- Ottawa pandemic trends are generally stable or slowly declining.
- The increase in the positivity of testing in long-term care homes is an exception.
- The increase in the average wastewater in Kemptville is another.
- Two more Ottawa residents with COVID-19 have died.
- Over the past week, approximately 6,000 doses of vaccine have been given to Ottawa residents.
Ottawa update today
Wastewater
The level of coronavirus detected in Ottawa’s wastewater has been declining very slowly for more than two weeks.
The most recent data available (the bold red line in the chart below) shows that the seven-day average calculated on June 1 remained slightly higher than it was in early March, before the most recent peak.
It is about five times higher than in late fall before Omicron arrived.
Researchers who measured and shared the amount of nine coronaviruses in Ottawa’s wastewater reported new pandemic records for daily and weekly average readings in April 2022. The most recent data are from 1 June. (613covid.ca)
Hospitals
Fourteen Ottawa residents are in local hospitals receiving treatment for COVID-19, according to the OPH update on Monday. This number has generally ranged from 10 to 20 for more than three weeks.
A patient is in intensive care.
The above hospitalization figures do not include all patients. For example, they exclude patients admitted for other reasons who then test positive for COVID-19, those admitted for persistent complications of COVID-19, and those transferred from other health care units.
When these categories are included, there were 40 patients on Saturday. This figure has been declining.
Ottawa Public Health has a COVID-19 hospital count that shows all hospital patients who tested positive for COVID, including those admitted for other reasons, and who live in other areas. There were 40 on June 4th. (Ottawa Public Health)
Tests, outbreaks and cases
Testing strategies have changed with the contagious variant of Omicron, which means that many cases of COVID-19 are not reflected in current counts. Public health only monitors and reports outbreaks that occur in healthcare settings.
At about nine percent, Ottawa’s average positivity rate for those receiving PCR testing outside of long-term care homes has remained stable since late May.
The average inside homes is 11 percent, a rare trend in the city that is rising.
Ottawa has 18 active COVID outbreaks on Monday. This figure has remained stable this month.
On Monday, OPH reported 149 more cases and two more deaths in three days. The victims were 80 years of age or older. This brings the total number of deaths per COVID in the city to 814 people.
The continuous weekly incidence rate of recently confirmed COVID-19 cases, expressed per 100,000 population, is around 25.
Vaccines
917,221: The number of Ottawa residents five years of age or older with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, about 250 more than the last OPH update two weeks ago. That’s still 92 percent of the eligible population.
881,920: The number of Ottawa residents five years of age or older with a second dose, about 450 since the last update. That’s still 89 percent of the eligible population.
578,507: The number of Ottawans 12 years of age or older with a third dose, about 850 since the last update. That’s still 63 percent of those residents; younger children can only qualify under certain health conditions.
Eleven percent of residents 12 and older have a fourth dose, or about 96,100 people. That’s more than 4,500 quarters since the last update. Eligibility is limited.
Throughout the region
Sewage levels are stable in Brockville and Smiths Falls and rising in Kemptville. Data from other parts of the region are at least one week old or not publicly available.
Communities in Eastern Ontario outside of Ottawa are reporting about 20 hospitalizations for COVID-19, which have been slowly declining. About four are in intensive care, which is a stable number.
None of these numbers include Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPE), which has a different counting method.
Western Quebec has about 55 hospitalizations for COVID, including those that are no longer considered an active case. A patient requires intensive care.
Vaccines
More than 5.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given to people in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
Quebec estimates that about 78% of Outaouais residents are “properly vaccinated,” which may be a combination of recent vaccination and infection.
For each of the Eastern Ontario health units, there are between 81 and 92 per cent of eligible residents with at least two doses of vaccine and between 59 and 71 per cent of adults with three doses.