COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ottawa at highest level since first wave

Red Cross to help local LTC homes CTV's Jeremie Charron on the federal confirmation and the current situation around the region.

OTTAWA — The number of people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 complications has risen dramatically in Ottawa Public Health's latest daily report.

There are now 48 people in hospital with COVID-19, up from 38 reported on Monday. There are also now 10 people in ICU, up from nine.

This is the highest number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ottawa since mid-May.

OPH reported 116 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, a slight decline from the 119 reported on Thanksgiving Monday.

In the seven days between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13 inclusive, Ottawa has seen an average of 115.5 new cases of COVID-19 per day. From Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 inclusive, Ottawa saw an average of 92.5 cases per day.

The province did not report figures on Thanksgiving Monday. In Tuesday's update, both Monday and Tuesday's figures were included.

According to Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard, there have been 5,662 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began.

No new deaths were reported on Tuesday. Ottawa's death toll from COVID-19 stands at 297 residents.

TESTING

Ontario completed 31,233 tests in the past 24 hours. Some testing facilities were closed over the Thanksgiving long weekend, which may have contributed to a lower number of tests; however, Ontario's testing backlog has been cut nearly in half since their last update on Sunday. The provincial government says there are 24,420 tests still under investigation, down from 45,837 on Sunday.

The Ottawa COVID-19 testing task force provided an update on testing figures for Oct. 12, including the backlog of tests remaining in Ottawa.

The task force said 1,436 swabs were taken at testing facilities in Ottawa on Oct. 12 and local labs processed 2,128 tests. A backlog of 324 tests remains as of Oct. 12.

Ottawa Public Health's current publicly available testing data has figures up to Oct. 10.

Oct. 4: 1,785 tests. 3.1 per cent positive.

Oct. 5: 2,453 tests. 1.8 per cent positive.

Oct. 6: 1,601 tests. 2.2 per cent positive.

Oct. 7: 1,499 tests. 3.7 per cent positive.

Oct. 8: 1,686 tests. 2.9 per cent positive.

Oct. 9: 1,584 tests. 2.1 per cent positive.

Oct. 10: 1,455 tests. 2.5 per cent positive.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa held steady on Tuesday, as the number of recoveries nearly matched the number of new confirmed cases.

OPH reports 839 active cases of COVID-19, up one from Monday's report.

An additional 115 people have recovered from COVID-19. OPH says 4,526 of all cases in Ottawa are now considered resolved.

The number of active cases is the number of total laboratory-confirmed infections minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. A case is considered resolved 14 days after known symptom onset or positive test result.

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

Here is a breakdown of all known COVID-19 cases in Ottawa by age category:

The ages of four cases are still unknown.

CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 68 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

New outbreaks were added at an Andrew Fleck Children's Services location, Centre parascholaire Alpha, and a Bairn Croft Residential Services location.

Outbreaks at Chapel Hill retirement home, St. Louis Residence, an Aladin Childcare Services location and a WeeWatch location in Orléans have ended.

There are three active community outbreaks at unidentified workplaces.

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

A single laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home or shelter triggers an outbreak response, according to Ottawa Public Health. In childcare settings, a single confirmed, symptomatic case in a staff member, home daycare provider, or child triggers an outbreak.

Under provincial guidelines, a COVID-19 outbreak in a school is defined as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before or after school care).