19 hospitalizations up Tuesday in Ottawa

Ottawa Public Health is reporting seven more hospitalizations because of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but ICU numbers remain steady and there were no new deaths to report.

The latest reporting from OPH shows 72 people in the hospital for an active COVID-19 infection, up from 65 on Monday. There are eight people in the ICU.

Ottawa Public Health reports only hospitalizations among Ottawa residents with a hospital intervention for active COVID-19. To count as a hospitalization intervention, the hospitalization must involve treatment for an active COVID-19 infection or have a hospital stay extended because of active COVID-19. This also applies to people who may acquire COVID-19 while in hospital. Local hospitals have reported higher numbers of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Local hospitals say they have many more patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, but may not be in the hospital specifically for treatment of the disease. The Queensway Carleton Hospital reported 66 patients with COVID-19 on Tuesday and the Montfort Hospital said it had 48, both decreases from the day before. CHEO reported 14 COVID-19 patients Tuesday, up from 11. The Ottawa Hospital said it had 166 patients with COVID-19 on Monday.

A total of 649 residents of Ottawa have died due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

OPH reported 325 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the city's pandemic total to 53,880. Officials say, however, that with testing restricted to certain groups in Ontario, the daily case counts are an underrepresentation of the true amount of COVID-19 in the community.

The Ottawa wastewater monitoring project has been showing a decline in the viral signal in the last week. 

Ontario health officials reported 4,183 people in hospitals across the province with COVID-19 on Tuesday, including 580 in ICU.

Ontario premier Doug Ford told Newstalk 580 CFRA Tuesday morning that some "positive news" would be coming later this week with regard to COVID-19 restrictions. 

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Jan. 10 to 16): 291.2 (down from 300.7)    
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Jan. 10 to 16): 21.5 per cent (down from 26.4 per cent)
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 0.87 (up from 0.85)
• Known active cases: 4,587 (-343)

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 number of known active cases is the number of confirmed cases (based on testing) minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. 

Ottawa's wastewater monitoring has shown a decline in the COVID-19 viral signal since Jan. 9, 2022. (613covid.ca/wastewater)

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are 72 people in Ottawa hospitals on Tuesday who are being treated for an active COVID-19 infection, up from 65 on Monday.

There are eight people in the ICU, unchanged from Monday.

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 2
• 10-19: 2 (1 in ICU)
• 20-29: 1
• 30-39: 0
• 40-49: 2 
• 50-59: 7
• 60-69: 14 (3 in ICU)
• 70-79: 21 (3 in ICU)
• 80-89: 17 (1 in ICU) 
• 90+: 6

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

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of Monday:

• Ottawa residents with 1 dose (5+): 903,145 
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 836,222 
• Ottawa residents with 3 doses (12+): 474,666 
• Share of population five and older with at least one dose: 91 per cent
• Share of population five and older fully vaccinated: 84 per cent

*Statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses include anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.

AROUND THE REGION

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 65 in hospital, 8 in ICU
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 39 in hospital, 8 in ICU
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 17 in hospital, 8 in ICU
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 21 in hospital, 5 in ICU
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 14 in hospital, 0 in ICU
• Outaouais: 145 in hospital, 5 in ICU

These figures are based on the latest data from each respective health unit at the time of publishing. 

COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is currently reporting active outbreaks in the following locations:

• 22 long-term care homes
• 42 retirement homes
• 36 hospital units
• 55 other congregate settings (group homes, supported independent living, etc.)
• 1 elementary school

OPH paused reporting on community outbreaks in workplaces, etc. as of Jan. 2.

A full list of locations with active outbreaks is available on OPH's COVID-19 dashboard.