Ottawa continues to report a relatively low number of daily COVID-19 cases even as the city’s coronavirus positivity rate and viral signal in the local wastewater system tick back up.
Ottawa Public Health reported 22 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The number of active cases in the city dropped to 287.
One new death related to COVID-19 was reported in the past 24 hours, raising the local death toll in the pandemic to 586.
But Ottawa’s weekly COVID-19 positivity rate rose to 3.6 per cent as of Tuesday, up from 3.3 per cent in the previous period.
Researchers tracking the amount of COVID-19 in the city’s wastewater system are also reporting an increased viral signal in recent days, rising back to levels seen in early May.
Ottawa also confirmed one new case of the Delta variant of concern in the city, raising the total to date to nine lab-confirmed cases with the B.1.617.2 lineage first identified in India.
Global News has reached out to OPH for any context on the individual’s source of infection.
There are currently nine ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Ottawa, including a new outbreak affecting an unnamed retailer.
Another staff member at the city-run Centre D’Accueil Champlain long-term care home tested positive for the virus this week, according to a memo sent to city council Tuesday evening, raising the number of active cases connected to that outbreak to two staff and zero residents.
There are currently 13 Ottawa residents in hospital with COVID-19, four of whom are in the intensive care unit.
Wednesday’s vaccination update shows 15 per cent of Ottawa adults aged 18 and older, or 125,503 people, have now received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
More than half of those aged 80 and up are now considered fully vaccinated, according to OPH, while nearly a third of those in the 70-79 age band have received two doses.
So far, 663,160 Ottawa residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.