COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ottawa reach new pandemic high on Monday

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OTTAWA — Ottawa Public Health reported 203 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19, but the number of people in hospital with the disease has jumped significantly.

Across Ontario, officials reported 4,447 new cases of COVID-19, along with 19 new deaths and 3,153 newly resolved cases. Ontario officials reported 233 new cases in Ottawa. Figures from OPH often differ from those provided by the province because of different data collection times for the respective daily reports.

The newly reported cases bring Ottawa's pandemic total to 22,038 laboratory-confirmed cases.

No new deaths were announced on Monday. Ottawa's death toll from COVID-19 stands at 482 residents.

Monday is the fourth straight day of new case counts below 300, suggesting case levels may slowly be declining. Six of the seven days in the week of April 10 to 16 had daily counts above 300, including two instances of a record-high 370 cases.

The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring project has shown a decline in concentration of the virus since a peak in early April, but there was a slight uptick in its most recent reporting.

There has also been a recorded decline in the estimated reproduction number for the virus. The figure--also known as "R" or "R(t)"--shows how many secondary cases are caused by a single infected individual over his or her infectious period. Anything over 1 shows the virus is spreading. Since peaking at 1.34 on April 10 and 11, OPH is now reporting it has declined to 1.03. Ottawa's weekly incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 has also fallen for a second straight day.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the city's hospitals continues to climb, hitting a new pandemic high of 131 on Monday, with 34 people in intensive care. It often takes several days after someone tests positive before they require hospital treatment. Health officials have also said many patients require several days of treatment before being released from the hospital.

The city's testing positivity rate also remains high, and is approaching 11 per cent.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa entered Ontario's COVID-19 stay-at-home order at 12:01 a.m. April 8.

Ottawa Public Health data:

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.

VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of April 19:

The city received 56,240 doses of COVID-19 vaccines last week.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

Ottawa Public Health data*:

*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.

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

The number of Ottawa residents in local hospitals with COVID-19 remains above 100. OPH reported 131 COVID-19 patients in hospital on Monday, up from 110 on Sunday.

Thirty-four people are in the intensive care unit.

Of the people in hospital, one is under 10 years of age, one is 10 to 19 years old, two are in their 20s (one is in the ICU), 13 are in their 30s, 13 are in their 40s (three are in the ICU), 22 are in their 50s (eight are in the ICU), 29 are in their 60s (10 are in the ICU), 35 are in their 70s (10 are in the ICU), 12 are in their 80s (two are in the ICU), and three are 90 or older.

These data are based on figures from Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard, which refer to residents of Ottawa and does not include patient transfers from other regions.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa remains above 3,000.

Public health reports 3,412 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, up from 3,339 active cases on Sunday.

130 more Ottawa residents have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health reports 18,144 resolved cases of COVID-19 in the capital.

The number of active cases is the number of total 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.

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 1,721 swabs were taken at local assessment centres on April 18. Labs performed 3,176 tests on Sunday.

The average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 17 hours.

The province reported that 42,873 tests were completed across Ontario on Sunday.

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 27 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

Three new outbreaks were declared Sunday at two schools and a daycare. OPH also declared an end to outbreaks at nine schools and one daycare.

There are 15 active community outbreaks

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, two children or staff or household member cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a 14-day period where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the childcare establishment is considered an outbreak in a childcare establishment.

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).

Two staff or patient cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a specified hospital unit within a 14-day period where both cases could have reasonably acquired their infection in hospital is considered an outbreak in a public hospital.