OTTAWA -- For the third day in a row, Ottawa Public Health is reporting a double-digit increase in the number of new, laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the capital, with a majority of the new cases in people under the age of 30.

In Monday's dashboard update, 20 new cases were confirmed in Ottawa. This comes after 19 cases were confirmed on Saturday and 16 were confirmed on Sunday.

 

On Saturday, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches told CTV News people partying indoors or going to work while sick were responsible for many of the cases reported Saturday, and more than half were in people in their 20s.

Ottawa Public Health tells CTV News, of the 20 cases in Monday's report, five were in people in their 20s, seven were in people 10 to 19 years old, and four were in children nine years old and younger. Of the 55 reported since Saturday, 23 were in people in their 20s.

In a statement on OPH's website, Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brent Moloughney reiterated Dr. Etches' words, saying most of the new cases reported Monday are linked to so-called high-risk activities.

"Today alone, Ottawa Public Health is reporting 20 new cases, the highest one-day jump since May. Of those 20 cases, a small number are linked to community testing while the rest are due to activities people have engaged in during Stage 2," he said. "What is striking about this data is that these cases are not linked to reopenings, but rather higher risk activities: indoor gatherings where people are not practicing physical distancing, gatherings with people outside their social circle or in some cases people going to work when they have symptoms."

Monday's update brings the cumulative total of lab-confirmed cases in Ottawa to 2,244 since March 11.

The death toll stands at 263. No one in Ottawa has died of COVID-19 for 24 straight days.

Five people are in hospital with COVID-19 complications. One is in the ICU.

Active cases

The number of known, active cases (i.e. total cases minus resolved cases minus deaths) has been steadily rising in the past 10 days. On July 10, there were 40 confirmed active cases. As of Monday's update, there are 118.

That is the highest number of active cases since May 30, when there were 122 active cases.

Ottawa Public Health estimates the number of infections in the city is five to 30 times higher than the number of laboratory-confirmed cases.

Ottawa Public Health did not report any new resolved cases on Monday. The total number of cases considered resolved stands at 1,863, which is 83 per cent of all cases to date.

Institutional outbreaks

There are six active institutional outbreaks in Ottawa. No new outbreaks were added on Monday. 

The following locations are experiencing outbreaks:

  • Carlingview Manor
  • Extendicare Medex
  • Madonna Care Community
  • Jardin Royal Garden
  • Redwoods
  • Barin Croft Residential Services, Mathieu Way

Rising counts worrisome, but residents hopeful for Stage 3

Speaking on the street to CTV's Katie Griffin, some local Ottawa say the changing figures are troubling.

"Frightening, obviously, because everything is changing," said Leah Rasumussen. "The most recent thing we did was to have a get-together on someone’s back porch but even then we were still distancing and everyone had their own food and drink so still pretty safe but obviously a lot of people don’t have that same kind of space to go to so it gets a bit harder."

Spencer Colby said he's worried by the rising number of cases in young people.

"It’s kind of worrisome because they socialize a lot and don’t really keep to that bubble," he said. "We try to avoid the bars because we know it’s a hotspot, it’s an issue."

Other residents said they understand that case counts may rise as things open up and are hopeful for Stage 3.

"I think people are more aware of how to protect themselves so I hope we will be fine," said Chioma Anierobi.

"I’m a little bit surprised, so hopeful, so happy we’re opening up and we’ve hit stage three I think that’s totally awesome, and love that we’re so much better than the U.S.," Stephen Maine said. "I’ve seen a bunch of patios and I haven’t seen that many people misbehaving so, in general, I think people are doing what they can or doing their best."