Ottawa sees 20 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday

OTTAWA -

Ottawa Public Health says 20 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19.

To date, OPH has recorded 30,555 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began. No new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday. The city's pandemic death toll stands at 602 residents.

Active cases continue to decline, as does the seven-day average of new cases, which is down to 26.1 from 35.1 last week. One month ago, the seven-day average was 58.7.

Hospitalizations remain low, with a slight increase in active cases in hospital but a slight decrease in ICU admissions. 

Across the province, Public Health Ontario reported its lowest daily case count since August, with 304 new infections. Four more Ontarians have died because of COVID-19 and 537 existing cases are now considered resolved.

Sixteen more cases were reported in health units around Ottawa, including six in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, two in Hastings Prince Edward, three in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, and five in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark.

Public Health Ontario reported 19 new cases in Ottawa on Wednesday. Figures from OPH often differ from Public Health Ontario's because the two health agencies pull data for their respective daily snapshot reports at different times of the day. The province's total for Ottawa is 30,541 cases.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa is now in Step 3 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen plan.

Ottawa Public Health data:

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Oct. 12 to Oct. 18): 19.4 (up from 19.1)   
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Oct. 13 to Oct. 19): 1.7 per cent (down from 1.8 per cent Oct. 11-17)
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 0.96

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.

UNVACCINATED CASES

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 220 of the 304 newly reported cases of COVID-19 in Ontario are in people who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, while 84 cases are in fully vaccinated people. 

There are 258 people in Ontario hospitalized with COVID-19, 31 of whom are fully vaccinated. The remainder are not or their status is unknown. Twenty-three of the 159 people with COVID-19 in ICUs across the province are fully immunized.

Ottawa Public Health data suggest that unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people are.

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health updates vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

As of Wednesday:

• Ottawa residents with 1 dose (12+): 827,731 (+951)
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (12+): 789,301 (+1,770)
• Share of population 12 and older with at least one dose: 90 per cent
• Share of population 12 and older fully vaccinated: 86 per cent (+1%)
• Total doses received in Ottawa: 1,372,642 

*Total doses received does not include doses shipped to pharmacies and primary care clinics, but statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses includes anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

There are 223 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, down from 237 active cases on Tuesday.

Ottawa Public Health reported 34 newly resolved cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 29,730.

The number of active cases is the number of total laboratory-confirmed 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
Infogram

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are eight people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Wednesday, up from seven on Tuesday.

There are three people in the ICU, down from four.

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 0
• 10-19: 0
• 20-29: 0
• 30-39: 0
• 40-49: 2 (1 in ICU)
• 50-59: 1
• 60-69: 1 (1 in ICU)
• 70-79: 4 (1 in ICU)
• 80-89: 0
• 90+: 0

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

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

• 0-9 years old: Four new cases (2,814 total cases)
• 10-19 years-old: Six new cases (4,051 total cases)
• 20-29 years-old: One new case (6,853 total cases)
• 30-39 years-old: Six new cases (4,696 total cases)
• 40-49 years-old: Two new cases (4,017 total cases)
• 50-59 years-old: One new case (3,507 total cases)
• 60-69-years-old: Zero new cases (2,068 total cases)
• 70-79 years-old: Zero new cases (1,140 total cases)
• 80-89 years-old: Zero new cases (874 total cases)
• 90+ years old: Zero new cases (532 total cases)
• Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data:

• Total Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases: 6,849
• Total Beta (B.1.351) cases: 513
• Total Gamma (P.1) cases: 55
• Total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases: 767
• Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 11,083
• Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 108

*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.

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 1,919 swabs were taken at local assessment centres on Tuesday and labs performed 3,435 tests.

The average turnaround from the time a swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 23 hours.

CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit: Six new cases
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: Two new cases
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: Three new cases
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: Five new cases
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Zero new cases

COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions and community outbreaks in Ottawa.

Community outbreaks:

• Workplace – Corporate/Office: One outbreak
• Workplace – Restaurant: One outbreak

Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks: (five elementary schools, two secondary school and one child care centres)

• Dr. F. J. McDonald Catholic elementary school (Oct. 6)
• Chapman Mills elementary school (Oct. 12) 
• Pinecrest Queensway Headstart Child Care (Oct. 12) 
• Fielding Drive Public School (Oct. 13) 
• École élémentaire publique Charlotte Lemieux (Oct. 14) 
• D. Roy Kennedy Public School (Oct. 15) 
• École élémentaire publique Mamawi - Ottawa Ouest (Oct. 17) 
• St. Monica Elementary School (Oct. 17) NEW

Healthcare and congregate settings experiencing outbreaks:

• No outbreaks