Ottawa's active COVID-19 cases drop to lowest since August

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) says the number of known active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa has dipped below 300, the lowest it's been in three months.

OPH logged 23 new cases of COVID-19 and declared 55 more cases resolved Wednesday, lowering the number of known active cases in the city to 287, the fewest since late August.

Hospitalizations have dropped to 22 patients, including just one in intensive care. That's the lowest number since late September.

Other indicators including the rate of positive tests and COVID-19 levels in the city's wastewater continue to trend in a positive direction.

Four more people have died of COVID-19 in Ottawa, three of them linked to outbreaks in health-care facilities, according to OPH. Those latest fatalities raise the city's death toll to 372.

Western Quebec reported 27 new cases of COVID-19, but no more deaths. The region reported five deaths on Tuesday.

Western Quebec currently has more active cases and hospitalizations than Ottawa, despite having a significantly smaller population.

OPH is reporting new outbreaks at Manordale Public School and the Ottawa Technical Secondary School. That brings the total number of outbreaks in the city to 29, including nine long-term care homes, six schools and one hospital.