Ottawa sees lowest daily COVID-19 case count in three weeks

OTTAWA — Ottawa Public Health is reporting 56 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19, the lowest daily figure in three weeks.

However, two more residents of Ottawa have died of COVID-19.

It comes amid a drop of cases provincewide, with fewer than 2,000 new cases reported across Ontario, due in part to a technical issue in Toronto.

"Due to a technical issue, Toronto Public Health could not report an undetermined number of new cases today, resulting in an underestimation of the daily counts," Public Health Ontario said.

Figures from OPH and the province often differ due to different data collection times. The province reported 41 new cases in the city.

According to Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard, there have been 12,427 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 407 deaths.

There are early signs of some improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the city, with the number of known active cases falling for the third day in a row, and some weekly trends also on the decline. The number of cases in the past seven days per 100,000 residents has been slowly falling, and the estimated reproduction rate in the last week is below 1, suggesting viral spread is slowing down.

The COVID-19 wastewater monitoring is also showing signs of a decline after a peak in early January.

However, there are still more than 30 COVID-19 outbreaks in congregate care settings such as long-term care homes and retirement homes and new outbreaks are still being regularly declared.

OTTAWA'S COVID-19 KEY STATISTICS

A province-wide lockdown went into effect on Dec. 26, 2020. 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. 18, 2021:

As of Jan. 19, 2021:

Sources tell CTV News Ottawa that the city received roughly 4,000 new doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday. An official update is expected Wednesday.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of people with known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa is below 1,200 for the first time in a week.

OPH reported 1,137 active cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, down from 1,232, driven largely by a jump in resolved cases.

The number of resolved cases rose by 149 on Tuesday to 10,883.

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 39 people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 complications and eight people are in the ICU.

Of the people in hospital, one is between the ages of 10 and 19 (this person is in the ICU), one is in their 30s (this person is in the ICU), six are in their 50s (one is in the ICU), eight are in their 60s (two are in the ICU), seven are in their 70s (three are in the ICU), nine are in their 80s, and seven are 90 or older.

TESTING

Ontario health officials say 34,531 COVID-19 tests were performed on Monday across Ontario and 36,750 tests remain under investigation.

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 1,717 swabs were taken at assessment centres on Monday and local labs performed 2,640 tests. There are 2,368 COVID-19 tests in progress as of Jan. 19.

The positivity rate for the week of Jan. 11 to 17 was 4.0%

The Average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result was 23 hours.

CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

Here is a breakdown of all known COVID-19 cases in Ottawa by age category:

COVID-19 CASES AROUND THE REGION

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 38 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

Five new outbreaks were declared on Tuesday at an Andrew Fleck Children's Services daycare, the Montfort Long-term Care Centre home, the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre, the Peter D. Clark long-term care home, and a supported independent living home.

The outbreak at the Duke of Devonshire retirement home has ended.

There are six active community outbreaks. An outbreak at a multi-unit dwelling has ended.

Three are linked to health workplaces, one is linked to an office workplace, one is linked to a distribution centre, and one is linked to 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).