- Ottawa’s trends on COVID-19 are showing signs of improvement.
- Another death from coronavirus has been reported in the capital.
- About 15,000 doses of vaccine have been administered, the highest one-week tally this spring.
- Hospitalizations and sewage levels remained stable in Leeds – Greenville – Lanark.
Ottawa update today
Sewage
The level of coronavirus detected in Ottawa’s wastewater has slowly declined for about a month since it peaked in April.
However, the latest available data (the bold red line in the graph below) shows that the seven-day average calculated on May 11 remained about four and a half times higher than it was in early March, before the current high.
Levels have now fallen below previous peaks in October 2020 and January 2022.
These records do not reflect the first wave of the epidemic when wastewater was not monitored for traces of the virus.
Hospitals
17 Ottawa residents are in local hospitals receiving treatment for COVID-19, according to an Ottawa public health update on Monday. That number dropped below 20 for the first time in about a month. None of these patients are in intensive care.
The hospitalization figures above do not include all patients. For example, they leave patients admitted for other reasons who subsequently test positive for COVID-19, those admitted due to continuing complications of COVID-19, and those transferred from other health units.
When these categories are included, there were 75 patients on Saturday, similar to the number seen in mid-April.
Examinations, outbreaks and cases
Testing strategies have changed under the infectious Omicron variant, which means that many new COVID-19 cases are not reflected in the current numbers. Public Health only tracks and reports outbreaks that occur in healthcare settings.
At 11 percent, the average positivity rate in Ottawa for those who have had PCR tests outside of long-term care homes drops, but very slowly. The average indoors is not available.
Ottawa had 33 active COVID outbreaks on Monday. This number has been slowly declining for about three weeks.
On Monday, the Public Health Office reported 119 more cases and one more death over a three-day period.
The circulating weekly infection rate of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, expressed per 100,000 residents, drops to around 50.
Vaccines
916525: The number of Ottawa residents age five and older with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 340 more than last Monday’s weekly update. That’s still 92 percent of the eligible population.
880837: The Ottawa population of 5 years of age and older with a second dose has reached 543 since the last update. That’s still 89 percent of the eligible population.
573,758: Ottawas age 12 and older with a third dose have reached 1,158 since the last update. This still represents 63 percent of this population; Younger children are only eligible for certain health conditions.
Eight percent of the population age 12 and older receive a fourth dose, or about 74,400 people. That’s about 13,000 fourth doses since the last update.
Nearly 15,000 vaccine doses were administered to residents last week, the highest weekly number this spring.
All over the region
Sewage
Ontario and Quebec are still in the sixth wave of the pandemic. There are signs of improvement in both provinces, and Quebec has ended most mask rules.
Wastewater levels in the Kingston area are slowly declining, and sites in Leeds, Greenville, and Lanark (LGL) and eastern Ottawa counties are stable. Other areas lack publicly available data.
Average regional wastewater is declining in eastern Ontario, according to the Science Table.
hospitalization
Western Quebec had 76 local hospital admissions for COVID-19 on Friday, including patients who are no longer considered active cases. Two of these patients required intensive care.
Eastern Ontario communities outside Ottawa have reported 45 hospitalizations due to COVID-19, including about 10 in intensive care. Neither includes Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health which, like Western Quebec, has a different counting method.
LGL has reported six patients in a COVID hospital, two of whom are in intensive care.
Vaccines
More than 5.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people in the Ottawa Gatineau area.
Quebec considers about 78 percent of Ottawa’s residents to have “received appropriate vaccination,” which could be a combination of vaccination and recent infection.
For every health unit in Eastern Ontario, anywhere from 81 to 92 percent of eligible residents have at least two doses of the vaccine, and anywhere from 59 to 71 percent of adults with three doses.
2022-05-16 17:57:07