Ottawa sees lowest daily case count in nearly a month

OTTAWA — Ottawa Public Health is reporting its lowest daily COVID-19 case count in nearly a month.

The public health unit said 48 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19, a figure not seen since Dec. 29, 2020.

No new deaths were reported for a second day in a row, leaving the city's pandemic death toll at 419 residents.

Public Health Ontario reported 1,958 new cases of COVID-19 reported across the province. Ontario also reported 43 new deaths and 2,448 new resolved cases on Monday. The province added 51 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa.

Figures from the province and from OPH often differ due to different data collection times, but each respective authority's total cases are similar, with Ontario reporting 12,979 cases versus Ottawa Public Health's 12,977.

The lower case count on Monday also adds to a trend of improving weekly monitoring signals, including a reduction in the weekly rate of new cases per capita. The testing positivity rate is also down and the estimated reproduction number is below 1, though it has been trending upwards in recent days.

In order to move Ottawa from the "red" zone under Ontario's colour-coded framework, Ottawa would need to see a weeky incidence rate per 100,000 of less than 40. That figure peaked at 98 earlier this month and has since fallen below 60. The positivity rate needs to drop below 2.5 per cent to move out of "red" status.

The number of known active cases has also fallen below 900 for the first time since Jan. 7

OTTAWA'S COVID-19 KEY STATISTICS

Ottawa Public Health moved Ottawa into its red zone in early January.

A provincial stay-at-home order has been in effect since Jan. 14, 2021.

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

As of Jan. 25, 2021

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of people with known active cases has fallen to 869, the lowest figure since Jan. 7.

OPH says the total number of resolved cases in the city has risen to 11,689, up 118 from Sunday's total.

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 three fewer people in Ottawa hospitals compared to Sunday, but two more people have been moved into intensive care.

OPH reported 34 COVID-19 related hospitalizations and 8 ICU admissions on Monday.

Of the people in hospital, seven are in their 50s (one is in the ICU), eight are in their 60s (six are in the ICU), one is in their 70s, 11 are in their 80s (one is in the ICU), and seven are 90 or older.

COVID-19 TESTING

Ontario health officials say 35,968 COVID-19 tests were performed provincewide on Sunday and 14,991 tests remain under investigation.

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 537 swabs were taken at assessment centres on Sunday and local labs performed 1,922 COVID-19 tests. There are 652 tests still in progress as of Jan. 25.

The testing positivity rate for the week of Jan. 18 to 24 was 3.0 per cent, down from 3.2 per cent for the week of Jan. 15 to 21.

The average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 24 hours.

COVID-19 CASES BY AGE CATEGORY

The ages of three people with COVID-19 are unknown.

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 41 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

Two outbreaks at local daycares have ended and one new outbreak was decalred at a Children's Village home daycare.

There are seven active community outbreaks, all linked to workplaces, including an office, a construction site, a restaurant, a warehouse, a manufacturing or industrial facility, a health workplace and a services workplace.

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).