Ottawa's COVID trends stay the course entering April

Recent developments:

• Ottawa's COVID-19 numbers are mostly stable or dropping.
• 75% of Ottawans over age four don't have the recommended COVID vaccine protection.
• The EOHU's COVID risk level remains moderate.
• Six more people with COVID have died in the region.

The latest 

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) said in its latest overview the city's COVID-19 picture is generally stable at moderate to very high levels.

Experts 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 vaccines can also help protect vulnerable people.

Wastewater

Data from the research team shows the average coronavirus wastewater level has been rising for more than three weeks. That growth has recently shown signs of slowing.

The most recent data is from April 2. OPH considers this level to be very high. It hasn't often risen much higher than this in the last year or so.

Hospitals

The number of Ottawa residents in local hospitals for COVID-19 drops to 15. It's been generally stable around 20 for nearly two months.

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 is stable.

Tests, outbreaks and deaths

Ottawa again has 15 active COVID outbreaks. According to OPH, that number is considered moderate.

The city's COVID-19 test positivity rate drops to around eight per cent.

OPH reported 55 more COVID cases since Friday and the deaths of two people who had COVID, both in their 70s.

Vaccines

Twenty-five per cent of Ottawans age five and older have had a COVID-19 vaccine dose within the last six months, as is generally recommended, with older age groups having higher vaccination rates.

That translates to about 783,000 people in that age range without the recommended vaccine protection. It does not factor in immunity from getting COVID.

While recency data isn't available for this age group, 14 per cent of Ottawans six months to four years old have at least two doses. They first became eligible in late July 2022.

Ottawa residents received about 300 COVID vaccine doses in the last week.

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

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU)'s COVID risk level remains moderate.

Coronavirus wastewater averages are stable in the Kingston area and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties. They're otherwise out of date or unavailable outside of Ottawa.

The average test positivity in the Kingston area rises to 12 per cent, back around where it was a month ago.

Hospitalizations and deaths

Eastern Ontario communities outside Ottawa report about 20 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with its three patients in intensive care all in the EOHU.

That regional count doesn't include Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health, which has a different counting method. Its local hospitalization count is stable around 19. The health unit also reported its 115th COVID death in its weekly update.

The EOHU reported three more COVID deaths, bringing its total to 300.

Western Quebec has 55 hospital patients with COVID. One of them is in intensive care.

Vaccines

The Kingston area's health unit says 22 per cent of its population age five and up have had a COVID vaccine in the last six months. It also drops to 22 per cent in HPE and is 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.