COVID-19 wastewater signal on the rise in Ottawa

Mask mandate ends, COVID indicators on the rise CTV's Colton Praill reports some businesses are still asking customers to wear a mask even though it's not mandatory.

The COVID-19 viral signal in Ottawa’s wastewater is on the rise after hitting a 2022 low earlier this month.

According to the Ottawa wastewater monitoring project, the 7-day mean viral signal has been increasing since hitting a low point on March 10. This also comes as Ontario lifts its mask mandate for the province.

An increase in the viral signal typically precedes an increase in cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19. At present, hospital levels in Ottawa are steady.

Ottawa Public Health is reporting eight people in local hospitals because of an active case of COVID-19, unchanged from Monday, with one in intensive care, up from zero.

One new COVID-19 death was reported in the city Tuesday, bringing the city’s pandemic death toll to 759 residents.

OPH figures only reflect residents who are being treated specifically because of an active case of COVID-19. Local hospitals report their own figures on patients who have tested positive.

Here is a look at how many COVID-19 patients are in each hospital:

The Queensway Carleton Hospital also says there is an active COVID-19 outbreak on Fairfield level 3 as of Monday.

OPH reported 43 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city on Tuesday and a drop in the number of known active cases. Daily case counts are considered an underrepresentation of the true amount of COVID-19 in the general public because of provincial restrictions on who is eligible for PCR testing.

Ontario health officials reported 10 deaths Tuesday that were caused by COVID-19 and two deaths where COVID-19 contributed but was not the underlying cause. Five deaths with missing information were removed. There are 639 people being treated in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19, including 179 in intensive care.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

These figures are updated every Monday.

*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

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:

OPH no longer reports outbreaks in schools and childcare settings nor community outbreaks, such as those linked to local businesses, religious institutions, or sports and recreation activities.

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