Ottawa's daily&nbsp;COVID-19 case count has dipped below 100 for the first time in three days, while the province reached a grim new milestone in the pandemic.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) reported 94&nbsp;newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and one new death, as the 

Hospitalizations in Ottawa continue to steadily&nbsp;increase, with 39 people receiving treatment —&nbsp;nine of whom are in an intensive care unit.

The number of hospitalizations has more than doubled since the beginning of the month.

There have been a total of 5,373 cases of COVID-19 recorded in the nation's capital since the start of the pandemic — and of those, 4,229&nbsp;are considered resolved.&nbsp;There have been 297 deaths due to complications related to COVID-19.

Ottawa now has 847&nbsp;active cases of the virus,&nbsp;down 28&nbsp;since Friday.&nbsp;

There are 70&nbsp;ongoing outbreaks at city institutions 

The reports from OPH 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.

Ontario reported 809 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, with the numbers largely concentrated in four regions:&nbsp;Toronto, Peel Region, York Region and Ottawa.

The province announced new restrictions on businesses in all of those regions, minus York Region, on Friday.

As of Saturday, indoor dining at restaurants and bars are&nbsp;prohibited, while gyms, movie theatres and casinos are&nbsp;closed. The measures are&nbsp;in place for at least 28 days.

Ontario waited weeks to trigger restrictions while COVID-19 spread. Did changes come too late?

'Alarm bells' rang for weeks as case counts and hospitalizations kept rising in the province. But it wasn't until Friday that the premier and health officials announced a sweeping rollback to earlier restrictions for the hot spots of Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa.

A resident of Toronto’s Fairview Nursing Home leaves with paramedics on Sept. 29, 2020 — the same day Premier Doug Ford announced a plan to scale back visitations to care homes as a means to curb a spike in cases. Fairview is in the midst of an outbreak of COVID-19. 

Fairview Nursing Home Covid-19

Paramedics transport a resident of a Toronto long-term care home to hospital on Sept. 29 — the same day Premier Doug Ford announced a plan to scale back visits to care homes in some parts of Ontario as a way to curb a spike in COVID-19 cases. On Friday, the premier and provincial health officials announced a sweeping rollback to earlier restrictions for three hot zones.

Case counts alone don't paint a reliable picture of COVID-19 in Ontario, experts warn

As COVID-19 case counts in Ontario surge to record levels, some experts warn that the public should not look to the number of cases alone to gauge the virus's spread, thanks in part to a recent upheaval in provincial testing guidelines.

People wearing masks during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outbreaks of COVID-19 linked to community transmission forced the closure of several downtown restaurants over the weekend as Ontario braces for a second wave of corona virus infections.

2nd Wave

Ontario instituted measures like shutting down indoor dining in some areas of the province Friday in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The total number of people who have died of COVID-19 in Ontario now stands at 3,004.

Meanwhile, the&nbsp;Outaouais&nbsp;region of western Quebec confirmed 53&nbsp;new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

The region has had 1,745&nbsp;cases of COVID-19 and 34 deaths since the pandemic began.

A man wearing a mask walks along the Ottawa River with Parliament Hill in the background during the COVID-19 pandemic on Sept. 28, 2020.

94 new COVID-19 cases, 1 new death in Ottawa

Ontario reports 809 new cases

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