COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Aug. 5, 2021

Downtown Ottawa on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Quebec's premier says new public health measures will be announced in the coming days
• Ontario says unvaccinated students won't face any different rules within class settings when school begins in the fall
• Ottawa hospitals say more than 80 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated
• Ottawa Public Health reports five new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday

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

• New COVID-19 cases: Five new cases on Wednesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,821
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 3.8
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 0.5 per cent (seven day average)
• 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 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

New public health measures to be announced in coming days: Quebec premier

Premier Francois Legault says more public health measures will be on the way as daily COVID-19 cases tick upwards in the province.

In a Facebook post, Legault called the increase in cases "worrying," adding the government will announce new measures over the coming days.

"It's more important than ever to go get your two doses of vaccines."

Quebec's healthy ministry reported 92 per cent of new COVID-19 cases between July 1 and 24 involved unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people.

Customers enter Les Promenades shopping centre in Gatineau.

Unvaccinated students won't face any different rules within class setting, Ontario confirms

The Ontario government says unvaccinated children will not face different rules than their vaccinated classmates within schools this fall.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told reporters COVID-19 vaccines will not be mandatory for students and school staff.

"I do not anticipate a different approach, whether a child is vaccinated or unvaccinated on any activities within the school setting," Moore said Wednesday.

Moore said school staff will also not be told which students are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

FILE - AN empty teacher's desk is pictured at the front of a empty classroom at Mcgee Secondary school in Vancouver on Sept. 5, 2014. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

Ottawa hospitals report high COVID-19 vaccination rates among staff amid calls for mandatory vaccines

As the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Nurses Association call for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for health care workers, Ottawa hospitals are reporting high vaccine uptake among doctors, nurses and staff.

The Ottawa Hospital says over 90 per cent of physicians and residents and 85 per cent of all staff at the three campuses have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.  The Montfort Hospital says 81 per cent of staff members are fully vaccinated, while the Queensway Carleton Hospital says over 85 per cent of staff had reported being fully vaccinated.

At CHEO, over 90 per cent of staff, including doctors and nurses, are fully vaccinated.

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)

Data cleanup results in seven fewer COVID-19 cases in Ottawa; 5 new cases, 12 removed

Ottawa Public Health reported five new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday.

However, a data cleanup resulted in 12 cases removed from Ottawa's COVID-19 pandemic total after an investigation found the individuals did not live in Ottawa.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 27,821 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 593 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram