COVID-19 response cost Ottawa Public Health $60 million in 2022
Ottawa Public Health spent $60 million responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, as the health unit faced the Omicron wave, a new wave of COVID-19 at the start of the school year and administered tens of thousands of vaccines.
A report for Monday's Board of Health meeting shows the health unit posted a $307,000 deficit in 2022.
The report, prepared by medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches, says Ottawa Public Health spent $60 million on the general response to the COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine program and school-focused nursing initiative.
"OPH started 2022 with the peak of Omicron and the biggest response it ever mounted to COVID-19, working with the City’s Emergency Operations Centre and community partners to increase uptake and coverage of COVID-19 booster vaccination," Etches writes.
Ottawa Public Health administered over 392,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses through its various clinics last year, and also supported 1,151 COVID-19 outbreaks in high-risk settings.
Ottawa saw several waves of COVID-19 infections in 2022, and there were more deaths from the virus in 2022 than in 2021. The 2022 Ottawa Public Health Annual report says the health unit responded to an "unprecedented and unanticipated COVID-19 resurgence" in the third quarter of 2022, which included 265 outbreaks in high-risk settings.
A total of 382 Ottawa residents died due to COVID-19 in 2022, compared to 230 deaths linked to novel coronavirus in Ottawa in 2021.
The COVID-19 response was fully funded by the Ministry of Health. The ministry provided $89 million in one-time funding for Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 response in 2021, and the health unit spent a total of $170 million on COVID-19.
Correction
Ottawa Public Health spent $170 million on the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.