Ottawa Public Health reports highest COVID-19 case count in eight months

'Active conversation' about new restrictions Ottawa's Medical Health Officer talks about what may be coming to slow down the Omicron variant.

Local health officials are reporting 199 new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa on Thursday, the most in nearly eight months.

The last time was near the height of the fourth wave of COVID-19, when Ottawa Public Health reported 208 new cases on April 23.

The health unit is also reporting one new death from the virus, bringing the COVID-19 death toll in Ottawa to 619.

The number of active cases in Ottawa is up to 973, the most since late May. Hospitalizations, however, remain low. There are five people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ottawa, and none in the ICU.

Ontario-wide, officials are reporting more than 2,400 new cases for the first time in seven months as the positivity rate soars to seven per cent.

The rising cases come as officials warn the Omicron variant will imminently take over as the dominant strain in Ontario.

One more case of the Omicron variant has been confirmed in Ottawa, bringing the total to 13.

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

There are 328 people in hospital with COVID-19 across Ontario. Of those, 256 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Seventy-two are fully vaccinated.

There are 165 people in ICUs, 141 of whom 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 Wednesday:

*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 973 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, up from 845 on Wednesday.

It's the highest number of active cases in Ottawa since May 26, when there were 991.

Ottawa Public Health reported 70 newly resolved cases of COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 31,811.

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 five people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Thursday, down from seven on Wednesday.

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 Task Force says 3,364 swabs were processed at assessment centres in Ottawa on Tuesday. A total of 4,161 tests were performed.

The average turnaround from the time a 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. 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: