Key COVID-19 numbers in the Ottawa area today
Ottawa's COVID hospitalizations and wastewater rise, a woman in her 20s dies
- Ottawa COVID hospitalizations and wastewater each rise.
- A woman in her 20s with COVID dies in Ottawa.
- Renfrew County reports its fifth COVID death in eight days.
Today's Ottawa update
There are currently 35 Ottawa residents in local hospitals for treatment of active COVID-19, according to Ottawa Public Health (OPH), three more than in Wednesday's update
Three people with COVID-19 are in an ICU, one fewer than the last update. Those patients range in age from their 40s to 80s.
These hospital numbers do not include people who came to the hospital for other reasons who then test positive for COVID-19 or patient transfers from other health units.
Levels of coronavirus in Ottawa's wastewater, which don't rely on testing, rose again as of Tuesday after a few days of stability.
The case count has surged to record levels in many places this winter — and as the Omicron variant's spread overwhelms and limits testing, the actual number of cases in Ottawa could be three to 10 times higher, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches said Tuesday.
On Thursday, OPH reports 1,231 more confirmed COVID-19 cases and the death of a woman in her 20s who had COVID.
Of the people who are getting tested, more than 35 per cent are positive. That number has been generally rising since the end of November.
The rolling seven-day average of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases expressed per 100,000 residents is above 650 despite those testing limits.
Ninety per cent of Ottawa's eligible population has at least one vaccine dose, 83 per cent have at least two, and 35 per cent have three — though third dose eligibility is extremely limited for children under 18. OPH's next vaccine update comes on Friday.
Across the region
The wider region has 153 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 26 ICU patients as of noon ET. There are more than 24,000 known active cases even with testing limits.
Renfrew County reported its fifth COVID death in eight days after reporting just 11 throughout the rest of the pandemic.
Hastings Prince Edward reported three more COVID-19 patients in local hospitals, for a total of 19. That includes three in intensive care. Two more residents with COVID-19 in that region have died.
The Kingston area has 18 COVID hospitalizations and nine ICU patients. Its wastewater levels were high as of its last update Dec. 30.
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties report 13 local COVID hospitalizations, four of them in intensive care. Those are each one fewer than Wednesday.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story stated that 97 cases were reported at the Governor's Walk retirement home. While that number was initially reported by Ottawa Public Health, it has since been corrected. There is one staff case at the retirement home.Jan 06, 2022 7:05 PM ET
