OTTAWA -- Ottawa's daily COVID-19 case count on Tuesday is the lowest it has been in 10 weeks.

Ottawa Public Health is reporting 50 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the lowest daily figure since March 9, when 40 cases were reported.

Two new deaths were also announced on Tuesday along with 107 newly resolved cases.

Ottawa has so far seen 26,161 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 538 resident deaths since the pandemic began.

Province-wide, Public Health Ontario added 1,616 new cases, the lowest figure reported in Ontario since March 24 when 1,571 new cases were logged. The province also reported 2,502 newly resolved cases and said 17 more people have died from COVID-19. The province added 54 new cases to its total for Ottawa on Tuesday. Figures from OPH often differ from those provided by Public Health Ontario because the two health authorities pull data for their respective daily reports at different times of day.

On Tuesday, Canada surpassed 25,000 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Case counts are typically lower on Tuesdays than other days of the week, usually because of lower testing figures coming out of the weekend. However, the number of new cases each Tuesday has also been dropping. Ontario reported 2,791 new cases on May 4 and 2,073 new cases on May 11. The same trend holds true locally, with 94 new cases on May 4 and 67 on May 11.

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 (May 10 to 16): 63.0 (down from 65.0) 
  • Positivity rate in Ottawa (May 10 to 16): 5.3 per cent
  • Reproduction number (seven day average): 0.88

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.

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

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

As of May 17:

  • Ottawa residents with 1 dose: 438,718 
  • Ottawa residents with 2 doses: 30,360 
  • Total doses received in Ottawa*: 483,190

As of Monday, 51 per cent of Ottawa residents 18 and older had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

*Total doses received does not include AstraZeneca doses shipped to pharmacies and primary care clinics.

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health is reporting 58 people are in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Tuesday, up from from 55 on Monday.

There are 18 people in intensive care units, down from 19.

Hospitalizations (and ICU admissions) by age category:

  • 0-9: 0
  • 10-19: 1
  • 20-29: 1
  • 30-39: 2 (1 in ICU)
  • 40-49: 10 (3 in ICU)
  • 50-59: 15 (6 in ICU)
  • 60-69: 3 (2 in ICU)
  • 70-79: 17 (5 in ICU)
  • 80-89: 8 (1 in ICU)
  • 90+: 1

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

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of people with known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa continues to decline and is below 1,100.

There are 1,007 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, down from 1,066 active cases on Monday.

107 more people have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is now 24,616.

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.

 

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data*:

  •  Total B.1.1.7 (UK variant) cases: 4,930 (+93)
  •  Total B.1.351 (South Africa variant) cases: 175 (+1)
  •  Total P.1 (Brazil variant) cases: 14 
  •  Total B.1.617 (India variant): 3
  •  Other variant: 1
  •  Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 5,838 (+107)
  •  Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 46

*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 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

  •  0-9 years old: 1 new case (2,106 total cases)
  •  10-19 years-old: 8 new cases (3,341 total cases)
  •  20-29 years-old: 14 new cases (5,891 total cases)
  •  30-39 years-old: 7 new cases (3,971 total cases)
  •  40-49 years-old: 7 new cases (3,441 total cases)
  •  50-59 years-old: 7 new cases (3,159 total cases)
  •  60-69-years-old: 1 new case (1,863 total cases)
  •  70-79 years-old: 2 new cases (1,045 total cases)
  •  80-89 years-old: 3 new cases (833 total cases)
  •  90+ years old: 0 new cases (508 total cases)
  •  Unknown: 0 new cases (3 cases total)  

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 1,474 swabs were taken at local assessment centres on Monday and labs performed 2,083 tests. 

The average turnaround from the time a swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 18 hours.

22,915 COVID-19 tests were completed across Ontario on Monday, about 5,200 fewer tests compared to last Monday.

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

  • Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 9 new cases
  • Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 13 new cases   
  • Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health: 6 new cases
  • Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit:  0 new cases
  • Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 1 new case
  • Outaouais (Gatineau and west Quebec): 26 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 is one active community outbreak:

  • Workplace – Services: One outbreak

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

  1. Andrew Fleck Children's Services (Arpil 28) 
  2. Centre Educatif Les Debrouillards (April 29) 
  3. St. Luke's Childcare Centre (May 1) 
  4. Barrhaven Childcare Centre (May 5) 
  5. Little Alcorn Early Learning (May 8)
  6. Vanier Cooperative Childcare (May 12) 

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

  1. Shelter A-14541 (April 25) 
  2. Shelter A-14574 (April 25) 
  3. Montfort Hospital - 4CR - (April 26)
  4. Chartwell New Edinburgh Square Retirement Home (April 27)
  5. Montfort Hospital - 3C - (April 27)
  6. Montfort Hospital - single unit: 4A - (April 27)
  7. Montfort Hospital - 5C (May 3)
  8. Shelter A-15657 (May 3)
  9. Group Home A-15690 (May 4)  
  10. Queensway Carleton Hospital – C3 (May 5) 
  11. Villa Marconi (May 10)
  12. The Ottawa Hospital Riverside Campus - Dialysis Unit (May 10) 
  13. Rooming House (A-16432) (May 11) 
  14. The Ottawa Hospital General Campus - Single Unit 5E (May 15) 

 As of April 7, two cases of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home with an with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the facility is considered an outbreak in a long-term care home or retirement home. One laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a staff member or resident of other institutions such as shelters, group homes, is considered an outbreak. 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 or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in patients and/or staff in a hospital setting with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the hospital is considered an outbreak in a public hospital.