Ottawa sees lowest daily COVID-19 case count in nine months

OTTAWA -

Ottawa Public Health says 10 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19, the lowest daily case count reported in the capital since Sept. 1, 2020.

No new deaths were reported for the third day in a row, Tuesday.

Across the province, health officials confirmed 296 new cases of the virus, the lowest daily report since Sept. 17, 2020. Another 645 cases across Ontario are now considered resolved. Public Health Ontario says 15 more Ontarians have died from COVID-19. Public Health Ontario added 11 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 agencies pull data for their daily reports at different times of the day.

Only one other case of COVID-19 was reported elsewhere in the region. A single case was added to the total for the Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit on Tuesday.

Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard says there have been 27,459 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began and 585 residents have died due to COVID-19.

The weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 population contines to fall and the number of known active cases is at its lowest since late November.

However, the the estimated reproduction number, which determines how quickly the virus is spreading, has been on the upswing in recent days. The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring project is also showing a recent rise in viral signal in the city's sewage. The wastewater signal often starts to rise several days before case counts start to go up.

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's "The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll", Tyson Graber, co-lead investigator in the wastewater monitoring project said they are unsure what might be causing the recent spike.

"We're back up to levels which we saw in the January wave and we're trying to confirm this, so we're re-running samples to make sure this is real. Hopefully it will go back down again," he said.

Graber said there isn't a lot of data to suggest the delta variant has moved in to the Ottawa region in great numbers, but it's a possibility his team is monitoring.

"We haven't had any strong signals that it's hear in any great amount but here are hints at it, so we're following that as well," he said. "We do know this has arrived in southern Ontario and it's really just a matter of time before it comes to Ottawa."

Graber noted that testing numbers have been on the decline in Ottawa, which may lead to lower case counts.

He added that there might be "bumps like this" in the wastewater monitoring over the next few weeks.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Step One of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen plan began at 12:01 a.m. June 11.

Ottawa Public Health data:

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (June 7 to June 13):  17.5 (down from 18.0)
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (June 7 to June 13): 3.3 per cent (down from 3.9 per cent June 4-10)
• Reproduction number (seven day average): 0.97

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 June 14:

• Ottawa residents with 1 dose (12+): 651,525 
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (12+): 113,067 
• Total doses received in Ottawa: 663,610 

As of Monday, 62 per cent of the total population of Ottawa has had at least one dose and 11 per cent of Ottawa residents have received two doses.

*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.

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health reported 13 people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses. 

There are five people in intensive care, up from four.

Hospitalizations (and ICU admissions) by age category:

• 0-9: 0
• 10-19: 1 (1 in ICU)
• 20-29: 2 (1 in ICU)
• 30-39: 2 (1 in ICU)
• 40-49: 1 (1 in ICU)
• 50-59: 1
• 60-69: 0
• 70-79: 3 (1 in ICU)
• 80-89: 2
• 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 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa remains below 400.

There are 307 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, down from 348 active cases Monday.

OPH reported that 51 more people recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is now 26,567.

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

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data*:

• Total B.1.1.7 (UK/Alpha variant) cases: 6,510 (+50) 
• Total B.1.351 (South Africa/Beta variant) cases: 323 
• Total P.1 (Brazil/Gamma variant) cases: 29
• Total B.1.617: 3
• Total B.1.617.2 (Delta variant): 4
• Other variant: 1
• Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 7,501 (+50)
• Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 81 

*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: Four new cases (2,251 total cases)
• 10-19 years-old: Two new cases (3,523 total cases)
• 20-29 years-old: Zero new cases (6,162 total cases)
• 30-39 years-old: One new case (4,193 total cases)
• 40-49 years-old: Two new cases (3,616 total cases)
• 50-59 years-old: Zero new cases (3,298 total cases)
• 60-69-years-old: One new case (1,947 total cases)
• 70-79 years-old: Zero new cases (1,089 total cases)
• 80-89 years-old: Zero new cases (857 total cases)
• 90+ years old: Zero new cases (520 total cases)
• Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)  

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

Ottawa's COVID-19 Testing Taskforce said 799 swabs were processed at local assesment centres in Ottawa on Monday and labs in the region performed 2,312 tests.

The average turnaround from the time a swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 19 hours.

There were 17,162 COVID-19 tests processed across Ontario in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province dropped from 2.8 per cent on Monday to 2.3 per cent on Tuesday.

CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit: Zero new cases
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: Zero new cases
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: Zero new cases
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: One new case
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Zero new cases
• Outaouais (Gatineau and western Quebec): 12 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.

Active community outbreaks are:

• Workplace - Distribution: One outbreak

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

1. Dolphin Tale Child Care (May 30)
2. La Coccinelle - Reine Des Bois (May 31) NEW
3. St. Laurent Academy Daycare (June 2)

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

1. Centre D'Accueil Champlain - facility-wide (May 19) 
2. Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (May 22) 
3. Garry J Armstrong long-term care home - 5th floor and 6th floor (May 24) 
4. Maison Accueil Sagesse - Unit Notre Dame (May 25)
5. Maycourt Hospice (June 1)

 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.