OTTAWA -- Ottawa Public Health says 186 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 and one more person has died.

This is the lowest figure in a week. Last Tuesday, Ottawa Public Health reported 194 new cases of COVID-19 in the city. Daily case counts are typically lower on Tuesdays because of lower testing volumes over the weekend.

Across Ontario, officials reported 3,469 new cases of COVID-19, 22 new deaths linked to the disease and 3,369 newly resolved cases. The province reported 197 new cases in Ottawa on Tuesday. Figures from the province often differ from those put forward by Ottawa Public Health because of different data collection times for the respective daily reports from the two health agencies.

To date, Ottawa has seen 22,224 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 483 residents of Ottawa have died.

Some weekly monitoring trends are showing early signs of improvement. The weekly incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days has dropped for the third day in a row and the estimated reproduction number for the virus--which shows how many secondary cases are caused by a single infected individual over his or her infectious period--is now below 1 for the first time since late February. Anything above 1 suggests the virus is spreading faster and each person who contracts COVID-19 is infecting more than one contact. When it is below 1, it suggests the spread is slowing.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa entered Ontario's COVID-19 stay-at-home order at 12:01 a.m. April 8.

Ottawa Public Health data:

  • COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (April 12-18): 200.9 (down from 206.2)
  • Positivity rate in Ottawa: 10.9 per cent
  • Reproduction number: 0.99 (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 19:

  • Dose 1 administered: 249,291
  • Dose 2 administered: 28,648 
  • Total doses received: 279,390

The city received 56,240 doses of COVID-19 vaccines the week of April 11. (n.b. this figure is included in the number of total doses received)

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data*:

  • Total B.1.1.7 (UK variant) cases: 25
  • Total B.1.351 (South Africa variant) cases: 6
  • Total P.1 (Brazil variant) cases: 0
  • Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 3,527
  • Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 11

*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

The number of Ottawa residents in local hospitals with COVID-19 remains above 100. OPH reported 136 COVID-19 patients in hospital on Tuesday, up from 131 on Monday

Thirty-four people are in the intensive care unit.

Of the people in hospital, one is under 10 years of age, one is 10 to 19 years old, two are in their 20s (one is in the ICU), 13 are in their 30s, 13 are in their 40s (three are in the ICU), 24 are in their 50s (eight are in the ICU), 29 are in their 60s (10 are in the ICU), 37 are in their 70s (10 are in the ICU), 14 are in their 80s (two are in the ICU), and two are 90 or older.

These data are based on figures from Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard, which refer to residents of Ottawa and does not include patient transfers from other regions.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa remains above 3,000, but it also fell on Tuesday due to a higher number of newly resolved cases.

Public health reports 3,360 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, down from 3,412 active cases on Monday.

237 more Ottawa residents have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health reports 18,381 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 BY AGE CATEGORY

  • 0-9 years old: 13 new cases (1,742 total cases)
  • 10-19 years-old: 24 new cases (2,782 total cases)
  • 20-29 years-old: 37 new cases (5,027 total cases)
  • 30-39 years-old: 34 new cases (3,319 total cases)
  • 40-49 years-old: 25 new cases (2,910 total cases)
  • 50-59 years-old: 21 new cases (2,674 total cases)
  • 60-69-years-old: 22 new cases (1,593 total cases)
  • 70-79 years-old: 6 new cases (899 total cases)
  • 80-89 years-old: 3 new cases (779 total cases)
  • 90+ years old: 3 new cases (494 total cases)
  • Unknown: 2 cases reassigned to other categories (5 cases total)

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce said 2,331 swabs were taken at local assessment centres on April 19. Labs performed 3,456 tests on Monday.

The average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 15 hours.

The province reported that 40,596 tests were completed across Ontario on Monday.

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

  • Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 9 new cases
  • Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 4 new cases
  • Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 14 new cases  
  • Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 8 new cases
  • Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 1 new case
  • Outaouais (Gatineau and western Quebec): 111 new cases

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

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

There are 19 active community outbreaks

  • Workplace - Construction: 3 outbreaks
  • Workplace - Restaurant: 3 outbreaks
  • Workplace - Corporate/Office: 2 outbreaks
  • Workplace - Manufacturing: 2 outbreaks
  • Workplace - Warehouse: 2 outbreaks
  • Workplace - Health: 1 outbreak
  • Workplace - Distribution: 1 outbreak
  • Workplace - Services: 1 outbreak
  • Workplace - Transportation: 1 outbreak
  • Multi-unit Dwelling: 1 outbreak
  • Social Event - Private: 1 outbreak
  • Sports & Recreation: 1 outbreak

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

  1. Sawmill Creek Elementary School (April 6)
  2. Dr. Ernest Couture Child Care Centre (April 8)
  3. École élémentaire catholique George-Étienne Cartier (April 9)
  4. Woodroffe High School Infant/Toddler/Preschool Program (April 9) 
  5. Edelweiss Private Academy (April 10)
  6. Global Childcare Services (April 10) 
  7. Elgin Street Public School (April 12)
  8. Pleasant Park Public School – child care (April 14) 
  9. Abraar Elementary School (April 15) 
  10. Glen Ogilvie Public School (April 16) 
  11. Gloucester High School (April 16) 
  12. École élémentaire catholique Reine-des-Bois (April 17) 
  13. Alta Vista Public School (April 19) NEW
  14. Wee Watch Kanata Home Child Care (April 19) NEW

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

  1. St. Vincent Hospital (March 15)
  2. St. Vincent Hospital - 4N (March 26)
  3. Group Home A-11533 (March 31)
  4. Queensway Carleton Hospital (April 2)
  5. William E. Hay Centre (April 3)
  6. Viva Barrhaven Retirement Community (April 5)
  7. Chartwell Heritage Retirement Home (April 6) 
  8. General Campus Warehouse (April 6)
  9. Supported Independent Living home (April 9)
  10. Group Home A-1282 (April 10)
  11. Extendicare Medex Long-term Care Home (April 11)
  12. Group Home A-13005 (April 12)  
  13. Shelter A-13220 (April 13) 
  14. Group Home A-13275 (April 14) 
  15. Group Home A-13348 (April 14)
  16. Centre d'Accueil Champlain (April 17) NEW
  17. Group Home A-13708 (April 17) 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.