April starts and ends relatively stable when it comes to COVID-19

Recent developments:

• Ottawa's COVID-19 numbers are mostly stable.
• Only 1 trend is higher than it was to start April.
• Three more local people with COVID have died.

The latest

Ottawa's pandemic trends are mostly stable. Only the average test positivity, which remains moderate, is higher in this last update of April than it was at the start of the month.

Generally, COVID indicators have remained stable or have dropped for more than three months. Increases have not risen to levels Ottawa Public Health (OPH) sees as concerning.

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, as of the most recent update April 25, the average coronavirus wastewater level has been stable for nearly two weeks.

It's below where levels sat at the start of April. OPH considers this level to be high.

This average has generally stayed within the same range for a year and did not spike as in past Aprils.

Two of the three highest wastewater averages on record were in April 2021 and 2022. Data doesn't go back to April 2020.

Hospitals

The number of Ottawa residents in local hospitals for COVID-19 has been generally stable for about two months. The number was 15 in Friday's update, including one patient in ICU.

That's around where it was at the start of April.

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 and lower than the 64 reported in the first update of the month.

Tests, outbreaks and deaths

Ottawa has seven active COVID outbreaks, a number that is slowly dropping and lower than the 12 it had April 1. According to OPH, that number is considered low.

After a slight drop to end winter, the city's COVID-19 test positivity rate has risen to around 11 per cent and stayed there for about 10 days. OPH considers that moderate. It was about eight per cent at the start of the month.

OPH reported 67 more COVID cases since Tuesday and two more COVID deaths, both people age 90 or above.

Vaccines

Nineteen per cent of Ottawans age five and older have had a COVID-19 vaccine dose within the last six months, with older age groups having higher vaccination rates. This does not factor in immunity from getting COVID.

Ontario's vaccine recommendations changed in early April to focus on higher-risk people.

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-19 risk level is low.

Coronavirus wastewater averages are low and stable in Kingston. They're otherwise out of date or unavailable outside of Ottawa.

The average COVID test positivity in Renfrew County is about 12 per cent, about the same as last week and in the same range it's been for 2023.

Hospitalizations and deaths

Eastern Ontario communities outside Ottawa report about 25 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with four patients in intensive care.

That regional count doesn't include Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health, which shares a weekly average of its local hospitalization count. That region is down to two patients.

Western Quebec has 39 hospital patients with COVID. None of them are in intensive care.

Renfrew County's health unit reported its 88th total COVID death.

Vaccines

The Kingston area's health unit says 16 per cent of its population age five and up have had a COVID vaccine in the last six months. That number drops to 18 per cent in HPE, and it remains unavailable elsewhere.

Across eastern Ontario, as of April 13, 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.