COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 13, 2021
Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
- Mayor Jim Watson says Ontario is sending 13,000 additional COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ottawa pharmacies
- Ontario shortens the AstraZeneca dose interval to eight weeks
- 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday
- Somerset Street restaurants get more space to set up patios on weekends
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
- New COVID-19 cases: 13 new cases on Saturday
- Total COVID-19 cases: 27,392
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 19.5
- Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.9 per cent (June 4-10)
- Reproduction Number: 0.78 (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
Ontario sending additional COVID-19 vaccines to Ottawa pharmacies, mayor says
Mayor Jim Watson says the Ontario government is sending an additional 13,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Ottawa pharmacies.
On Monday, Watson sent a letter to Premier Doug Ford, asking the province to send an additional 40,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ottawa to help meet the demand of the first and second dose appointments.
Watson told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Live with Andrew Pinsent on Saturday he received a response from Health Minister Christine Elliott.
"The province is going to send us an additional 13,000 Pfizer doses for pharmacies," said Watson Saturday morning.
"While the pharmacies are doing a great job they can't do the volume that we can. I think one day last week, we had 15,000 people in one day inoculated. Pharmacies, probably, is maybe able to do 100."
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)
Ontario shortens AstraZeneca dose interval to eight weeks
The Ontario government is shortening the wait between AstraZeneca doses from 12 weeks to eight weeks, with informed consent.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said the change was made in consultation with the chief medical officer of health and other health experts.
Beginning Monday at 8 a.m., Ottawa residents who received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be eligible to book their second dose appointment at an interval of eight weeks or more.
If you wish to receive an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) for your second dose, you can book an appointment through the provincial booking system or a participating pharmacy. If you wish to receive a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, you can contact the pharmacy or primary care provider where you received your first dose.
Empty vials of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine lie in a box during a vaccine campaign at the Vaccine Village in Ebersberg near Munich, Germany, Saturday, May 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
OPH reports 13 new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa; weekly per capita rate falls below 20
Ottawa Public Health reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday, and one new death linked to the virus.
Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, 2020, there have been 27,392 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 585 deaths.
Somerset Street restaurants get more space to set up patios on weekends
Bars and restaurants along Somerset Street West will have more space to set up their patios on weekends this summer.
After a successful pilot project last summer, the city will close Somerset Street West to vehicle traffic again.
From Thursday to Sunday, the stretch of Somerset Street from Bank to O’Connor streets turns into a one-way street during the day. But by 5 p.m. and well into the night, the road is closed to all vehicles to provide more patio space.
Somerset councillor Catherine McKenney hope to make it a permanent summertime fixture.
"I’ve received minimal amount of concern," McKenney said. "The BIA's are seeing the benefits of it."
Somerset Street will be closed to traffic between Bank Street and O'Connor Street on weekends this summer. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)
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