124 new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa as Ontario positivity rate rises

New measures expected in effort to contain Omicron Ontario's top doctor suggests more measures to come, as Omicron spreads quickly. CTV's Katie Griffin reports.

Ottawa Public Health is reporting 124 new cases of COVID-19 as the province’s positivity rate continues to climb.

The 120 new cases follows the 129 reported by Ottawa Public Health on Monday, a seven-month high.

The number of active cases in Ottawa has surpassed 800 for the first time since May 30. However, hospitalizations (six) and ICU admission (zero) from COVID-19 remain unchanged.

Provincewide, officials are reporting 1,429 new infections and a positivity rate of 6.6 per cent, the highest level recorded since May 18.

The Ontario Science Table says the number of cases of the new Omicron variant is doubling every three days and already accounts for nearly one-third of new cases in the province.

In Ottawa, the number of Omicron cases sits at eight on Tuesday, unchanged from Monday.

Ottawa Public Health is reporting six new outbreaks in schools and child care settings.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

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.

UNVACCINATED CASES

Of the 385 people in Ontario hospitalized with COVID-19, 300 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

There are 162 people in ICUs with COVID-19. Of those, 131 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health has updated its vaccination numbers to include children between ages five and 11, who are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The health unit releases vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

As of Monday:

*Statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses include anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

There are 802 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, up from 733 on Monday.

It's the most the city has seen in nearly seven months. The last time there were more than 800 active cases in Ottawa was May 30.

Ottawa Public Health reported 55 newly resolved cases of COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 31,668.

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 six people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Monday, unchanged from Sunday.

There are no patients in Ottawa's ICUs.

Age categories of people in hospital:

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

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

*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 1,918 swabs were processed at assessment centres in Ottawa on Sunday.

A total of 3,815 lab tests were performed in Ottawa.

The average turnaround time from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 37 hours.

CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION

COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health reports COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions and community outbreaks in Ottawa. There are two ongoing outbreaks in health care institutions and 35 in child care and school settings.

Community outbreaks:

Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks: 

Healthcare and congregate settings experiencing outbreaks: