COVID-19 wastewater signal shows signs of possible viral peak

Ottawa Public Health is reporting seven more residents of the city are in hospital because of COVID-19.

The health unit's daily snapshot report shows 59 Ottawans in hospital because of COVID-19, with eight in the ICU. This is an increase over Tuesday's figures of 52 hospitalizations and six ICU admissions. The number of hospitalization is down overall from Monday but ICU admissions are up.

No new deaths were reported on Wednesday.

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 are reporting higher numbers of patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19. These figures include patients who are in the hospital for reasons other than COVID-19 but who have tested positive. The Montfort hospital says it has 43 COVID-19 positive patients, the Queensway Carleton Hospital says it has 82, and CHEO is reporting nine patients with COVID-19.The Ottawa Hospital says it has 148 COVID-19 positive patients, up from 126 on Monday.

OPH reported 585 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents who are eligible to receive COVID-19 tests. Due to the limited scope of testing, officials caution that this figure is likely an underrepresentation of the amount of COVID-19 in the community. 

The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring project has been showing a steady rise in the viral signal since the start of the year, but there are signs the viral signal may have peaked and is levelling off. The current data shows a slight decline since Jan. 5.

COVID-19 wastewater viral signal, Ottawa. (613covid.ca/wastewater)

To date, OPH has recorded 51,313 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa and 637 COVID-19 related deaths. Another 1,126 previously confirmed cases are now considered resolved, dropping the number of known active cases to just over 7,100.

Ontario health officials said 3,448 people are now in hospital testing positive for COVID-19 across the province, up from 3,220. Fifty-four per cent of those patients are in hospital primarily because of COVID-19. The number of people in intensive is now 505, an increase over the 477 on Tuesday, with 83 per cent of those patients in hospital because of COVID-19.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Jan. 4 to Jan. 10): 422.3 (down from 437.2) 
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Jan. 5 to Jan. 11): 32.0 per cent (down from 32.7 per cent)
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 0.87
• Known active cases: 7,110 (-541)

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. 

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are 59 people in Ottawa hospitals on Wednesday who are being treated for an active COVID-19 infection, up from 52 on Tuesday.

There are eight people in the ICU, up from six.

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 3
• 10-19: 1 (1 in ICU)
• 20-29: 1
• 30-39: 1
• 40-49: 7 (3 in ICU)
• 50-59: 2
• 60-69: 8 (1 in ICU)
• 70-79: 15 (2 in ICU)
• 80-89: 16 (1 in ICU) 
• 90+: 5

(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+): 899,678 (+1,259)
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 829,433 (+1,733)
• Ottawa residents with 3 doses (12+): 437,634 (+18,410)
• 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 (+1) 

*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: 25 in hospital, 5 in ICU
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 33 in hospital, 9 in ICU
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 22 in hospital, 11 in ICU
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 18 in hospital, 5 in ICU
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 7 in hospital, 2 in ICU
• Outaouais: 86 in hospital, 3 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:

• 20 long-term care homes
• 37 retirement homes
• 25 hospital units
• 42 other congregate settings (group homes, supported independent living, etc.)
• 1 elementary school
• 1 daycare

OPH paused reporting on community outbreaks in workplaces, etc. as of Jan. 2, 2022.

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