Ottawa COVID-19 hospitalizations reach five-week high

Worrying signs of a COVID case rise Science advisory member wonders whether capacity limits need to be re-visited as cases rise. CTV's Stefan Keyes reports.

OTTAWA — Ottawa's COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached their highest level in five weeks as experts warn the pandemic is heading the wrong direction in Ontario.

There are 19 Ottawa residents in hospital with COVID-19, Ottawa Public Health reported Tuesday, the most since Oct. 2. Two of those people are in the ICU.

Thirty-four more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19. That follows 30 on Monday and 46 on Sunday.

The number of active cases is up to 293, the most since Oct. 24.

Provincewide, Ontario health officials are reporting 441 new cases and three more deaths. Ontario’s rolling seven-day average sits at 492, up from 371 at this time last week.

The positivity rate is also up, now sitting at 3.1 per cent.

The head of Ontario's Science Advisory Table says the rising case counts are an “early sign” that we are on the wrong trajectory and people must reassess their own behaviour to help bring things under control.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

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.

UNVACCINATED CASES

Of the 244 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ontario, 175 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

There are 134 COVID-19 patients in Ontario ICUs. Of those, 114 are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, and 20 are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health updates vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

As of Monday:

*Total doses received does not include doses shipped to pharmacies and primary care clinics, but statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses includes anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

There are 293 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, up from 284 active cases on Monday. This is the most active cases Ottawa has seen since Oct. 24.

Ottawa Public Health reported 25 more newly resolved cases of COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 30,257.

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 19 people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Tuesday, up from 15 on Monday. There are two patients with COVID-19 in Ottawa ICUs, up from zero on Monday.

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

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.

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 1,086 swabs processed at assessment centres in Ottawa on Sunday.

A total of 2,151 lab tests were performed in Ottawa on Sunday.

The average turnaround time from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 26 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.

Community outbreaks:

Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks: (Nine elementary schools, one secondary school, one child care centre)

Healthcare and congregate settings experiencing outbreaks: