Ottawa sets new COVID-19 case record for second straight day
The city of Ottawa is seeing a record number of COVID-19 cases for a second straight day.
Ottawa Public Health reported 466 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 387 cases set Wednesday.
Of the 466 new cases in Ottawa on Thursday, 125 involve residents between 20 and 29, while 95 cases are in residents aged 30 to 39.
Since the first case of COVID-19 in March 2020, there have been 35,786 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 620 deaths.
The rise in cases comes as Ottawa's COVID-19 Testing Taskforce reports the testing capacity is "under strain." Officials expect the approach to COVID-19 testing to change in the coming days to focus on vulnerable populations and essential workers. Walk-in testing has been paused to keep testing capacity available for essential workers.
Ontario logged more than 5,700 new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. There are 5,790 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. Public Health Ontario reported 1,527 cases in Toronto, 491 in Peel Region and 470 in York Region.
OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Dec 15 to Dec. 21): 212.6 (up from 192.7)
- Positivity rate in Ottawa (Dec. 15 to Dec. 21): 10.5 per cent (up from 8.7 per cent)
- Reproduction number (Seven day average): 1.46
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.
VACCINATED VS. UNVACCINATED CASE NUMBERS
- New cases among unvaccinated residents: 971 (34.86 per 100,000)
- New cases among partially vaccinated residents: 222 (35.52 per 100,000)
- New cases among fully vaccinated residents: 4,392 (38.79 per 100,000)
- Number of cases among residents with an unknown vaccination status: 204 (27.8 cases per 100,000)
- Number of unvaccinated/partially individuals in Ontario hospitals: 304
- Number of fully vaccinated individuals in Ontario hospitals: 136
- Number of unvaccinated/partially vaccinated people in Ontario ICUs: 137
- Number of fully vaccinated people in Ontario ICUs: 32
(n.b. The rate per 100,000 population is used to compare the total populations of unvaccinated individuals, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated individuals against each other, as their respective populations are different. There are more fully vaccinated people in Ontario than there are unvaccinated people in Ontario, so a calculation dividing new cases by the respective populations and then multiplying that figure by 100,000 is used as a comparative measure. Rates per 100,000 are published daily by the Ontario government.)
COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health releases vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
As of Wednesday:
- Ottawa residents with 1 dose (5+): 887,547
- Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 818,028
- Ottawa residents with 3 doses (18+): 193,805
- Share or population five and older with at least one dose: 89 per cent
- Share of population five and older fully vaccinated: 82 per cent
*Statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses include anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.
Note: The number of residents with one dose or two doses dropped slightly on Wednesday because of a data cleanup by Ottawa Public Health.
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
There are 2,783 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday, up from 2,435 cases on Wednesday and 2,147 active cases on Tuesday.
Ottawa Public Health reported 118 newly resolved cases of COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 32,383.
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.
HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA
There are seven people in Ottawa-area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Thursday, up from six on Wednesday.
There have been no patients in Ottawa's ICUs since Dec. 10.
Age categories of people in hospital:
- 0-9: 1
- 10-19: 0
- 20-29: 1
- 30-39: 0
- 40-49: 0
- 50-59: 0
- 60-69: 0
- 70-79: 1
- 80-89: 4
- 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: 22 new cases (3,585 total cases)
- 10-19 years-old: 71 new cases (4,902 total cases)
- 20-29 years-old: 125 new cases (7,844 total cases)
- 30-39 years-old: 95 new cases (5,564 total cases)
- 40-49 years-old: 58 new cases (4,717 total cases)
- 50-59 years-old: 48 new cases (4,067 total cases)
- 60-69-years-old: 26 new cases (2,337 total cases)
- 70-79 years-old: 16 new cases (1,274 total cases)
- 80-89 years-old: Three new cases (935 total cases)
- 90+ years old: Two new cases (556 total cases)
- Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)
VARIANTS OF CONCERN
- Total Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases: 6,850
- Total Beta (B.1.351) cases: 513
- Total Gamma (P.1) cases: 55
- Total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases: 1,655
- Total Omicron (B.1.1.529) cases: 104
- Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 13,768
- Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 124
*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 3,678 swabs were processed at assessment centres on Tuesday and labs performed 5,468 tests.
The average turnaround from the time a swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 29 hours.
CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 95 new cases
- Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 89 new cases
- Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 146 new cases
- Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 75 new cases
- Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 31 new cases
- Outaouais: 249 new cases
COVID-19 OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health reports COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions and community outbreaks in Ottawa.
Community outbreaks:
- Multi-unit dwelling: One outbreak
- Sports & Recreation– Recreation: Two outbreaks (one new)
- Workplace – Construction: Two outbreaks
- Workplace – Corporate/Office: One outbreak
- Workplace – Restaurant: Three outbreaks (new new)
- Workplace – Retail: Three outbreaks
Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks:
- École élémentaire catholique St. François d'Assise (Nov. 24)
- École élémentaire catholique Elisabeth-Bruyère (Dec. 1)
- Mifo Notre-Dame-Des-Champs – Service Garde Agrees Centre ( Dec. 2)
- Featherston Drive Public School (Dec. 6)
- École élémentaire catholique Saint-Jean-Paul II (Dec. 7)
- Osgoode Township High School (Dec. 7)
- Grandir Ensemble Services de Garde Agréés en Centre (Dec. 9)
- Imagination Station Licenced Child Care (Dec. 10)
- Jockvale Elementary School (Dec. 10)
- École secondaire publique Pierre-de-Blois (Dec. 11)
- Holy Spirit Elementary School (Dec. 11)
- Pleasant Park Public School (Dec. 12)
- St. Gabriel Elementary School (Dec. 12)
- École élémentaire catholique d'enseignment personnalisé La Source (Dec. 13)
- Glebe Collegiate Institute (Dec. 13)
- École élémentaire catholique Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Dec. 14)
- Georges Vanier Catholic Elementary School (Dec. 14)
- Knoxdale Public School (Dec. 14)
- Sacred Heart High School (Dec. 14)
- St. Gregory Elementary School (Dec. 14) NEW
- École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité (Dec. 15)
- Ottawa Forest & Nature Licenced Childcare (Dec. 15)
- St. Peter High School (Dec. 15)
- St. John XXIII Elementary School (Dec. 15)
- Torah Academy of Ottawa Elementary School (Dec. 16)
- Garderie Providence Services de Garde Agréés en Centre (Dec. 16)
- Merivale High School (Dec. 16)
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier Seconday School (Dec. 16)
- École élémentaire catholique Alain Fortin (Dec. 17)
- École élémentaire catholique d'enseignment personnalisé Édouard Bond (Dec. 17)
- École élémentaire catholique Montfort (Dec. 17)
- St. Patrick Elementary School (Dec. 17)
- Mothercraft Licenced Home Childcare (Dec. 18)
- École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Geneviève (Dec. 20)
- Steve MacLean Public School (Dec. 21) NEW
- École élémentaire publiques Gisele-Lalonde (Dec. 21) NEW
- École élémentaire catholique Pierre-Savard (Dec. 21) NEW
- École élémentaire catholique De La Decouverte (Dec. 21) NEW
- École élémentaire catholique Terre-des-Jeunes (Dec. 21) NEW
Healthcare and congregate settings experiencing outbreaks:
- St. Patrick's Home - Floors 3, 4, 5 (Nov. 17)
- Group Home (Dec. 6)
- Group Home (Dec. 7)
- Extendicare Starwood - Unit 2 (Dec. 19)
- The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus - Unit A3 (Dec. 19)
- The Glebe Centre (Dec. 21) NEW
- Peter D. Clark long-term care home (Dec. 21) NEW
- Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (Dec. 21) NEW
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