Most of the Ottawa pandemic trends are increasing further, others remain high. A major COVID-19 testing site will not close Wednesday as planned. 15,000 vaccine doses for Ottawans last week is an increase from previous weeks. There’s a new patient limit at a Kingston urgent care clinic. Hospitals are growing in the Belleville area.
The region is in the seventh wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus. It’s the first wave of early summer. In its most recent weekly update, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) said the city’s positivity rate was very high and sewage levels of the coronavirus were high. OPH specifically urged more than 250,000 residents with just two doses of the vaccine to get a third, saying the protection afforded by just two doses is no longer enough. WATCHES | What’s driving the rise in COVID-19 cases in Ottawa
What’s driving the rise in COVID-19 cases in Ottawa
Doug Manuel, a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, says the increase in social gatherings and the lack of long-term immunity is leading to an increase in infections from the more contagious BA.5 subtype of the coronavirus.
The latest Ottawa update
Wastewater The average level of coronavirus in Ottawa’s wastewater has generally been increasing since early June. It is higher than the tops of all waves since the first, when this data was not shared, except for the highs reached in April 2022. That average is about four times higher than it was a month ago and about 23 times higher than a year ago. Researchers who measured and shared the amount of the novel coronavirus in Ottawa’s sewage reported new pandemic records for daily readings and the weekly average in April 2022. The most recent data is from July 14. (613covid.ca) Hospitals Thirty-two Ottawa residents have been admitted to a city hospital with COVID-19, according to OPH’s latest update. This number increases throughout the month. Three of those patients are in intensive care, up from five in Friday’s update. A year ago, there was one such hospital patient, and two years ago, there were six. The above hospitalization figures do not include all patients. For example, they leave out patients admitted for other reasons who later test positive for COVID-19, those admitted for prolonged complications of COVID-19, and those transferred from other health facilities. Including these categories, 168 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of the latest figures. That number has more than doubled in the last week. Ottawa Public Health has a COVID-19 hospital count that shows all hospital patients who have tested positive for COVID, including those admitted for other reasons and who live in other areas. There were 82 on July 10 and now 168 a week later. (Ottawa Public Health) Tests, outbreaks and outbreaks Testing strategies changed with the Omicron variant, meaning many cases of COVID-19 are not reflected in the current numbers. Public health officials now monitor and report cases only in healthcare settings. Ottawa’s test positivity rate is around 17 percent. This is generally stable at a very high level for the last week. It was about 11 percent a month ago. There are currently 63 active cases of COVID in Ottawa. This number has more than quadrupled since the beginning of July. Thirty-four, or just over half, are in long-term care and nursing homes. OPH reported 336 additional cases and three more deaths in the past four days. The victims were all aged 80 and over. Ottawa has had 832 residents die from COVID-19. While active cases are a flawed measure when testing is so limited, the city has returned above 1,000 known active cases for the first time since May. The surge in the spread and demand for testing led Ottawa’s testing team to cancel plans to close the COVID testing facility at Brewer Arena on Wednesday. Vaccines According to the most recent weekly update, 93 per cent of Ottawa residents aged five and over had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 89 per cent had at least two. Sixty-four per cent of Ottawans aged 12 and over had at least three doses and 14 per cent had four. OPH reported an increase of about 15,000 doses of vaccine given to Ottawa residents in the last week. About 11,000 doses were administered in the previous two weeks combined, It came as fourth installment eligibility was extended to all adults in Ontario. More than 12,000 of those installments last week were fourth installments.
Throughout the region
Sewage levels are stable or falling in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties and stable in eastern Kingston. Data from other regions are either at least one week old or not publicly available. Western Quebec reports 60 hospitalizations due to COVID. That number was around the 60s this month. Eastern Ontario communities outside of Ottawa are reporting a total of 28 hospitalizations with COVID-19, including three patients in intensive care. Sixteen of those patients are at the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) east of Ottawa. Due to pandemic staffing shortages and demand, Kingston Health Sciences Center is limiting the number of people who can access the urgent care center at Hotel Dieu Hospital starting Wednesday to focus resources on the general hospital’s emergency room. This regional total does not include Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPE), which has a different counting method. His nine hospitalizations, with three in the ICU, are a jump back from levels last seen in early June. Across eastern Ontario, between 81 and 92 per cent of eligible residents have received at least two doses of the vaccine and between 59 and 71 per cent of adults have had at least three.
