OTTAWA —
Ottawa Public Health says 127 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19, another triple-digit case count for the city.
One new death related to COVID-19 was also reported in Ottawa today.
In the past week, the city has added more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases to its pandemic total. There have been only two days in January to date where OPH has reported fewer than 100 new cases of COVID-19. Daily reports from Jan. 5 to Jan 11 inclusive add up to 1,033 new cases of COVID-19 in total.
This comes as Ontario reports more than 3,300 new cases provincewide and 29 new deaths, pushing the provincewide death toll from the pandemic to more than 5,000. The province reported 159 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa.
Figures from OPH have differed from the province’s, sometimes significantly, in recent days, which OPH says is due to differences in when data is pulled for each respective daily update. On Saturday, OPH said its team adjusted its data pulling time locally to help cut down on the discrepancies with the provincial reports.
According to Ottawa Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, there have been 11,505 total lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began last March. OPH says 398 residents of Ottawa have died of COVID-19.
The number of active cases in the city continues its record-breaking rise, but the increase slowed significantly on Monday, driven by a large number of resolved cases. The testing positivity rate has also decreased slightly.
However, the city’s rate of new cases per capita is still going up.
OTTAWA’S COVID-19 KEY STATISTICS
A province-wide lockdown went into effect on Dec. 26, 2020. Ottawa Public Health moved Ottawa into its red zone last week.
Ottawa Public Health data:
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 95.8 cases
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 4.6 per cent (Jan. 4 – Jan. 10)
Reproduction number: 1.12 (seven day average)
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
The number of people with active infections of COVID-19 has increased by five to 1,207, as it continues its trend of reaching record-breaking heights.
However, this is much lower rate of increase compared to the weekend, when more than 200 new active infections were recorded.
OPH says 121 more people have had their cases of COVID-19 resolve, bringing the city’s number of resolved cases to 9,900.
The number of active cases is the number of total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. A case is considered resolved 14 days after known symptom onset or positive test result.
HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA
The number of people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 has increased to 29 from 26 on Sunday and there are now 10 people in the ICU, up from nine.
Of the people in hospital, one person is between 10 and 19 (this person is in the ICU), two are in their 20s, four are in their 50s (one is in the ICU), seven are in their 60s (three are in the ICU), 10 are in their 70s (five are in the ICU), four are in their 80s, and one is 90 or older.
CASES OF COVID-19 BY AGE CATEGORY
Here is a breakdown of all known COVID-19 cases in Ottawa by age category:
0-9 years old: 11 new cases (798 total cases)
10-19 years-old: 15 new cases (1,411 total cases)
20-29 years-old: 31 new cases (2,421 total cases)
30-39 years-old: 12 new cases (1,577 total cases)
40-49 years-old: 18 new cases (1,504 total cases)
50-59 years-old: 22 new cases (1,362 total cases)
60-69-years-old: 7 new cases (867 total cases)
70-79 years-old: 4 new cases (547 total cases)
80-89 years-old: 6 new cases (606 total cases)
90+ years old: 1 new case (409 total cases)
The ages of three people with COVID-19 remain unknown.
VACCINES
Ontario administered 8,859 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday and had given out 122,105 doses across the province as of 8 p.m. Sunday. The province says 5,884 people have so far received both doses of the vaccine.
Health Canada says the province had received 196,125 total doses of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as of Jan. 7
The Ottawa Hospital said Friday a total of 11,000 doses had been administered locally, but they announced a pause in vaccination appointments over the weekend due to a dwindling supply.
“After Saturday, the clinic is expected to be paused and resume operations towards the end of next week. The remaining vaccine doses available will be provided to (long-term care) residents as a priority, and individuals requiring second doses to ensure they receive their vaccine within the 21 to 28 days period, as per Pfizer requirements,” a statement from the Ottawa Hospital said.
TESTING
Ontario health officials say 46,403 COVID-19 tests were completed on Sunday across the province and 28,774 tests remain under investigation.
The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce will have an update on local testing figures this afternoon.
CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION
Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 69 new cases
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 5 new cases
Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 5 new cases
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 4 new cases
Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 7 new cases
INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 32 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.
An outbreak at Guardian Angels School has ended. New outbreaks have been declared at an Andrew Fleck Children’s Services location and at Hillel Lodge long-term care home.
Two new community outbreaks were reported on Monday. There are eight active community outbreaks.
Two involve retail workplaces, one is in a multi-unit dwelling, one is linked to a private event at a social setting, one is linked to sports and recreation, one is at a distribution workplace, one is at a health workplace, and one is at a services workplace.
The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
Andrew Fleck Children’s Services (NEW)
The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
Alta Vista Manor
Besserer Place
Carleton Lodge
Carlingview Manor
Centre D’Accueil Champlain
Chartwell Duke of Devonshire Retirement Home
Colonel By Retirement Home
Extendicare Laurier Manor
Extendicare Medex
Extendicare New Orchard Lodge
Extendicare Starwood
Extendicare West End Villa
Forest Hill
Garry J. Armstrong long-term care home
Grace Manor Long-term Care Home
Granite Ridge long-term care home
Group Home – 27915
Group Home – 28608
Hillel Lodge (NEW)
Manoir Marochel
Maplewood Retirement Community
Portobello Retirement Residence
Redwoods Retirement Residence
Riverpath Retirement Community
Royal Ottawa Place
Shelter – 27549
Shelter – 28365
Sisters of Charity Couvent Mont Saint-Joseph
Sisters of Charity Maison Mère
Supported Independent Living – 28110
Valley Stream Retirement Residence
A single laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home or shelter triggers an outbreak response, according to Ottawa Public Health. In childcare settings, a single confirmed, symptomatic case in a staff member, home daycare provider, or child triggers an outbreak.
Under provincial guidelines, a COVID-19 outbreak in a school is defined as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before or after school care).
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
