Ottawa reports 64 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death

Coronavirus monitoring metrics remained steady in Ottawa on Tuesday as the city’s public health unit reported an increase of 64 COVID-19 cases and one new death related to the virus.

There have now been 16,252 cases of the novel coronavirus locally since the start of the pandemic and 457 deaths related to COVID-19.

The number of active cases of the virus dipped slightly to 755 on Tuesday.

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While the latest report from Ottawa Public Health is lower than daily case counts in the past few days, Tuesdays typically see lower numbers of new reported infections following reduced testing volumes over the weekend.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases remained at roughly 83 per day as of Tuesday.

There are currently 25 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ottawa, one more than the day before, with four people in the intensive care unit.

Four new coronavirus outbreaks were added to OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday, raising the number of ongoing outbreaks in Ottawa to 42.

Among the latest additions is another outbreak at Extendicare’s West End Villa long-term care home, where two staff members have tested positive for the virus. This marks the fifth outbreak at the home.

A previous outbreak at the facility stretching from August to November 2020 saw 145 people test positive for the virus and 18 residents die in connection with COVID-19.

Ottawa-area hospitals continue to be hit hard by outbreaks as of late.

Eight ongoing outbreaks are linked to hospital settings, including a deadly outbreak at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus that has so far seen 47 people infected and eight patients die.

Two separate outbreaks at St. Vincent Hospital have seen a total of three patients die in connection with COVID-19.