22nd person dies of COVID-19 in Ottawa
Another person has died from COVID-19 in Ottawa, bringing the city's death toll to 22.
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) reported the latest death in its Saturday update, one day after seven new deaths from the respiratory illness were announced Friday — the city's deadliest day since the pandemic began.
In all, Ottawa has seen 757 laboratory-confirmed cases, with 29 new cases reported since Friday.
According to OPH, 328 cases are considered resolved — meaning the person's symptoms have gone away and they're no longer in isolation.
16 institutional outbreaks
As of last Saturday, there were 494 confirmed cases. Confirmed cases are just a snapshot because of the limits of testing, and there are likely thousands more.
Outbreaks have also been declared at 16 institutions across the city — including at the Élisabeth Bruyère Residence, a long-term care home operated by the Bruyère Hospital.
The hospital said in a statement Saturday that one of its employees had tested positive Thursday night for COVID-19, after taking shifts at both the care home and the hospital's Saint-Vincent and Élisabeth Bruyère campuses.
The worker contracted COVID-19 from "a close contact in the community," the hospital said, and was not showing symptoms while on the job.
"Since the source of the transmission is known, the circumstances do not warrant the declaration of an outbreak at our hospital sites," the statement said.
485 new cases in Ontario
Ontario reported 485 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday morning, bringing the official number to more than 10,000.
A total of 514 people have died of the virus in Ontario, according to the provincial government.
According to local health officials, 10 new cases have also been reported in the Outaouais, bringing the region's total to 202 as of Saturday afternoon.
