The number of confirmed COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) spiked in Ottawa over the past 24 hours as the city’s public health unit reports a series of troubling new figures in the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Ottawa Public Health reported 242 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest single-day increase in new cases locally.
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There have now been 19,030 cases of the virus in Ottawa since the start of the pandemic, with more than 2,000 now considered active.
OPH is also saying Friday that the number of mutated and VOC cases of the virus locally is much higher than previously reported.
The health unit’s COVID-19 dashboard now shows 1,623 cases are confirmed to be some variant or mutated strain, up from 613 reported as of Thursday.
Six deaths are now linked to COVID-19 variant cases, OPH says, one more than the day before.
The number of COVID-19 patients in Ottawa hospitals is also hitting new highs on Friday.
There are 71 people in hospital with COVID-19 locally, up from 69 on Thursday, with 24 people now in the intensive care units.
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The coronavirus positivity rate in Ottawa has also grown to 9.2 per cent in the past week, up from 8.8 per cent in the previous period.
Four new COVID-19 outbreaks were added to OPH’s dashboard on Friday affecting local schools, raising the number of ongoing outbreaks in schools and child-care settings to 15.
Two new outbreaks are tied to workplaces in Ottawa, with the number of overall ongoing outbreaks in the city at 45.
Ottawa continues to vaccinate more people each day as supply allows, with Thursday seeing 8,215 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered locally, the highest single-day count of the pandemic.
The city has so far received 223,150 vaccine doses according to Friday’s update, with 84 per cent of that supply administered.
More than 150,000 Ottawa residents have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with just over 25,415 people having received both doses.
Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, will update the public on the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic alongside Mayor Jim Watson at 1 p.m. on Friday.
