Key COVID-19 numbers in the Ottawa area today

• Ottawa's coronavirus wastewater average rises again.
• Hospitalization trends vary.
• Three Belleville-area residents with COVID have died.

Today's Ottawa update

The average level of coronavirus in Ottawa'swastewatercontinues to quicklyrise and it's a keyindicatorof what Ottawa Public Health (OPH)calls a concerning COVID-19 resurgence.

The only seven-day stretches of the pandemic with a higher wastewater average happened during last spring's waveand the first Omicron wave this past January. Records do not include the first wave.

The bold red line in thegraph below shows the seven-day average.

When it comes to daily data,Saturday had the third-highest daily wastewater signal on record. Sunday and Monday's measurements were slightly lower, givingsome indication of a potential peak.

Eight Ottawa residents are in local hospitals being treated forCOVID-19, according to Wednesday's OPHupdate, with none in an ICU.

These numbers have been stablethis month. Increased spread may not have made its way into older age groups that are more likely to be hospitalized, one Ottawa expert said Monday.

Hospital numbersdonot includepeople who came to hospital for other reasons and then tested positive for COVID-19. They also don't cover people with lingering COVID-19problems, or patients transferredfrom other health units.

OPH shares those numbers a few times per week. They have been slowly rising.

Testing strategies have changedunderthe contagiousOmicron variant, which means many people with COVID-19aren't reflected inthe case count.

On Wednesday, OPH reported 172 moreCOVID-19 cases and nomoredeaths.

The rolling weekly incidence rate of newly confirmedCOVID-19 cases, expressed per 100,000 residents, isaround 80.

The health unit also reported 21 health-care outbreaks Wednesday, which is stable.The province's 2022testing strategy means it doesn't track other types of outbreaks.

The averagepositivity rate for those who received PCR tests outside long-term care homes is high and stablearound 17per cent. The average positivity in these homes rises to around three per cent.

As of Monday's weekly update, 92 per cent of eligible Ottawa residents have at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, 88 per cent have at least two and 62per cent of residents age 12 and up have at least three.

Across the region

Communities outside of Ottawa haveabout 55COVID-19 hospitalizations, which has been slowly rising,while about10of themremain in intensive care.

Neither of those numbersinclude Hastings Prince EdwardPublic Health, which reported three COVID-19 deaths since Mondayand a stable number of hospitalizations.

Hospitalizations are also stable in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties. Its 17 local COVID patients and five ICU patients leads the region, though.

The 10 local hospitalizations reported in western Quebec Wednesday are stable.

Wastewater trendsvary across the Kingston area. Data from other areas is at least a week old.