COVID activity increasing, other respiratory viruses and influenza stable in latest OPH update

Recent developments:

• There's a high level of respiratory illness in Ottawa.
• Flu and RSV levels are very high and rising in the city's wastewater.
• COVID-19 trends are rising and Ottawa Public Health is urging residents to get vaccinated in time for the holidays.

The latest guidance

Ottawa Public Health (OPH)'s weekly snapshot says the overall level of respiratory illness in the city remains high.

OPH says wastewater levels of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are very high and increasing since last week. Wastewater levels of COVID-19 are also increasing, and OPH says they are considered high.

Across all indicators, influenza and other respiratory virus activity is stable compared to last week, while COVID-19 activity has increased.

OPH says now is the time to get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19.

Local officials say the health-care system, particularly for children, is under pressure. The flu season is worse and started earlier than normal, plus there are the continued challenges of COVID and RSV.

Along with the above advice, wearing masks indoors and keeping hands and surfaces clean are also recommended to help keep people safe, especially more vulnerable people including children.

Quebec's public health director said last week people with babies should think about whether large holiday gatherings are worth the risk.

Wastewater

Data from the research team says the weekly average level of coronavirus in Ottawa's wastewater, as of Dec. 13, has been rising since the last week of November back to roughly where it was in early November.

OPH considers this to be a moderate measure, but cautions people that it's rising. The flu and RSV levels in wastewater are very high and rising.

Wastewater researchers say they have a better test for the BQ Omicron subvariant and they're finding more of it as the total signal rises.

Hospitals

OPH's count of active, local COVID-19 hospital patients rises to 25, according to Friday's update, with one patient in intensive care. 

The health unit says the number of COVID hospital admissions is moderate.

There is another count that includes other patients, such as people admitted for other reasons who then test positive for COVID, those admitted for lingering COVID complications, and those transferred from other health units.

Tests, outbreaks and deaths

Testing strategies changed under the Omicron variant, meaning many COVID-19 cases aren't reflected in counts. Public health officials now only track and report outbreaks in health-care settings.

Ottawa's COVID test positivity rate is up slightly to about 13 per cent after a steady decline. OPH considers it moderate.

There are 28 active COVID outbreaks in Ottawa.

The health unit also reports eight flu outbreaks, while the number of "other" respiratory illness outbreaks — nearly all in child-care settings — are at 23. Two of these other outbreaks in schools have more than 100 cases, which is down from three a week ago.

OPH reported 165 more COVID cases over three days and the deaths of two people with COVID. In all, 980 Ottawa residents who had COVID have died since the start of the pandemic, including 370 of them this year.

Vaccines

As of the most recent weekly update, 93 per cent of Ottawa residents aged five and up had at least one COVID vaccine dose, 90 per cent had at least two and 62 per cent at least three.

Thirty-four per cent of Ottawans aged 12 and older had at least four doses.

About 9,181 residents younger than five have had a first dose, which is about 20 per cent of Ottawa's population of that age group. About 4,190, or nine per cent, have had two.

Across the region

Spread

Coronavirus wastewater trends are low and stable in Kingston and stable in Cornwall. Data from other areas is out of date or unavailable.

The average COVID-19 test positivity in Renfrew County is at 7.3 per cent. In the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU), it remains around 12 per cent.

In his weekly video update, the EOHU's Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said its COVID levels are low to moderate and stable.

"It really is a result of people getting their boosters up to date," he said. "Still almost 50 per cent of the population has not received the third dose yet, so that to me is important that you go and get your third booster."

WATCH | The medical officer of health's Wednesday update:

Hospitalizations and deaths

The number of people going to emergency rooms with respiratory illness is higher than normal across eastern Ontario, according to one provincial tool. Locally, the trend is only rising in Renfrew County.

Eastern Ontario communities outside Ottawa report about 40 COVID hospitalizations, with seven of these patients in intensive care.

That regional count doesn't include Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health, which has a different counting method. Its count has recently been low and stable.

Western Quebec's health authority, CISSSO, reported 104 COVID-19 hospitalizations. None of the patients are in intensive care. It reported its 366th COVID death in its weekly update.

The EOHU reported two more COVID deaths, for 142 this year and 276 overall.

This is by far the deadliest year for reported COVID-19 deaths in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region, with nearly half of its more than 2,000 reported COVID deaths coming in 2022.

Vaccines

Across eastern Ontario, between 81 and 92 per cent of residents age five and up have received at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses, and between 53 and 65 per cent of those residents have had at least three.

The wider region has passed a combined 6.1 million COVID vaccine doses given out.