Most Ottawans 12+ haven't had a COVID booster in last 6 months

Recent developments:

• Ottawa's COVID-19 trends are mostly rising.
• 34% of Ottawans over 12 hada COVID vaccine in the last sixmonths.
• More ER visits for respiratory illness than normal acrosseastern Ontario.

The latest guidance

Local officialssay the health-care system, particularly for children, is under a lot of pressure because of how muchrespiratory illnessis spreading.

Theflu season is worse and started earlier than normal, plus there are thecontinued challenges ofCOVID-19 andrespiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

• CHEO flu admissions still soaring after near-record month
• Slow flu shot uptake concerns health experts ahead of holidays

Expertsstrongly recommendpeople wear masks indoorsand, in Ontario, in the daysafter having COVID symptoms.

Staying home when sick, keeping hands and surfaces cleanandkeeping up-to-date with COVID and flu vaccinesare also recommendedto help keep people safe, especially more vulnerable people including children.

Quebec's public health director says people with babies should think about whether large holiday gatherings are worth the risk.

"Increasing ventilation in homes, keeping windows open, doing fun activities outdoors, these are all ways to decrease the risk [when gathering]," said Ottawa Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches Monday, adding social support is important for people's health.

Wastewater

Data from the research teamsays the weekly average level of coronavirus in Ottawa's wastewater, as of Dec. 8, has been rising since the last week of November.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH)considered where it was late last weekto be a moderate measure, but cautioned people that it's rising.

The readings of flu and RSV levels in wastewater are out of date. They were very high and rising as of the last update Dec. 4.

Hospitals

OPH's count of active, local COVID-19 hospital patients rises to 28, according to Tuesday's update, with twopatientsin intensive care.

The health unit said Thursdaythe number of COVID hospital admissions is moderate.

There is another count that includesotherpatients, such as peopleadmitted for other reasons who then test positive for COVID, those admitted for lingering COVIDcomplications, and thosetransferred from other health units.

That numberhad been rising since late November, but fell slightly in this update.

Tests, outbreaks and deaths

Ottawa's COVID-19 test positivity rate is up slightly to about 13per cent after a steady decline.OPHconsiders itmoderate.Testing strategieschangedat the end of 2021andmanycasesaren't reflected incounts.

There are 29 active COVID outbreaks in Ottawa, five more than Friday. This was considered a moderate level on Thursday.

The health unit also reports a rise to fiveflu outbreaks, while the number of "other" respiratory illnessoutbreaks nearly allin child-care settings are slightly down to26.

OPH reported 159 more COVID cases over fourdays and the deathof someone age 90 or older who had COVID.In all,978Ottawa residents who had COVID have died since the start of the pandemic, including368of them this year.

Vaccines

Ottawa residents received about 7,250 COVID-19 vaccine doses in the last week, fewer than the previous week and further still from the steady weekly rates in October and November.

OPH nowtracks how many of the approximately 914,000residents age 12 and older have gone more than six monthssince their last COVIDvaccine dose.

Just over one-third have had their recommended most recentdose within the last six months, with older age groups having higher rates. This does not factor inimmunity from getting COVID.

As of the most recent weekly update, 93per cent of Ottawa residents aged five and up had at least one COVIDvaccine dose,90 per cent had at least two and 62 per cent at least three.

Thirty-four per cent of Ottawans aged 12 and older had at least four doses.

About 9,200residents younger than five have had a first dose, which isabout 20per cent of Ottawa's population of that age group. About 4,200, or nine per cent, have had two.

Across the region

Spread

Coronavirus wastewater trends are rising across Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL) county sites and low and stable in the Kingston area.Data from other areas is out of date or unavailable.

Flu activity remains high in the Belleville area. COVID test positivity is stable around 10 per cent there and in the Kingston area, and around 15 per cent in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

Hospitalizations and deaths

The number of people going to emergency rooms with respiratory illness is higher than normal across eastern Ontario, according to one provincial tool, most notably so in Renfrew County. Locally, the weekly trend is mostly stable.

WATCH | A Q&A on the 2022-23 flu:

Doctors answer common questions about this years flu surge

2 years ago

Duration 5:08

Dr. Joanne Langley, a pediatric infectious disease physician in Halifax, and Dr. Laura Sauve, a pediatrician in Vancouver, answer common questions about this years flu surge and explain how the flu shot can protect kids against serious illness.

Eastern Ontario communities outsideOttawa reportabout 30COVID-19 hospitalizations, with seven of these patients in intensive care.

That regional countdoesn'tincludeHastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health,which has a different counting method. Its counthas recentlybeenlow and stable.

Western Quebec's health authority,CISSSO,reported 96COVIDhospitalizations. Noneof the patients are in intensive care.

In its weekly update, HPE reported its 98th COVIDdeath. Seventy-nine of them have come this year. LGL reported its 75th COVID death of 2022 and its 140th overall.

This is by far the deadliest year for reported COVIDdeaths in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region, with nearly half ofits more than 2,000 reported COVID deaths coming in 2022.

Vaccines

Across eastern Ontario, between 81 and93 per cent of residents age five and up have received at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses, and between 53 and65 per cent of those residentshave hadat leastthree.

Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health, which has passed 600,000 doses given to residents, says 33 per cent of its population age five and up have had a booster vaccine in the last six months.