Ottawa's COVID-19 new case count drops by half Wednesday

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) logged 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Wednesday's daily report after five straight days of increases in the 20s.

That brings Ottawa's confirmed case count to 2,481: 269 active, 1,948 resolved and 264 who have died.

Ten people are in a hospital getting treated for COVID-19, four of them inICU.

The number of hospitalizations are the same as Tuesday, as are the number of active cases since 13 more people have been listed as resolved.

Ottawa has now averaged more than 25 cases per report over the last two weeks, part of a trend an Ottawa Hospital expert said put it in real danger of a further surge.

Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches repeated Tuesday that the rise occurred due to people gathering without distancing and, in some cases,going to work sick.

The city and OPH are asking bars and restaurants not to allow lineups outside their businesses, as officials have found that the crowds waiting to get a seat are not social distancing or wearing masks. (Masks are only mandatory indoors in Ottawa.) New directives for how to deal with outdoor lineups are expected this week.

Ontario reported 76 new cases Wednesday, the lowest single report since March 22.

Ottawa's cases make up about 17 per cent of the provincial total, lower than Tuesday but the fifth straight report where that number has been around 20 per cent. The capital makes up six to seven per cent of the province's population.

Quebec reported176 new cases of COVID-19Wednesday.