Ottawa Public Health is reporting a general increase in COVID-19 cases this week while other key indicators in the pandemic remain steady.
The local public health unit added nine new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the highest single-day increase in more than three weeks.
The number of active cases of the virus rose to 34 in the latest report.
Ottawa’s reproduction number, or R value, which refers to the seven-day average number of secondary infections related to a typical COVID-19 case, continued to rise to an estimated 1.18 as of Thursday. R values of greater than one suggest the spread of the virus is accelerating rather than slowing.
OPH reported no new deaths related to COVID-19 on Thursday, however, and the city continues to see zero outbreaks or patients in the hospital related to the virus.
Ottawa’s state of emergency under the COVID-19 pandemic ended on Thursday at 12:01 a.m.
The city’s emergency operations centre has shifted into “activated operations,” one level below the emergency status, allowing city staff to retain some flexibility in responding to the pandemic.