COVID trends have been stable in Ottawa for weeks | CBC News

Recent developments:

• Ottawa’s COVID-19 trends are stable.
• The EOHU’s COVID risk level remains moderate.
• Seven more people with COVID have died in the region.

The latest 

After a concerning rise in trends around the end of 2022, Ottawa Public Health (OPH)’s tone started being more encouraging around the middle of January.

The situation has generally been alright since, with any increasing indicators balanced off by a drop or plateau.

OPH currently says COVID-19 indicators remain generally stable at moderate to very high levels.

Experts strongly recommend people wear masks indoors and, in Ontario, in the days after having COVID symptoms. Staying home when sick and staying up to date with COVID and flu vaccines can also help protect vulnerable people.

Non-COVID respiratory virus levels are generally low and seasonal.

Wastewater

Data from the research team shows the average coronavirus wastewater level is stable as of the most recent data on March 2.

OPH considers this level to be very high.

Hospitals

The number of patients with COVID-19 in local hospitals remains relatively stable at 18. That’s below where that number was for most of the second half of 2022. 

None of those patients are in intensive care.

A separate count that includes patients who tested positive for COVID after being admitted for other reasons, those admitted for lingering COVID complications, and those transferred from other health units also remains stable.

Tests, outbreaks and deaths

Ottawa has 21 active COVID outbreaks, a number that has levelled off for two weeks after rising for two weeks. That’s considered moderate.

The city’s COVID-19 test positivity rate has remained stable at around 11 or 12 per cent since the start of February, which OPH also calls moderate.

OPH has reported 92 more COVID cases since Friday and the death of someone in their 70s who had COVID. 

So far, 1,022 Ottawa residents have died with COVID as a contributing or underlying factor. Thirty of those people have died this year.

Vaccines

Twenty-nine per cent of Ottawans age five and older have had a COVID vaccine dose within the last six months, as is generally recommended, with older age groups having higher rates.

That translates to about 740,000 people in that age range without the recommended vaccine protection. It does not factor in immunity from getting COVID.

Ottawa residents received 1,070 COVID vaccine doses in the last week, mostly fourth doses and second doses for children under five years old.

As of the most recent weekly update, 85 per cent of Ottawa residents had at least one COVID vaccine dose, 82 per cent had at least two, 56 per cent at least three and 31 per cent at least four.

Across the region

Spread

Coronavirus wastewater averages are stable in Kingston and across Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL) counties. 

Averages in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) are also stable except for a rise in Hawkesbury. They’re otherwise out of date or unavailable outside of Ottawa.

The EOHU’s COVID risk level remains moderate.

Hospitalizations and deaths

Eastern Ontario communities outside Ottawa report about 30 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with six patients in intensive care.

That regional count doesn’t include Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health, which has a different counting method. Its local hospitalization count has been stable.

Western Quebec has 83 COVID hospital patients, which is stable. None of them are in intensive care.

LGL reported three more COVID deaths in its weekly update, bringing its total to 154. The EOHU also reported three more of these deaths for a total of 293.

Vaccines

The Kingston area’s health unit says 31 per cent of its population age five and up have had a COVID vaccine in the last six months. It’s 26 per cent in HPE and unavailable elsewhere.

Across eastern Ontario, between 79 and 90 per cent of residents age five and up have received at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses, and between 52 and 65 per cent of those residents have had at least three, according to the province.