COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Aug. 2, 2021
Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
- Public Services and Procurement Canada says about 200 employees will be returning to offices in Ottawa and Gatineau this week.
- Ottawa's hospitals are once again COVID-19 free.
- COVID-19 restrictions have loosened further in Quebec.
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
- New COVID-19 cases: Five new cases on Sunday
- Total COVID-19 cases: 27,820
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 4.1
- Positivity rate in Ottawa: 0.5 per cent (seven day average)
- Reproduction Number: 1.08 (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 are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort travelling out of country for medical treatment;
- 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.
Long-term care staff, caregivers, volunteers and visitors who are fully immunized against COVID-19 are not required to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering or visiting a long-term care home.
Where to get tested for COVID-19 in Ottawa:
The following sites will be open for COVID-19 testing in Ottawa on Monday.
- COVID-19 CHEO Assessment Centre and Kids Come First Care Clinic at Brewer Park Arena is open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- COVID-19 Assessment Centre for Adults at Brewer Park Arena open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre on Coventry Road open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre in Kemptville open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
To book an appointment at an assessment centre, visit the Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 Testing Information page.
COVID-19 screening tool:
The COVID-19 screening tool for summer camp children and staff. All campers and staff must complete the COVID-19 School and Childcare screening tool daily.
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
A slow trickle back to the office for the federal public service
After a year and a half of working from home, a number of federal public servants in the national capital region will be returning to the office this week.
Public Services and Procurement Canada told CTV News Ottawa in an email that about 200 employees have volunteered to be part of a pilot project that would see them return to offices in Ottawa and Gatineau. The "pathfinder project", as it's known, will inform a broader plan for a return to the workplace for the federal public service.
Workers will begin returning to their offices, if they so choose, starting Tuesday.
PSPC does not have a timeline for a full return to the workplace yet. Tens of thousands of federal public servants in the national capital region have been working from home since March 2020.
File photo of downtown Ottawa. (Photo by Robbie Palmer of Unsplash)
Five new cases Sunday but hospitals are empty
Ottawa Public Health said Sunday another five people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa, but local hospitals are free of COVID-19 patients.
The new cases reported Sunday bring Ottawa's pandemic total to 27,820.
No new deaths were reported in Ottawa on Sunday. The pandemic death toll stands at 593 residents.
Five more cases are considered resolved, holding the number of confirmed active cases steady.
There are zero active COVID-19 outbreaks in the city, according to OPH.
Quebec lifts further COVID-19 restrictions
Quebec has lifted several additional COVID-19 restrictions, including last call at bars.
As of Sunday, Bars and restaurants are now permitted to serve alcohol until 1 a.m. and can remain open until 2 a.m.
Up to 15,000 people are now permitted to attend in pre-assigned seats at outdoor festivals. Indoor stadiums and auditoriums can seat up to 7,500 people with assigned seating. There must be at least one empty seat between people from different households.
Quebec does not report COVID-19 cases on weekends anymore, but added 125 new infections on Friday.
A man walks by a sign advising people of COVID-19 prevention measures in Montreal, Saturday, July 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.