Coronavirus: Ottawa reports 29 new COVID-19 cases following weekend spike

Ottawa’s daily COVID-19 case count is back down after adding more than 100 new cases over the weekend, according to the local public health unit.

Ottawa Public Health reported 29 cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, following increases of 46 cases and 79 cases on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

There have now been 8,487 COVID-19 cases in Ottawa since the start of the pandemic.

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One additional person in Ottawa has died in relation to COVID-19, raising the total death toll of the pandemic to 375 as of Monday.

Active COVID-19 cases in the city stand at 344, down from 374. Active cases had dipped below 300 in Ottawa last week.

There are currently 24 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ottawa, one of whom is in the intensive care unit.

Three new coronavirus outbreaks were added to OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard on Monday, raising the number of ongoing outbreaks to 30.

Ottawa’s percent positivity for all coronavirus tests in the region stood at 1.3 per cent for Nov. 21 to 27.

One coronavirus indicator that’s trending higher according to OPH’s dashboard is R, or the reproduction number, which shows how many average infections stem from a positive case.

Ottawa’s R value is now above one for the first time in November, indicating the spread of COVID-19 in the community is speeding up rather than slowing.

Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, has praised the city’s control of the virus in the second wave, but has cautioned that it remains easy for infections to spread quickly if residents let their guards down.