Very high flu level detected in Ottawa wastewater, COVID-19 and RSV moderate

Recent developments:

• OPH says fluwastewater level is very high, whileCOVID-19 andRSVare moderate.
• Ottawa's other COVIDtrends are mostly stable.
• The city's count of other kinds of respiratory outbreaks keeps climbing.
• Ottawa's weeklyCOVID vaccine pace keeps up.
• The wider region passes 2,000 reported COVID deaths.

The latest guidance

Officials in Ontario and Quebec say the health-care system, particularly for children, is under extraordinary pressure because ofCOVID-19,earlyflu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)seasons, as well asa medication shortage.

Theystrongly recommendpeople wear masks indoors. Staying home when sick, keeping hands and surfaces cleanand keeping up-to-date with COVID and flu vaccines are also recommendedto help keep vulnerable people safe.

• Flu rising sharply in Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam says
• Flu shot to be free for all Quebecers starting Friday

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) saidThursdaythat flu levels are very high in the city's wastewater, whileRSVand COVID levels aremoderate.

Ontario and Quebec flu test positivity isincreasing.RSV positivity has plateaued in Ontario and is dropping in Quebec.

Akwesasne's elected council and school board have brought back a mask mandate. A vote on a mask mandate for Ottawa's English public board Thursday night ended in a tie and failed to pass.

Wastewater

The weekly average level of coronavirusin Ottawa's wastewater ismoderate, according to OPH.

While the research team hasn't updated its page, OPH says that as of Nov. 22 the average has slowly droppedthis month and sits ata level last seen in June.

Tests, outbreaks and deaths

Testing strategieschangedunderthe Omicron variant, meaning manyCOVID-19 casesaren't reflected incounts. Public health officials now only trackand reportoutbreaksin health-care settings.

Ottawa's COVID test positivity rate is 14 per cent, which has been generally stable for 10 days. OPH considers this high.

There are 23active COVID outbreaks in Ottawa. This is moderate, according to OPH, and the number has beendropping.

The health unit also reports two flu outbreaks, while"other" respiratory outbreaks nearly allin child-care settings have risen to 50.

OPH reported 152 more COVID cases over three daysand the deaths of two people in their 70s and 80swith COVID.

In all,965Ottawa residents who had COVID have died since the start of the pandemic, including355of them this year.

Hospitals

OPH's count of active, local COVID-19 hospital patients is 20, according toTuesday's update, with twopatientsin intensive care.

This is more than in recent updates, andOPH is no longer saying there are any data irregularities with this count.

The health unit says the number of COVID hospital admissions is moderate.

There is another count that includesotherpatients, such as peopleadmitted for other reasons who then test positive for COVID, those admitted for lingering COVIDcomplications, and thosetransferred from other health units.

That number slightly increased Friday and is generally stable.

Vaccines

About 12,300 COVID-19 vaccine doses were given to Ottawa residents in the last week, roughly on par with recent weeks' pace.

More than 10,000 were fourth doses.

• 'Our children are suffering': Federal health minister calls for COVID, flu shots for kids

As of the most recent weekly update, 93per cent of Ottawa residents aged five and up had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose,90 per cent had at least two and 61 per cent at least three.

Thirty-two per cent of Ottawans aged 12 and older had at least four.

About 8,800residents younger than five have had a first dose, which isabout 19 per cent of Ottawa's population of that age group. About 3,250, or sevenper cent, have had two.

Across the region

Spread

Wastewater trends aremixedin the Kingston areaand stable across the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) except for a rise in Hawkesbury.

Data from other areas is out of date or unavailable.

COVID-19 test positivity has dropped to around nine per cent in Renfrew County and to around 11 per cent in the EOHU.

TheEOHU's Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said in a YouTube update Wednesday that as flu and RSVburden the health-care system, COVID indicators there are dropping or stable.

WATCH | The medical officer of health's update:

Hospitalizations and deaths

Western Quebec's health authority,CISSSO,reporteda stable 73COVID-19hospitalizations.Noneof the patients are in intensive care.

Eastern Ontario communities outsideOttawa reportabout 45COVID hospitalizations, sevenof them are in intensive care. Both have been dropping.

That regional countdoesn'tincludeHastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health,which has a different counting method. Its count droppedbelow 10 Tuesday for the first time since August.

CISSSOhas reported its 138th COVID death of 2022 and its 361st overall. The EOHU reported two more of these deaths, bringing its total to 272.

Renfrew County's health unit reported three more deaths in two weeks for a total of 80 (it was doing a data audit and didn't give an update last week).

This is by far the deadliest year for reported COVID-19 deaths in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region, with more than 900 reported victims so far. The region surpassed 2,000 reported COVID deaths this week.

Six of the sevenlocal health authoritieshavereported moreCOVID deaths in 2022 than either 2020 or 2021. Ottawa is the exception.

Nationally,people dying of COVIDin the later months of 2022have generally been older, living with pre-existing conditions, orundergoing immune-suppressing treatments.

Vaccines

Across eastern Ontario, between 81 and92 per cent of residents age five and up have received at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses, and between 53 and65 per cent of those residentshave hadat leastthree.