Ottawa sets new daily record with 183 COVID-19 cases

Ottawa has set another grim record with 183confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in a single day.

According to Thursday's report from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), one more person has died, bringing the city's death toll to 296, while only113 more cases are now considered resolved, raising the number of active cases in the city to 879.

About two-thirds of Ottawa's newly confirmed cases are people under 40.

Complicating matters is a serious testing backlog. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1,700 tests were waiting to be processed in Ottawa.

Today's COVID-19 data is frankly alarming.- Coun. Keith Egli

According to OPH, residents are getting their test results within 48 hours just 12 per cent of the time, so the vast majority of the new cases reported Thursday represent tests carried out days ago.

A total of 5,153Ottawa residentshave now tested positive for COVID-19;3,978 of those cases are considered resolved.

Note: This graph has been changed from a five-day average to aseven-day average of newly confirmed cases to reflect epidemiological best practices: a seven-day average evens outthe impact of lower testing on weekends.

"Today's COVID-19 data is frankly alarming," said Coun. Keith Egli, chair of Ottawa's board of health,during an OPH news conference Thursday. "We are falling behind."

Dr. Brent Moloughney, associate medical officer of health for OPH, warned residents about the record-breaking cases, citing that both cases and hospitalizations have doubled since the week of Sept. 13.

"We continue to see more hospitalizations, more outbreaks, and most unfortunately, more deaths," said Moloughney. "We are not seeing the curve slow down."

WATCH | Don't gather for Halloween, trick-or-treating guidance coming soon, says Moloughney:

Trick-or-treating still up in the air for Ottawa residents, OPH says

4 years ago

Duration 1:12

Brent Moloughney, associate medical officer of health, says residents should not host or attend Halloween gatherings, but guidance on safe trick-or-treating is still on the way.

Four more Ottawa residents are now in hospital with COVID-19for a total of 32 patients, sevenof them in intensive care.

There are currently 12school outbreaks in Ottawa with four added Thursday: Berrigan Public School,cole lmentaire catholique Sainte-Marie, cole secondaire publique Louis-Rielandcole secondaire catholique Garneau.

The outbreak at theLyce Claudelprivate school is over.

To drive home the point that residents should be limiting contact to those within their households, OPHsharedanother real world example Thursday of what can happen whenpeople don'tfollow public health rules.

According to OPH, one person with mild symptoms attended a wedding in September, infecting 12 other guests. As a result, the virus was spread further to schools and a group home.