The number of COVID-19 cases in Ottawa’s three east end wards saw a slight uptick in the two-week period between and Feb. 9 and Feb. 22.

According to the last update of Ottawa Public Health’s COVID Ward Map, there were 91 cases reported in Orléans, Innes and Cumberland Wards between Feb. 9 and Feb. 22, that’s up slightly from the 80 cases reported between Jan. 25 and Feb 8.

Among the three east end wards only Orléans Ward saw a decrease in the number of cases, dropping from 27 cases between Jan. 25 and Feb. 8 to just 24 cases during the most recent two-week period.

Innes Ward saw an increase in its number of confirmed cases during the same period, going from 24 cases between Jan. 25 and Feb. 8 to 33 cases between Feb. 9 and Feb. 22, and the number of cases in Cumberland increased from 29 to 41.

The slight increase in cases in the east end runs counter to an overall decrease in new cases city-wide.

According to the Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, there were 603 new cases in Ottawa between Feb. 8 and Feb. 22, down from 638 new cases during the previous two-week period. As of yesterday, there were 457 active cases in Ottawa; that’s up more than 10 per cent from two weeks previous when there were 402 active cases on Feb. 11.

The daily positivity rate has remained below two per cent 10 of the past 14 days, the exceptions were on Feb. 15 and 16 when it was at 2.5 and 3.3 per cent respectively, and Feb. 20 and 21 when it was at 2.7 and 3.0 per cent.

Another leading indicator of the impact of the COVID-19 virus is the number of hospitalizations it has caused. In Ottawa, the number of people being treated for the coronavirus still remains relatively low at 21. Unfortunately, the number of people in intensive care has increased from just three a little over a week ago to eight as of today.

Forty-five people have died since Jan. 1. Nine people have died due to COVID related complications in the past two weeks, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Ottawa to 437.

The recent upward trend in new case has Ottawa Public Health officials warning the city might have to move into the red-control restrictions less than two weeks after non-essential businesses were allowed to reopen.

According to the provincial guidelines a region must move into the red zone if the weekly incidence rate is 40 per 100,000 or more and the positivity is 2.5 per cent or higher. At present, Ottawa’s incident rate 36.9 per 100,000 and the average positivity rate for the past seven days is 2.3 per cent.

Under the red zone designation, indoor dining at restaurants is limited to a maximum total of just 10 people and private indoor gatherings are also limited to just 10 people.