OTTAWA -- Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
- A long line formed outside an Ottawa Loblaws after a tip that walk-in vaccinations were being offered Monday.
- Ottawa Public Health reported fewer than 200 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, but also five additional deaths from the disease.
- New figures show one third of all Ottawa residents eligible for COVID-19 vaccines have received at least one dose.
- People booking vaccine appointments on multiple wait lists are leading to dozens of cancellations and no-shows at vaccine clinics across the city.
- Ottawa police turned away dozens of drivers trying to cross into the city from Gatineau on the weekend.
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
- New COVID-19 cases: 190 cases on Monday
- Total COVID-19 cases: 23,503
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 143.4
- Positivity rate in Ottawa: 10.5 per cent (April 19 to April 25)
- Reproduction Number: 0.55 (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
Hundreds line up for COVID-19 vaccines at Ottawa Loblaws
A long line snaked around the Loblaws at College Square in Ottawa’s west end Monday morning, as residents hoped to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the store shortly after the Twitter account Vaccine Hunters Canada said the pharmacy at Loblaws was accepting walk-ins to receive the shot between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
There were approximately 100 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine available at the pharmacy Monday morning.
In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Loblaw, which operates both Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies, said there is more demand than there are doses.
190 new cases, 5 new deaths on Monday
Ottawa Public Health is reporting 190 more people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19 and five more people have died.
According to Ottawa Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard, there have been 23,503 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began. 495 residents have died. OPH also reported 290 newly resolved cases.
The number of known active cases fell again on Monday driven by a large number of newly resolved cases and the weekly incidence rate per 100,000 residents is now below 150. The estimated reproduction number, which is how many secondary cases of disease are caused by a single infected individual, has dropped significantly in the latest update to 0.55, suggesting the spread of the virus is slowing down. Anything above 1.0 means the virus is spreading.
The average weekly testing positivity rate has also dropped slightly to 10.5 per cent from 10.9 per cent.
One third of all eligible residents have first dose
One third of all residents of Ottawa who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine have had at least one dose, according to new figures from Ottawa Public Health.
In the latest update on its COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, OPH says 291,104 residents have so far had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which accounts for 33 per cent of all residents 16 and older. There are currently no COVID-19 vaccines approved for children.
Last week, 59,815 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Ottawa, a slightly higher number compared to the week prior.
Ottawa has so far received 307,470 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. No new shipments were announced on Monday. According to Health Canada, Ontario is expecting 396,630 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 235,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine this week, a portion of which will be sent to Ottawa. Last week, Ottawa received 28,080 doses of Pfizer vaccines.
Last Tuesday was the busiest day for vaccinations of the past week, with 9,598 doses administered locally.
Vaccine shopping leading to cancelled appointments, frustration for Ottawa doctor
It took 80 hours of work, but, on Monday, the team at the Kingsway Health Centre in Manotick administered 260 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine during their drive-thru clinic.
It was supposed to be 288.
“288 doses takes 80 man-hours to book. 80 man-hours. That’s insane. You can imagine if people drop out how much time was lost and resources were lost,” Dr. Alykhan Abdulla, Director of the Kingsway Health Centre said.
It’s not the time lost, or the hours that will be spent contacting the 28 people who did not show up to their appointments, that frustrates Dr. Abdulla.
It’s the thought that others could have been vaccinated in their place.
“This whole system requires you to register through something called COVAX Ontario, so it takes time and effort to [get someone] into the system. People that don’t show up to a session and have multiple bookings elsewhere actually prevent other people from getting their shots,” he said.
Police turn back dozens of vehicles on Ottawa-Gatineau bridges
Ottawa police turned back dozens of drivers trying to cross into Ottawa from Gatineau on Sunday for reasons officers deemed were not essential.
Seventy-four drivers were ordered to turn back to Quebec on Sunday between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sunday, out of 1,080 vehicles that police screened.
Police say the cross-border travellers turned away were planning to grocery shop, get take-out food and other such non-essential errands.
Ottawa police set up border checkpoints last Monday after an Ontario government directive to monitor Ontario-Quebec crossings 24/7.
However, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson decried them as wasteful and ineffective and Chief Peter Sloly said they were straining police resources.
By Tuesday evening, police stopped monitoring the crossings for 24 hours a day, instead setting up rotating daily checkpoints until the end of the stay-at-home order.
