The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ottawa is on the rise as the city makes headway in its booster shot rollout.
Ottawa Public Health said Wednesday that there are 32 people hospitalized with COVID-19 locally, up from 26 on Tuesday. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care also doubled overnight to four.
Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, said in an update to media on Tuesday that hospitalizations are a more important metric to monitor right now than case counts, which are being underreported currently with testing capacity constrained.
OPH reported 515 known new cases of the virus on Wednesday, but no additional deaths related to COVID-19.
Ottawa’s COVID-19 assessment centres reported taking only 972 swabs on Tuesday, while labs processed 2,377 tests, per the local testing task force. The percentage of tests coming back positive over the past week hit 35.3 per cent, according to OPH.
Five new outbreaks were included in the latest report, with 74 ongoing outbreaks listed on OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The majority of these outbreaks are affecting hospitals and communal living settings such as long-term care homes, as well as child-care facilities.
Meanwhile, Ottawa’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has seen roughly a third of residents get a booster shot so far.
OPH said in its update Wednesday that 333,207 third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered locally.
That accounts for 35 per cent of residents aged five and older, though those aged five to 18 aren’t yet eligible for third doses.
Of the 757,869 residents aged 18-plus who have gotten two doses, roughly 44 per cent have gotten boosters.
Ottawa is also making progress on its youngest vaccination front. So far, 62 per cent of kids aged five to 11 in the city have gotten first doses, and four per cent already have two shots.
In total, 90 per cent of eligible Ottawa residents have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 83 per cent have two doses.