Sixth straight day of more than 100 COVID-19 cases in Ottawa

OTTAWA — Ottawa Public Health says 112 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa, marking the sixth straight day of triple-digit case counts in the nation's capital.

Ottawa has never before seen more than five straight days of newly reported case counts above 100.

The COVID-19 dashboard now shows a total of 17,177 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began.

Three more people in the city have died. The pandemic's death toll now stands at 463 residents of Ottawa. Among the new deaths today is an individual in their 40s. This is the second death of somone age 40 to 49 in Ottawa since the pandemic began and the third death in someone under 50.

There were 2,336 new cases of COVID-19 reported across Ontario on Tuesday. The province also noted 14 new deaths and 1,477 newly resolved cases provincewide. The province reported a higher figure of 144 cases in Ottawa. Figures from OPH and the province often differ because the respective health agencies gather data for their daily reports at different times of day.

Hospitalizations are also on the rise, and the number of people with known active cases of COVID-19 increased again Tuesday.

The incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is now at its highest level since early January. Ottawa's incidence rate and testing positivity rate are double the minimum threshold for the "Red-Control" level under Ontario's COVID-19 framework.

OTTAWA'S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS

Ottawa is in "Red-Control" 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 red-control threshold is a weekly incidence rate of 40 or more cases per 100,000 people and a positivity rate of 2.5 per cent or higher and a reproduction number of 1.2 or more.

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.

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.

"All three of these VOCs carry the same mutation on the spike protein, known as “N501Y”. This genetic marker can be used to screen COVID-19 positive samples to see if they should undergo further testing for the VOC," Ottawa Public Health says.

"When interpreting the new VOC tables in OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard, the number of cases associated to N501Y means that these are people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and that a mutation of the virus was detected (“screened positive”). These samples require additional genomic sequencing, described above, before a VOC can be confirmed and identified in more detail as B.1.1.7, B1351 or P1 variants."

VACCINES IN OTTAWA

As of March 29:

OPH says the city received a shipment of 2,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine on March 26.

*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 39 people in Ottawa-area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses, up from 36 on Monday.

Thirteen people are in the intensive care unit, up from 12.

Of the people in hospital, three are in their 30s (one is in the ICU), three are in their 40s (one is in the ICU), seven are in their 50s (four are in the ICU), eight are in their 60s (four are in the ICU), seven are in their 70s (four are in the ICU), 10 are in their 80s and one is 90 or older.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

There are 1,185 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, up from 1,133 active cases on Monday.

Fifty-seven more Ottawa residents have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. Ottawa Public ealth reports 15,529 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 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA

The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says 3,048 swabs were processed at local assessment centres on Monday and labs performed 3,333 tests.

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

Across Ontario, 36,071 COVID-19 tests were completed on Monday.

COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 34 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

Outbreaks have ended at the Sarsfield Colonial Home, the Osgoode Care Centre, and the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre.

Two new outbreaks were declared in the community on Tuesday.

There are nine active community outbreaks: three are in restaurants, two are in services workplaces, one is linked to a private event, one is linked to construction, one is linked to a recreational workplace, and one is linked to a retail 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, two children or staff or household member cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a 14-day period where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the childcare establishment is considered an outbreak in a childcare establishment.

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.