City of Ottawa lifting COVID-19 state of emergency
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has announced the municipal state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to an end.
Speaking at council on Wednesday, Watson said the state of emergency, in place since March 25, 2020, will officially end at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
"The pandemic is certainly not over, but we continue to make great progress in Ottawa in terms of high vaccination rates, low hospitalization rates and other key public health indicators," Watson said in opening remarks. "I've advised the province that the municipal state of emergency will end as of 12:01 a.m. tomorrow."
The state of emergency gives the city abilities it normally doesn’t have such as rapid procurement and reassigning staff. Emergency services general manager Anthony Di Monte said Wednesday those tools are no longer needed.
Watson says the city's emergency operations centre will move to activated operations.
"The municipal state of emergency that I declared on March 25, 2020 provided the conditions for the city to be nimble in the procurement and organization of resources, including our staff," Watson said. "I've been assured that deescalating into activated operations will not affect day-to-day operations, nor will it impede our ability to respond to future provincial direction on the pandemic."
Activated operations is the third-highest emergency response level in the city, behind a state of emergency and ahead of situational awareness operations and enhanced operations. According to a city document, Activated Operations indicates a situation that requires the engagement of the Senior Leadership Team through the mobilization of the Emergency Operations Centre.
The state of emergency was declared two weeks after Ottawa recorded its first official case of COVID-19 and eight days after Ontario declared a state of emergency due to the pandemic. At that time, Ottawa Public Health was investigating 25 confirmed and 13 indeterminate cases of COVID-19 in the city.
Watson said the strides in vaccination in Ottawa helped inform the decision to end the state of emergency locally.
"We are continuing to make strong progress in our vaccine campaign. As of today, 83 per cent of Ottawa residents 18 and older have received one dose and 67 per cent have been fully vaccinated. That is truly remarkable," he said. "To date, we have administered over 1.3 million doses in our community clinics, pharmacies, pop-up clinics, and primary care providers."
City mask bylaw to lapse
The city of Ottawa’s temporary mask bylaw is set to lapse next month, but masks will still be required in indoor public places.
Council has had to vote every three months to extend the bylaw, but they didn’t do so on Wednesday, meaning it will come to an end Aug. 26.
Di Monte explained that the city instituted the bylaw when there was no provincial tool to ensure mask-wearing, but then provincial regulations came into effect.
“We feel that provincial regulation gives us sufficient tools,” he said, adding that if the province removes regulations after Aug. 26, the city can bring its bylaw back if needed.
Associate medical officer of health Dr. Brent Moloughney said masking remains an important public health measure with a large number of people still unvaccinated.
“Masking has been very effective thing that we can do for each other to prevent transmission. Really important with asymptomatic,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.