Ottawa adds 27 new coronavirus cases on Friday

Ottawa logged another 27 novel coronavirus cases on Friday, marking a full week of double-digit spikes in the local COVID-19 case count.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) said Friday that 2,361 residents have now tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began, with 215 cases considered ongoing.

Ten people are in hospital with COVID-19, three of whom are in intensive care.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 has held steady for nearly four weeks, however.

There were no new outbreaks declared at Ottawa institutions in the past 24 hours either.

There have been 172 cases of the novel coronavirus identified in Ottawa this past week, compared to 145 total cases locally in the entire month of June.

Ottawa officially entered Stage 3 of Ontario’s economic reopening plan a week ago.

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OPH officials have said the recent surge in cases is not directly tied to entering from one phase to another, rather, it’s related to a “shift” in social behaviour, especially in the city’s younger residents.

Two weeks ago, there were 362 cases in Ottawa linked to residents aged 10-29, representing roughly 17 per cent of the city’s total.

But that demographic has seen 91 cases added in the last 14 days, making up 48 per cent of the total increase over the past two weeks.

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Dr. Brent Moloughney, Ottawa’s associate medical officer of health, said in a statement Friday that many cases from the past week are linked to multiple large indoor gatherings.

He called parties high-risk activities that have the potential to become “superspreader events” that see the virus quickly spread to individuals’ homes and workplaces.

Officials have also pointed to confusion surrounding the province’s social circles concept as contributing to the spread of the disease.

Moloughney reminded residents on Friday to avoid overlapping social circles and to continue physically distancing from anyone not in your bubble, whether indoors or outdoors, to curb Ottawa’s recent surge in infections.

“The increase in reported cases of COVID-19 in recent days is a stark reminder of the potential for this virus to spread if it is given the chance to do so,” he said.

If Ottawa residents relax their social behaviours too far, the rate of infection could overwhelm OPH’s testing and contact tracing capabilities. Moloughney said increased hospitalizations and outbreaks would soon follow, threatening to undo the progress Ottawa has made in advancing to Stage 3.

“Ottawa, now is the time to act,” he said.