Four more people have died in relation to COVID-19 in Ottawa, according to the latest update from the local public health unit.
Ottawa Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 308 people in the city have now died in connection with the novel coronavirus as of Wednesday.
The higher death toll comes as OPH reports 60 new cases of the virus locally.
There have now been 6,226 cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the start of the pandemic, with 717 of those cases considered active.
OPH’s dashboard shows 48 people are currently in hospital with COVID-19, six of whom are in the intensive care unit.
The public health unit’s COVID-19 dashboard is also now displaying information on coronavirus outbreaks linked to organized sports teams, with Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, saying Wednesday there are five outbreaks and 28 cases related to local sports teams.
There were no new outbreaks declared in Ottawa long-term care homes or other health-care institutions on Wednesday.
A new outbreak was declared at Gabrielle Roy, a French-language public school in Ottawa’s south end, where OPH’s dashboard shows four students have tested positive for the virus.
This marks the second COVID-19 outbreak at Gabrielle Roy. The first outbreak began on Sept. 21 and ended on Oct. 1 with only two students testing positive for the coronavirus.
There are currently 76 ongoing coronavirus outbreaks in Ottawa.
Fewer people in Ottawa are presenting for coronavirus tests in recent days, with the Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce reporting fewer than 2,000 swabs were taken at assessment centres in the past 24 hours.
Speaking to media on Wednesday morning, Etches said the lower turnout might be linked to the Ontario government’s change in policy, which now asks people to present for testing if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19.
She also suggested the dropoff might be tied to lower levels of the virus in the community.
Etches said the percentage of people testing positive has remained steady in recent weeks and noted that Ottawa’s wastewater data research is showing a dropoff in viral signal detected through the city’s fecal matter.
She also said OPH has not detected a spike in cases tied to Thanksgiving gatherings and thanked Ottawa residents for taking her messaging seriously in the lead up to the holiday weekend.
“It does look like transmission is slowing down in our community. Not being able to gather at Thanksgiving was a challenge, I’m sure, but people making these sacrifices is what’s going to allow us to turn this thing around,” she said.
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