Still no COVID-19 patients in Ottawa ICUs despite climb in number of active cases

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa is higher than it's been in months, but local intensive care units remain clear of patients affected by the virus.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is confirming 129 new cases of COVID-19 in the city on Monday, December 13. There have been 595 new cases confirmed in the last seven days. The health unit says it's linked 364 cases to the Delta variant and eight cases to Omicron over the last 30 days.

OPH says it knows of 733 active cases of COVID-19 in the community. The number hasn't been that high since mid-September.

There are just six people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 as of Monday. Local ICUs have been clear of COVID patients since Friday.

There are 25 schools, three childcare centres and two healthcare institutions still affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. OPH is also monitoring three community outbreaks linked to a religious organization, an office workplace and sports and recreation.

No new COVID-19 deaths leaves the city's pandemic death toll at 618.

Residents being tested for COVID-19 in Ottawa are seeing positive results 3.8 per cent of the time.

According to Ottawa's vaccination dashboard, 91 per cent of residents over the age of 12 have had at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and 89 per cent have now had both necessary to be considered immunized. The health unit says 88 per cent of residents over the age of five have had one shot against COVID-19 and 82 per cent have had two. More than 40 per cent of local kids between the ages of five and 11 have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

The rate of infection among Ottawa's unvaccinated vaccine-eligible population is three times higher than it is for the fully vaccinated population. The local rate of infection per 100,000 residents for those vaccinated against the virus is at 17.3, whereas the rate for those unvaccinated (or vaccinated with one dose under 14 days) is 52.8. The rate per 100,000 residents for those who are waiting for their second shot is 40.3.

Ontario is reporting 1,536 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death on Monday. This is the sixth straight day Ontario has reported more than 1,000 daily infections.

There have been 32,964 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa (31,613 resolved) since March of 2020.