Ottawa's COVID-19 case count takes welcome dip before weekend

Ottawa's COVID-19 count took a welcome dip Friday with 40 new cases, far fewer than in recent days.

At the same time, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has declared another 77 cases resolved, lowering the number of active cases in the city.

Nearly half of the new cases reported Friday — 19 — are people in their 20s, while 27 are under 40.

Hospitalizations remain relatively stable with 13 patients currently receiving treatment, including three in intensive care.

OPH has declared outbreaks at two more schools, école secondaire publique Louis-Riel and école élémentaire publique Séraphin-Marion, for a total of seven in the city.

A total of 3,960 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 551 active cases, 3,129 resolved cases and 280 deaths.

The daily reports from don't necessarily reflect how many people tested positive for COVID-19 on the day they're made public; rather, they indicate the number of new cases OPH is notified of as of 2 p.m. the previous day.

Elsewhere, the Belleville, Ont., health unit logged its first new case of COVID-19 since Sept. 8, while the Renfrew County health unit announced a Pembroke high school that was closed due to an outbreak will reopen Monday.

The number of confirmed cases in the region has now surpassed 6,000.