Ottawa’s COVID-19 positivity rate dips while new cases see slight climb

After a brief dip in new COVID-19 case numbers, Ottawa is seeing a slight climb again, although the positivity rate in the community is experiencing a decline.

According to Ottawa Public Health, the city recorded 18 new cases in the city on Saturday — that’s up from the 13 reported on Friday.

This means Ottawa is on its 36th day of reporting case numbers under 100.

This brings the total case count since the pandemic started to 27,544.

The positivity rate, though, is now at 2.9 per cent — down from 3.6 per cent from the day before.

One new death has also been reported, bringing the local death toll to 588.

Active cases have dropped to 217. That means 28 cases have cleared in the last 24 hours.

The total number of resolved cases since the start of the pandemic are now at 26,739.

There is one less person in hospital, bringing the current total to 12. 

However, one patient has been sent to the ICU, meaning five people are now in the unit.

The number of patients in hospital has fallen by and in the ICU remain the same at 12 and five, respectively.

There is only one new outbreak declared at a healthcare institution, bringing the current ongoing total to six.

Only one new outbreak has been declared in the community as well, bringing the number of ongoing outbreaks to three.

There are no new outbreaks in childcare centres or schools, keeping the current total at one.

The incidence rate also saw a bit of a tumble to 15.9 per 100,000, from Friday’s 16.5.

According to the Ontario government, the Eastern Ontario and Renfrew County and District Health Unit have both reported no new cases.

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit, however, did record two new cases.

On Saturday, Ontario reported 355 new cases and 13 deaths — that's up from yesterday’s one death.

This means Ontario has had 541,880 cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic.

The provincial death toll now stands at 9,007.

Saturday marks Ontario's fourth day of reporting new case numbers in the 300s, and sixth day of reporting cases under 500.