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The first death in Ottawa attributed to the novel coronavirus was reported to Ottawa Public Health on Wednesday.

“The individual, a man in his 90s, was living at home,” a media release from the City of Ottawa said. “He had no travel history. He developed a fever on March 15. He was seen in the emergency department of The Ottawa Hospital and admitted on March 20 and died on March 25, 2020. As with other people with diagnosed with COVID-19, (Ottawa Public Health) will not be discussing any further details in order to protect personal health information.

Earlier in the day, Mayor Jim Watson declared a municipal state of emergency, saying that would allow the city to “deploy our emergency operations in a quicker and more nimble fashion.”

He made the announcement at city council’s first-ever virtual meeting.

“Among other things, it will enable a more flexible procurement process, which will help us to rapidly purchase the equipment that our frontline workers and first responders need, as it becomes available in the coming weeks,” Watson said.

As of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Ottawa Public Health was investigating 43 “confirmed or indeterminate” COVID-19 cases in Ottawa and was following up with these individuals and their close contacts.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario rose by 100 Wednesday morning: to 688 from 588 on Tuesday. There had been 13 deaths and eight resolved cases, meaning the patient was no longer considered infectious.