Six more COVID-19 patients in Ottawa hospitals Wednesday

Ottawa Public Health is reporting six more people in the hospital because of COVID-19 and no new deaths on Wednesday.

The new figures bring Ottawa's total number of hospitalizations for treatment of an active COVID-19 infection to 32, with four people in intensive care. There have been 625 confirmed COVID-19 related deaths in Ottawa since the pandemic began.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Ottawa Public Health explained their reporting with regard to hospitalization figures.

"Following Ministry of Health direction, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) 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," the statement said. 

"For example, if someone is admitted for a perforated bowel and tests positive for COVID on screening, we do not count these cases. This is at the direction of the Ministry of Health and is because we want to ensure that a hospitalization intervention that we report reflects one that is for the treatment of COVID and not some other condition where the person just happens to test positive. There may be differences between hospital census counts and the counts of hospitalizations in those with active COVID-19 as reported by Ottawa Public Health."

Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches says OPH is following the curve of hospitalizations as an indicator of the level of COVID-19 in the city because COVID-19 testing is limited to only certain populations.

"If the amount of COVID is continuing to grow, we'd see the hospitalizations growing, and then when it falls, we could have some confidence that the amount of COVID in our community is decreasing," Etches said Tuesday.

With that caveat in mind, OPH is reporting 515 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, slightly higher than the 446 reported on Tuesday. Ottawa's seven-day average is 866.4, up from 652.9 one week ago and up from 60.9 four weeks ago.

Across Ontario, there are 2,081 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19, with 288 of those patients in intensive care. Public Health Ontario reported 11,582 new confirmed cases, based on available testing, and 14 new COVID-19 related deaths. 

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Dec 28 to Jan. 3): 624.5 (down from 628.6)
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Dec. 29 to Jan. 4): 35.5 per cent (down from 36.3 per cent)
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 1.02
• Known active cases: 8,015 (-409)

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 32 people in Ottawa hospitals on Wednesday who are being treated for an active COVID-19 infection, six more than on Tuesday.

There are four people in the ICU, unchanged from Tuesday.

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 0
• 10-19: 0
• 20-29: 2
• 30-39: 1 (1 in ICU)
• 40-49: 3 (1 in ICU)
• 50-59: 1
• 60-69: 6 (1 in ICU)
• 70-79: 5
• 80-89: 14 (1 in ICU)
• 90+: 0

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

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of Wednesday:

• Ottawa residents with 1 dose (5+): 895,588 (+603)
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 824,575 (+762)
• Ottawa residents with 3 doses (12+): 347,671 (+29,965)
• Share of population five and older with at least one dose: 90 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: 12 in hospital, 3 in ICU
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 16 in hospital, 3 in ICU
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 18 in hospital, 10 in ICU
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 14 in hospital, 5 in ICU
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 8 in hospital, 1 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:

• 12 long-term care homes
• 15 retirement homes
• 13 hospital units
• 9 other congregate settings (group homes, supported independent living, etc.)
• 4 elementary schools
• 3 secondary schools
• 18 daycares and/or camps

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.