OTTAWA -- Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
- Ottawa's top doctor wants non-essential businesses closed during the stay-at-home order
- 900 people on the waiting list for a COVID-19 vaccine at an Ottawa pharmacy
- Ottawa sees second day of fewer than 200 new COVID-19 cases
- Ontario's top doctor issues directive to cease all non-emergency surgeries immediately
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
- New COVID-19 cases: 181 cases on Wednesday
- Total COVID-19 cases: 22,405
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 190.4
- Positivity rate in Ottawa: 11.7 per cent (April 14 to April 20)
- Reproduction Number: 0.95 (seven day average)
Testing:
Who should get a test?
Ottawa Public Health says you can get a COVID-19 test at an assessment centre, care clinic, or community testing site if any of the following apply to you:
- You are showing COVID-19 symptoms;
- You have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by Ottawa Public Health or exposure notification through the COVID Alert app;
- You are a resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by Ottawa Public Health;
- You are a resident, a worker or a visitor to long-term care, retirement homes, homeless shelters or other congregate settings (for example: group homes, community supported living, disability-specific communities or congregate settings, short-term rehab, hospices and other shelters);
- You are a person who identifies as First Nations, Inuit or Métis;
- You are a person travelling to work in a remote First Nations, Inuit or Métis community;
- You received a preliminary positive result through rapid testing;
- You require testing 72 hours before a scheduled (non-urgent or emergent) surgery (as recommended by your health care provider);
- You are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort travelling out of country for medical treatment;
- You are an international student that has passed their 14-day quarantine period;
- You are a farm worker;
- You are an educator who cannot access pharmacy-testing; or
- You are in a targeted testing group as outlined in guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
Where to get tested for COVID-19 in Ottawa:
There are several sites for COVID-19 testing in Ottawa. To book an appointment, visit https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/shared-content/assessment-centres.aspx
- The Brewer Ottawa Hospital/CHEO Assessment Centre: Open Monday to Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at 300 Coventry Road: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Open Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (testing only)
- The Heron Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (testing only)
- COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Howard Darwin Centennial Arena: Open daily 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
- Southwest Ottawa COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Richmond Memorial Community Centre: Open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Centretown Community Health Centre: Open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sandy Hill Community Health Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 pm.
- Somerset West Community Health Centre: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Wednesday
Vaccine eligibility screening tool:
To check and see if you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Ottawa, click here.
COVID-19 screening tool:
The COVID-19 screening tool for students heading back to in-person classes can be found here.
Symptoms:
Classic Symptoms: fever, new or worsening cough, shortness of breath
Other symptoms: sore throat, difficulty swallowing, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, pneumonia, new or unexplained runny nose or nasal congestion
Less common symptoms: unexplained fatigue, muscle aches, headache, delirium, chills, red/inflamed eyes, croup
Ottawa's top doctor wants non-essential businesses closed during stay-at-home order
Ottawa's medical officer of health is calling on the Ontario government to shutdown all non-essential businesses, including retail for curbside pickup, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
"We need to limit the number of places that are open that provide a place for COVID-19 to be transmitted," said Dr. Vera Etches.
"We need to focus on the businesses staying open that provide food, medicines, health and safety services and products; really, truly essential services that we need and so it would be a more limited number."
Board of Health Chair Keith Egli sent a letter to the Ontario government on Tuesday, recommending Ontario only allow businesses that provide groceries, medications and products or services that are essential for the health and safety of Ontarians to open.
900 people on waiting list for COVID-19 vaccine at Ottawa pharmacy
One day after Ontario lowered the age eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine to residents 40 and older, one Ottawa pharmacy said it had 900 patients on its waiting list.
Promed Pharmacy owner Lubna Fawaz says they were just added to the list of pharmacies offering AstraZeneca last week.
"It’s been really crazy," she said. "We’ve been having calls non-stop."
They’ve received a shipment on Friday, but by Tuesday, they administered their last shot at 7 p.m.
Ottawa sees second day of fewer than 200 new COVID-19 cases
Ottawa Public Health reported 181 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, the second consecutive day with fewer than 100 cases of COVID-19 in the city.
One new death linked to novel coronavirus was also reported.
Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, 2020, there have been 22,405 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 484 deaths.
There are 118 people in Ottawa-area hospitals with COVID-19.
Ontario's top doctor issues directive to cease all non-emergency surgeries immediately
Ontario's top doctor is ordering all hospitals across the province to halt all non-emergent surgeries and non-urgent procedures immediately as people with COVID-19 continue to fill hospitals.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams issued the new directive on Tuesday.
According to the directive, the decision on postponement of surgeries "should be made using processes that are fair and transparent to all patients."
