Ottawa Public Health is reporting fewer than 200 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday as the city continues a general decline in new coronavirus infections but faces a growing number of workplace outbreaks.
The local public health unit reported an increase of 186 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which tends to be the lowest day of the week for new cases.
The latest daily case count is well below the seven-day average of cases, however, which stood at 302.7 per day in the most recent period on OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard.
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There have now been 22,224 cases of the novel coronavirus in Ottawa since the start of the pandemic, with 3,360 cases currently considered active.
OPH also reported one new death in connection with COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the local death toll of the pandemic to 283.
There are 136 Ottawa residents in hospital with COVID-19, up slightly from Monday. There remain 34 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit.
There are currently 50 ongoing coronavirus outbreaks in Ottawa, with the largest proportion now based in community settings such as workplaces, recreation sites or private dwellings.
Of the 16 ongoing outbreaks affecting workplaces, restaurants and construction projects each account for three outbreaks, while corporate offices, warehouses and manufacturing settings each report two active outbreaks.
Dr. Vera Etches told the Ottawa Board of Health on Monday night that OPH is being “inundated” with calls about outbreaks affecting workplaces, and called for the Ontario government to shorten the list of businesses deemed essential amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
