Three new COVID-19 deaths in Ottawa on Wednesday

Three more Ottawa residents have died from COVID-19 as the province reports its second-highest death toll ever from the virus.

Ontario is reporting 92 more deaths from the virus. Of those, 89 were confirmed over the past 21 days while the remaining three occurred more than a month ago.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said that six of the deaths occurred on Tuesday, 23 occurred on Monday and 27 occurred on Sunday.

Hospitalizations in Ottawa remain in triple-digits, with Ottawa Public Health recording one more on Wednesday for a total of 104. The number of people in the ICU is unchanged at 17.

The city's death toll from COVID-19 now sits at 678. Fifty-one of those have been in 2022 during the Omicron wave.

The last time the province reported a death tally this high on a single day was on Jan. 15, 2021, but that included a large number of historical deaths that hadn’t been included in previous days.

Ottawa Public Health 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. Local hospitals have reported higher numbers of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Here is a breakdown of the hospitalizations in Ottawa hospitals as of Tuesday:

• Ottawa Hospital – 176 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19
• Montfort Hospital – 46 patients admitted who have COVID-19
• Queensway Carleton Hospital – 56 patients admitted to QCH have tested positive for COVID-19
• CHEO – Eight patients in hospital with COVID-19

Ottawa Public Health also reported 325 new cases, but that number is an underestimate due to limited PCR testing criteria.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Jan. 17 to 23): 221.9 (down from 223.8)    
• Positivity rate in Ottawa (Jan. 19 to 25): 20.2 per cent
• Reproduction number (Seven day average): 0.90
• Known active cases: 3,062 (-175)

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 104 people in Ottawa hospitals on Wednesday with an active COVID-19 infection, up from 103 on Tuesday.

There are 17 people in the ICU, unchanged from Tuesday.

Age categories of people in hospital:

• 0-9: 1
• 10-19: 1
• 20-29: 0
• 30-39: 4 (1 in ICU)
• 40-49: 5 (1 in ICU)
• 50-59: 10 (3 in ICU)
• 60-69: 17 (6 in ICU)
• 70-79: 32 (5 in ICU)
• 80-89: 26 (1 in ICU) 
• 90+: 8

(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+): 906,760 (+848)
• Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 843,840 (+2,606)
• Ottawa residents with 3 doses (12+): 501,118 (+4,956)
• Share of population five and older with at least one dose: 91 per cent
• Share of population five and older fully vaccinated: 85 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: 33 in hospital, 9 in ICU
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 15 in hospital, 4 in ICU
• Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 16 in hospital, 6 in ICU
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 20 in hospital, 6 in ICU
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 22 in hospital, 0 in ICU (Last updated on Friday)
• Outaouais (Gatineau and western Quebec): 75 in hospital, 8 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:

• 23 long-term care homes
• 44 retirement homes
• 39 hospital units
• 46 other congregate settings (group homes, supported independent living, etc.)

OPH paused reporting on community outbreaks in workplaces, etc. as of Jan. 2.

A full list of locations with active outbreaks is available on OPH's COVID-19 dashboard.