COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Aug. 26, 2021

A server brings an order to patrons on a steakhouse's outdoor patio in Ottawa on the first day of Ontario's first phase of re-opening amidst the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Friday, June 11, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Face masks remain mandatory in Ottawa as municipal mask bylaw expires
• Eastern Ontario's top doctor suggests vaccination certificates "inevitable" in Ontario
• Ontario reports 660 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, 19 in Ottawa
• Ottawa begins offering third COVID-19 vaccine doses to most vulnerable residents
• Sunwing flying to 11 warm destinations from Ottawa this winter

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 19 new cases on Wednesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 28,175
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 13.2
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.5 per cent (seven day average)
• Reproduction Number: 1.03 (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:

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 Friday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at 300 Coventry Road: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
• The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre (Kemptville) – 15 Campus Drive: Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 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, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday

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

Face masks still mandatory in Ottawa as municipal bylaw expires

Ottawa's Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw expires today, but Ottawa Public Health says you will still need to wear a mask in indoor public places and workplaces.

Face masks are still mandatory under Step 3 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen plan, requiring businesses and organizations to ensure patrons and workers wear masks indoors.

Council decided not to extend the Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw beyond Aug. 26. The bylaw came into effect in July 2020, after medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches issued a directive making masks mandatory in indoor public spaces and workplaces.

"The city's decision not to extend its own Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw beyond its expiration date of Aug. 26, 2021 does not mean the need or requirement for masking will be abandoned," said the city of Ottawa in a statement.

"Province-wide masking regulations continue to be in-effect."

A sign requiring mask be worn in common areas of condo and apartment buildings is posted on a door in Ottawa. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

Vaccination certificates' inevitable' in Ontario: Eastern Ontario top doctor

Eastern Ontario's medical officer of health suggests it is inevitable that Ontario will need to introduce a proof of vaccination system this fall so residents can prove they have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Quebec government will implement a vaccine passport on Sept. 1, which will be used to access non-essential services. British Columbia has announced plans for a vaccine passport.

"I do believe that the first thing that Ontarians need given the growing number of institutions, hospitals, businesses and so on that we're hearing on a daily basis that increase that have mandates, we do need to have an Ontario wide what I call a vaccine certificate," said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis.

"Just to have a standardized approach, because there's going to be thousands of thousands of people needing to show proof."

Ontario reports 660 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, 19 cases in Ottawa

Ottawa Public Health reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, the 17^th straight day with double-digit case numbers.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in March 2020, there have been 28,175 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 593 deaths.

The 19 new cases on Wednesday follows 16 cases on Tuesday and 22 cases on Monday.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

 

Sunwing flying to 11 warm destinations from Ottawa this winter

Ottawa sun-seekers will be able to travel to 11 warm destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico this winter on Sunwing Airlines, as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease.

The airlines announced flights will depart the Ottawa International Airport for 11 destinations weekly between November and April 2022.

 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Ottawa begins offering third COVID-19 vaccine dose to most vulnerable residents

Ottawa residents most at risk of serious illness, including those who are severely immunocompromised, can now receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, third doses will also be offered to residents of long-term care homes and the highest risk retirement homes in Ottawa, five months after the second dose.

Ottawa Public Health says residents who meet the criteria can speak to their specialist or hospital program to ask for a letter to receive a third dose.  The third dose of vaccine will be given at least two months after the second dose and will match the vaccine received as the second dose.

Those eligible for the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine include:

• Transplant recipients (including solid organ transplant and hematopoietic stem cell transplants)
• Patients with hematological cancers (examples include lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia) on active treatment (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy)
• Recipients of an anti-CD20 agent (examples include rituximab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab)

Health-care worker Thi Nguyen administers Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a COVID-19 clinic in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)