Ottawa sees 52 new COVID-19 cases, 2 new deaths Wednesday

OTTAWA — Ottawa Public Health says 52 more people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19 and two more people have died.

The figure come as 1,316 new cases were reported across Ontario on Wednesday. The province also reported 16 new deaths and 1,212 newly resolved cases on Wednesday.

No new variants of concern were confirmed in Ottawa on Wednesday. To date, the city has seen eight confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant and two confirmed cases of the B.1.351 variant, according to the province.

Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard reports a total of 15,259 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ottawa since the first case was confirmed a year ago Thursday. The two new deaths reported Wednesday bring the city's death toll from COVID-19 to 446 residents.

On Wednesday, Ottawa Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches said Ottawa will remain in the "Orange-Restrict" level for another week, including St. Patrick's Day.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa is in "Orange-Restrict" status under Ontario's COVID-19 framework.

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.

The Orange-Restrict category of Ontario's COVID-19 framework includes a weekly rate of cases per 100,000 between 25 to 39.9, a percent positivity of 1.3 to 2.4 per cent, and a reproduction number of approximately 1 to 1.1.

VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of March 10:

The city received a shipment of 9,360 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.

*OPH says staff were able to extract additional doses out of several vials, which were given to residents. In a statement on its dashboard, OPH said, "Vaccine inventory is based on an expected 5 dose per vial supply. Occasionally, an additional dose (6th dose) is successfully extracted and administered to clients."

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

There are currently 25 people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 complications, including four in the intensive care unit.

Ottawa Public Health is currently migrating its dashboard over to the provincial system, so data on the ages of the people currently in the hospital is unavailable.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of people with known active cases remains above 500. There are 530 active cases of COVID-19, up from 512 cases on Tuesday.

Thirty-two more people have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health reports 14,283 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 TESTING

The Ontario government says 54,149 COVID-19 tests were performed provincewide on Tuesday.

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce said Wednesday that 2,386 swabs were processed at assessment centres in Ottawa on March 9 and 5,383 lab tests were performed in Ottawa on that date.

The average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at an Ottawa testing site to the result is 25 hours.

COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

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

There are three active community outbreaks: one is linked to a construction workplace, one is linked to a services workplace, and one is at a multi-unit dwelling.

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).

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.