OTTAWA —
Ottawa Public Health says another 29 people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19.
To date, Ottawa Public Health has reported 28,582 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The pandemic death toll stands at 593 residents. No one in Ottawa has died due to COVID-19 since July 8, 2021.
Another 36 existing cases are now considered resolved, dropping the number of known active cases slightly on Monday.
The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital fell to 7 on Monday, with two in the ICU. The weekly incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 population continues to rise, but ticked up only slightly in Monday’s reporing.
Two new COVID-19 outbreaks were declared Monday, one at a day camp and one at a recreational workplace.
Ottawa Public Health has recorded 172 cases of the Delta variant in the last 30 days. No one infected with the Delta variant in Ottawa has died.
There was no reporting from the Ontario government Monday because of the Labour Day holiday. Monday’s provincial figures will be released separately on Tuesday alongside Tuesday’s figures. Similarly, Ottawa Public Health will update its COVID-19 vaccination coverage data on Tuesday.
OPH does not release daily figures on vaccination status of new cases. The health unit’s most recent data suggest that unvaccinated residents are 15 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than fully vaccinated residents are.
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Aug. 29 to Sept. 4): 23.5 (up from 23.3)
Positivity rate in Ottawa (Aug. 27 to Sept. 2): 2.2 per cent
Reproduction number (Seven day average): 1.12
Reproduction values greater than 1 indicate the virus is spreading and each case infects more than one contact. If it is less than 1, it means spread is slowing.
COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health updates vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
There was no update on Monday, Sept. 6 because of the Labour Day holiday. New data will be released on Tuesday.
As of Friday, the city has reached 80 percent full vaccination among people 12 and older.
Ottawa residents with 1 dose (12+): 793,822
Ottawa residents with 2 doses (12+): 734,170
Share of population 12 and older with at least one dose: 86 per cent
Share of population 12 and older fully vaccinated: 80 per cent
Total doses received in Ottawa: 1,402,040
*Total doses received does not include doses shipped to pharmacies and primary care clinics, but statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses includes anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
There are 313 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Monday, down from 320 active cases on Sunday.
Ottawa Public Health reported 36 newly resolved cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa. The number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 27,676.
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
There are seven people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Monday, down from eight on Sunday.
Two people are in the intensive care unit.
Age categories of people in hospital:
0-9: 0
10-19: 0
20-29: 0
30-39: 0
40-49: 3 (1 in the ICU)
50-59: 3
60-69: 1 (this person is in the ICU)
70;79: 0
80-89: 0
90+: 0
COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY
0-9 years old: Four new cases (2,411 total cases)
10-19 years-old: Seven new cases (3,711 total cases)
20-29 years-old: Six new cases (6,456 total cases)
30-39 years-old: Six new cases (4,383 total cases)
40-49 years-old: Zero new cases (3,752 total cases)
50-59 years-old: Two new cases (3,389 total cases)
60-69-years-old: Two new cases (1,992 total cases)
70-79 years-old: Zero new cases (1,104 total cases)
80-89 years-old: One new case (859 total cases)
90+ years old: One new case (522 total cases)
Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)
VARIANTS OF CONCERN
Ottawa Public Health data:
Total Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases: 6,844
Total Beta (B.1.351) cases: 513
Total Gamma (P.1) cases: 55
Total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases: 352
Percent of new cases with variant/mutation in last 30 days: 31 per cent
Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 9,478
Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 101
*OPH notes that that VOC and mutation trends must be treated with caution due to the varying time required to complete VOC testing and/or genomic analysis following the initial positive test for SARS-CoV-2. Test results may be completed in batches and data corrections or updates can result in changes to case counts that may differ from past reports.
COVID-19 TESTING IN OTTAWA
The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce reports 1,160 swabs were processed at assessment centres in Ottawa on Sept. 2
There were 2,180 lab tests performed in Ottawa on Thursday.
The average turnaround from the time the swab is taken at a testing site to the result is 20 hours.
The next update from the Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce will be relesed on Tuesday.
COVID-19 OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions and community outbreaks in Ottawa.
Community outbreaks:
Social Event – Private: One outbreak
Workplace – Recreation: One outbreak NEW
Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks:
Some Ontario doctors have started offering a free shot that can protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus while Quebec will begin its immunization program next month.
The new shot called Nirsevimab gives babies antibodies that provide passive immunity to RSV, a major cause of serious lower respiratory tract infections for infants and seniors, which can cause bronchiolitis or pneumonia.
Ontario’s ministry of health says the shot is already available at some doctor’s offices in Ontario with the province’s remaining supply set to arrive by the end of the month.
Quebec will begin administering the shots on Nov. 4 to babies born in hospitals and delivery centers.
Parents in Quebec with babies under six months or those who are older but more vulnerable to infection can also book immunization appointments online.
The injection will be available in Nunavut and Yukon this fall and winter, though administration start dates have not yet been announced.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
-With files from Nicole Ireland
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Polio cases are rising ahead of a new vaccination campaign in Pakistan, where violence targeting health workers and the police protecting them has hampered years of efforts toward making the country polio-free.
Since January, health officials have confirmed 39 new polio cases in Pakistan, compared to only six last year, said Anwarul Haq of the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication.
The new nationwide drive starts Oct. 28 with the aim to vaccinate at least 32 million children. “The whole purpose of these campaigns is to achieve the target of making Pakistan a polio-free state,” he said.
Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to the inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Most of the new polio cases were reported in the southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province.
The locations are worrying authorities since previous cases were from the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped. Authorities in Pakistan have said that the Taliban’s decision will have major repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country.
The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That’s up from six cases in 2023. Afghanistan used a house-to-house vaccination strategy this June for the first time in five years, a tactic that helped to reach the majority of children targeted, according to WHO.
Health officials in Pakistan say they want the both sides to conduct anti-polio drives simultaneously.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people with private health insurance would be able to pick up over-the-counter methods like condoms, the “morning after” pill and birth control pills for free under a new rule the White House proposed on Monday.
Right now, health insurers must cover the cost of prescribed contraception, including prescription birth control or even condoms that doctors have issued a prescription for. But the new rule would expand that coverage, allowing millions of people on private health insurance to pick up free condoms, birth control pills, or “morning after” pills from local storefronts without a prescription.
The proposal comes days before Election Day, as Vice President Kamala Harris affixes her presidential campaign to a promise of expanding women’s health care access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to undo nationwide abortion rights two years ago. Harris has sought to craft a distinct contrast from her Republican challenger, Donald Trump, who appointed some of the judges who issued that ruling.
“The proposed rule we announce today would expand access to birth control at no additional cost for millions of consumers,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Bottom line: women should have control over their personal health care decisions. And issuers and providers have an obligation to comply with the law.”
The emergency contraceptives that people on private insurance would be able to access without costs include levonorgestrel, a pill that needs to be taken immediately after sex to prevent pregnancy and is more commonly known by the brand name “Plan B.”
Without a doctor’s prescription, women may pay as much as $50 for a pack of the pills. And women who delay buying the medication in order to get a doctor’s prescription could jeopardize the pill’s effectiveness, since it is most likely to prevent a pregnancy within 72 hours after sex.
If implemented, the new rule would also require insurers to fully bear the cost of the once-a-day Opill, a new over-the-counter birth control pill that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved last year. A one-month supply of the pills costs $20.
Federal mandates for private health insurance to cover contraceptive care were first introduced with the Affordable Care Act, which required plans to pick up the cost of FDA-approved birth control that had been prescribed by a doctor as a preventative service.
The proposed rule would not impact those on Medicaid, the insurance program for the poorest Americans. States are largely left to design their own rules around Medicaid coverage for contraception, and few cover over-the-counter methods like Plan B or condoms.