Most COVID trends stable as February draws to a close
Outbreaks in Ottawa continue to rise, EOHU boosts risk level to moderate
Recent developments:
- Most COVID-19 indicators have shown improvement since the start of February.
- A rise in the number of outbreaks remains an exception.
- The EOHU has raised the COVID risk level to moderate.
- Eight more people with COVID have died in the region since Wednesday.
The latest
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) says COVID 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 a very slow rise in coronavirus levels in wastewater from Feb. 14 to Feb. 23, but levels remain stable of the longer term.
Although levels are slightly below were they were at the start of the month, OPH still considers them to be high.
Hospitals
The number of patients with COVID-19 in local hospitals remains relatively stable at 21. Two of those patients are in intensive care.
Hospitalizations are down from the start of February.
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 28 active COVID outbreaks, up from Feb. 1. That's considered very high.
The city's COVID-19 test positivity rate has remained stable this month at around 11 per cent, which OPH calls moderate.
OPH has reported 175 more COVID cases since Wednesday and two more COVID deaths, both people 80 or over. So far, 1,020 Ottawa residents have died with COVID as a contributing or underlying factor.
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.
Previously, OPH shared the rates only for those 12 and up.
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 about 800 COVID vaccine doses in the last six days, according to OPH.
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 or dropping from a spike in Kingston, stable in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) and stable across Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL) counties.
They're otherwise out of date or unavailable outside of Ottawa.
Renfrew County's average COVID test positivity is a stable 12 per cent. That figure slightly rises in the Kingston area to about 14 per cent.
The EOHU's COVID risk level is now considered moderate. In particular, its test positivity around 16 per cent is considered high and rising.
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 has a different counting method. Its local hospitalization count is stable at 15, with three intensive care patients.
Western Quebec has 84 COVID hospital patients, which is stable. None of them are in intensive care.
Three more HPE residents with COVID died in the last week. That area has had 13 COVID deaths this year and 112 total.
Renfrew County, the Kingston area, the EOHU and LGL each reported one more COVID death in their weekly updates.
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.
