Key metrics tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus in Ottawa are starting to tick up, according to the local public health unit’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Ottawa Public Health reported 46 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and two deaths related to the virus.
Ottawa has now seen 8,567 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, with 367 of those currently considered active, a slight increase from the day before.
OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard shows the positivity rate in the community — the proportion of people testing positive for the virus out of all samples taken in a week — is up to 1.5 per cent from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30 from 1.3 per cent in the previous period.
Ottawa’s weekly percent positivity had been trending downwards since posting a rate of 3.2 per cent in the last week of October.
The estimated seven-day average of the city’s reproduction — or R — number, which tracks the average number of people testing positive in connection with another case, remains above one. This suggests the spread of the virus in the community is speeding up rather than slowing down.
Figures from researchers tracking the coronavirus through Ottawa’s wastewater system show a continuing decline in the overall levels of viral signal in the community, however.
There are currently 23 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ottawa, one of whom is in intensive care.
New coronavirus outbreaks have been declared at the Glen Ogilvie and Roland Michener public schools in Ottawa. Three students have tested positive for the virus at Glen Ogilvie while two students tested positive at Roland Michener.
There are currently five coronavirus outbreaks in Ottawa schools out of a total 31 ongoing outbreaks across the city.