Ottawa Public Health reports drop in active COVID-19 hospitalizations, but hospitals still seeing many positive patients

Ottawa Public Health is reporting a drop in the number of Ottawa residents in hospital because of COVID-19.

The health unit's public dashboard now shows 52 people in hospital for an active case, down from 64 on Monday. OPH clarified that the drop is due to factors that include cases resolving or  patients being discharged from hospital. The health unit also told CTV News Ottawa that one case that was entered incorrectly was removed.

The number of people in ICU rose slightly from five to six.

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.

However, local hospitals are reporting higher numbers of patients who are positive for COVID-19. On Monday, internal figures from the Ottawa Hospital showed 126 patients who were COVID-19 positive, including 13 in ICU. The Queensway Carleton Hospital said Tuesday it had 75 patients with COVID-19, four of whom were in intensive care. A spokesperson for the Montfort Hospital told CTV News Ottawa the hospital had 44 patients who had tested positive for COVID-19.

OPH reported 419 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 Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce said Monday that only 309 swabs were processed at local testing centres on Sunday. Labs performed 1,987 tests and the average turnaround from a swab to the result was 19 hours. In the week before testing was restricted by the province, the testing taskforce was reporting upwards of 3,000 swabs per day. The taskforce reported 846 swabs were processed on Monday.

The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring project has been showing a steady rise in the viral signal since the start of the year. The data is presented up to Jan. 6

To date, OPH has recorded 50,728 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city. A total of 637 residents have died. No COVID-related deaths were reported on Tuesday.

The number of known active cases fell below 8,000 on Tuesday, driven partly by the resolution of 985 previously reported cases. Active cases, however, are also based on lab-confirmed positive tests, which are presently limited to select groups of people.

The province reported more than 3,200 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across Ontario on Tuesday and also broke down the admittances for COVID-19 treatment and for positive tests in people seeking other treatments.

The province reported that 54 per cent of the 3,220 hospitalizations are people who are in hospital primarily due to COVID-19, while the remaining 46 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have now tested positive for the virus.

Eighty-three per cent of the 477 patients in ICUs are there primarily due to COVID-19.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said Tuesday that the province is seeing a drop in the average length of hospital stays due to the Omicron variant.

"Fortunately the hospitalization times are generally shorter for Omicron than for Delta. It’s still usually seven days as compared to 20 days with the Delta variant," she said.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Jan. 3 to Jan. 9): 437.2 (down from 437.5) 
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Jan. 3 to Jan. 9): 32.7 per cent 
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 0.90
• Known active cases: 7,651 (-566)

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 52 people in Ottawa hospitals on Tuesday who are being treated for an active COVID-19 infection, twelve fewer than on Monday.

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

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 2
• 10-19: 1
• 20-29: 1
• 30-39: 1
• 40-49: 6 (2 in ICU)
• 50-59: 1 
• 60-69: 7 (1 in ICU)
• 70-79: 12 (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+): 898,419 (+1,672)
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 827,700 (+1,693)
• Ottawa residents with 3 doses (12+): 419,224 (+55,306)
• Share of population five and older with at least one dose: 91 per cent 
• Share of population five and older fully vaccinated: 83 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: 45 in hospital, 3 in ICU
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 29 in hospital, 8 in ICU
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 22 in hospital, 11 in ICU
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 18 in hospital, 6 in ICU
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 7 in hospital, 2 in ICU
• Outaouais: 77 in hospital, 2 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:

• 18 long-term care homes
• 35 retirement homes
• 21 hospital units
• 38 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.