OTTAWA -- Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.

Fast Facts:

  • Ottawa family doctors host drive-thru and walk-in clinics to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to patients and essential workers
  • Ottawa sees lowest one-day increase in new cases of COVID-19 since April 11
  • Premier Doug Ford calls for ban on non-essential travel into Canada

COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):

  • New COVID-19 cases: 146 cases on Saturday
  • Total COVID-19 cases: 23,086
  • COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 170.1
  • Positivity rate in Ottawa: 10.9 per cent (April 16 to April 22)
  • Reproduction Number: 0.87 (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 family doctors vaccinate hundreds at drive-thru clinic

Ottawa family doctors offered a simple solution to people juggling multiple waitlists and cancelled bookings in the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.

A drive-thru clinic that vaccinated hundreds of people on Saturday.

"This is our bread and butter. We do vaccines every day, we do masked flu shot clinics every year. This is what we do. We love vaccines and frankly, we’re good at it," said Dr. Nicole Shadbolt, a family physician with the Rideau Family Health Team and one of the organizers of the drive-thru clinic at The Metropolitan Bible Church.

In the Glebe, Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth organized a clinic for essential workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

"There are a lot of people in Ottawa who haven’t been able to access the vaccine and we wanted to get it out to as many people as possible to ensure everybody would get the first dose available to them," Dr. Kaplan-Myrth said. 

COVID-19 vaccine in Ottawa

Ottawa sees lowest one-day increase in new cases since April 1

Ottawa Public Health reported 146 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday, the lowest one-day increase in new cases since April 1.

Two new deaths linked to COVID-19 were also reported in Ottawa.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, 2020, there have been 23,086 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 488 deaths.

 

Doug Ford calls for ban on non-essential travel into Canada due to B.1.617 COVID-19 variant

Premier Doug Ford is calling on the federal government to ban all non-essential travel into Canada due to COVID-19 variants.

The premier issued a statement on Saturday after 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant were confirmed in Ontario.

"The images we are seeing from other parts of the world right now are heartbreaking,” Ford said. “These deadly new variants are causing devastation in India and other countries. We can’t let that happen here."

The B.1.617 double mutant variant was first discovered in India in March.

On Friday, Canada implemented a 30-day ban on all commercial and private flights from India and Pakistan.

Doug Ford