Key COVID-19 numbers in the Ottawa area today

• Ottawa's COVID hospitalizations drop, its outbreaks rise.
• Its updatedcoronavirus wastewater signal is still setting records.
• FourCOVID deaths have beenreported across the region.
• Hospitalizations keep climbing in western Quebec.
• There's another wastewater record west of Kingston.

Today's Ottawa update

Hospitals

Fifteen Ottawa residents are in local hospitals for treatment of active COVID-19according to Wednesday's OPHupdate. That number is slowly dropping.

One of the patientsis in intensive care.

Hospitalization figures don't includepatients admitted for other reasons whothen tested positive for COVID-19. Nor do they include those admitted for lingering COVID-19complications, nor patients transferredfrom other health units.

That number hasstabilized.

Cases, tests and outbreaks

Testing strategies have changedunderthe contagiousOmicron variant, which means many newCOVID-19 casesaren't reflected in current counts. Public health only tracks and reports outbreaks that occur in health-care settings.

At 18 per cent, the averagepositivity rate for those who received PCR tests outside long-term care homes is high and stable. The averagein these homes rises toaround eight per cent.

On Wednesday, OPH reported 193 moreCOVID-19 cases and the death of a retirement home resident in their80s.

The health unit also reported an increaseto 46health-care outbreaks, which had been at 25one week ago. There are 14 outbreaks each in group homes and retirement homes.

The rolling weekly incidence rate of newly confirmedCOVID-19 cases, expressed per 100,000 residents, rises toaround 125.

Wastewater

Theaverage level of coronavirus detected in Ottawa'swastewaterremains at a record high with the most recent data from Sunday (the bold red line in the graph below). It's about 40 per cent higher than the previous record and roughly 15 times higher than in early March 2022 before this spike.

Recent daily readings(the bars in thegraph) have also risen above levels measured in the first Omicron wave in January and last spring's Alpha-driven wave.

Wastewater researchers didn't post an update for about a week as they adjusted 10 months worth of daily numbers. It means the record average was in April 2021, not January 2022.

Those records don't reflect the first wave of the pandemicwhen wastewater was not monitored for traces of the virus.

Wastewater is a keyindicatorof whatOttawa Public Health (OPH)calls a significant COVID-19 wavein the city. Health officialshighly recommend people take steps to protect themselves and others.

Vaccines

As of Monday's weekly update, 92 per cent of eligible Ottawa residents have at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, 89per cent have at least two, and 62per cent of residents age 12 and up have at least three.

About 17,700 fourth vaccine doses hadbeen given in Ottawa, not necessarily to residents.

Across the region

OntarioandQuebecare in the midst of another pandemic wave.

Eastern Ontario hasthe highest regional wastewater average, according tothe province's science table.

Updatedwastewaterdata from the Kingston areaincludes stable, high levels in the city and anotherrecord high to its west.The wastewater signal is rising or stable across Leeds, Grenville and Lanark(LGL) counties.

WATCH |Eastern Ontario hospitals short-staffed because of COVIDspread:

COVID spread leads to hospital staff shortage in Kingston

3 years ago

Duration 1:39

David Pichora from Kingston Health Sciences Centre says the spread of COVID has hurt hospital staffing, and he hopes people wear masks to limit the number of patients that will be hospitalized.

Western Quebec's 51 local COVID hospitalizations by far lead the region. Theyareup from 13last Wednesday. Two patients needintensive care. Its health authority reported one more death Wednesday, its fourth of the week.

Eastern Ontario communities outside Ottawa are reporting about 40COVID-19 hospitalizations. About 10of them are in intensive care.

Neither of those numbersincludes Hastings Prince Edward Public Health, which has a high,stable 21 COVID hospital patients under its different counting method. It also has a high, stable 19 outbreaks.

LGL reported one more death and a rise in both local COVID hospitalizations and ICU patients to seven and four respectively.

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit's hospitalizations have grown from four one week ago to 11 Wednesday. It reported one more death and a rising test positivity to 17 per cent, with a drop in outbreaks.

The Kingston area's health unit has a high, stable 10 COVID hospital patients and a high, stable 19 per cent test positivity percentage in the community.

Health expertssay hospitalizations may not get as high this wave because of immunity, both fromvaccines and previousinfection, and antiviral treatments. Vulnerable people, includingchildren, are still at higher risk of serious health problems.