COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 11, 2021

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Patios and non-essential businesses reopen as Ottawa enters Step 1 in Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen plan
• Ottawa opening 10,000 new COVID-19 vaccine appointments this weekend
• 25 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday
• Ottawa Catholic School Board ending formal instruction for all classes three days early
• Queensway Carleton Hospital offers $10,000 signing bonus to attract nurses

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 25 new cases on Thursday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,359
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 23.8
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.2 per cent (June 2-8)
• Reproduction Number: 0.80 (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 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 6 p.m.
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
• 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.
• 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 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 enters Step 1 of the Roadmap to Reopen plan

For the first time in 69 days, bar and restaurant patios are open for business in Ottawa as the province enters Step 1 of the Roadmap to Reopen plan.

The Ontario government took the first step in reopening Ontario's economy at 12:01 a.m., with the focus on more outdoor activities with smaller crowds where risk of transmission is lower.

Under Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen, outdoor social gatherings and organized public events with up to 10 people are permitted.  Indoor gatherings with people outside your household remain prohibited.

Here's is a look at what's allowed to open in Ottawa in Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen plan:

• Outdoor dining with up to four people per table, with exceptions for larger households
• Non-essential retail permitted at 15 per cent capacity, with no restrictions on the goods that can be sold
• Essential and other select retail permitted at 25 per cent capacity, with no restrictions on the goods that can be sold
• Outdoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services, capped at the number of people that can maintain a physical distance of two metres
• Outdoor fitness classes, outdoor groups in personal training and outdoor individual/team sporting training to be permitted with up to 10 people
• Movie theatre drive-ins are permitted to open

Ottawa opening 10,000 new COVID-19 vaccine appointments this weekend

The city of Ottawa says 10,000 new COVID-19 vaccination appointments will be open this weekend at the Infinity Convention Centre.

In an interview on CTV News at Five with Matt Skube, emergency and protective services general manager Anthony Di Monte said Ottawa is adding another 10,000 appointments for the Infinity Centre this weekend.

"Five-thousand are additional doses that we were given late this week by the province, which is great, and another 5,000 that we had planned to use through another source that won't be used, so we're adding that as well to the system," said Di Monte.

The appointments are available between June 12 and 14 at the Infinity Convention Centre on Gibford Drive.

Residents can visit Ontario.ca/bookvaccine to access the provincial booking system or call the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

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)

25 new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa on the eve of Step 1 of reopening plan

Ottawa Public Health reported 25 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday, on the eve of Ottawa moving into Step 1 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen plan.

One new death linked to the virus was also announced.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, 2020, there have been 27,359 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 584 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Ottawa Catholic School Board ending formal instruction for all classes three days early

The Ottawa Catholic School Board is ending the school year a few days early, to give students a chance to return books, computers and other supplies to schools and say goodbye to their teachers.

The final day of instruction was originally scheduled for Thursday, June 24.

In a letter to parents, the board says formal instruction for all classes in Kindergarten to Grade 12 will now end on June 21.

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 hospital offering $10,000 signing bonus to attract new nurses

The Queensway Carleton Hospital is hoping a financial incentive will attract retired, unemployed and out of province nurses to work in its emergency department, as it deals with a significant nursing shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are currently over 60 full-time and part-time nursing jobs available at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, including close to 20 full-time positions in the emergency department.

In a statement on Twitter, the Queensway Carleton Hospital advertised it's hiring Registered Nurses for its emergency department.

"You may be eligible for a $10,000 signing bonus," said QCH on Twitter.

Workers at the Queensway Carleton Hospital plan to march Thursday to demand an expansion to Ontario's pandemic pay boost for front-line workers. (Chris Black / CTV News Ottawa)