COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 17, 2021
Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
- Ottawa's medical officer of health says Ottawa needs a 48-hour COVID-19 vaccine supply buffer in the freezer
- Some Ottawa student drivers say the first road test available in the capital is in 2022
- Active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa fall below 300 for the first time since November
- The premier will speak with Ontario's health table about moving to Step 2 early
- Ottawa's public school board ending remote classes two days early
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
- New COVID-19 cases: 22 new cases on Wednesday
- Total COVID-19 cases: 27,481
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 18.0
- Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.6 per cent (June 6-15)
- Reproduction Number: 0.93 (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 2 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
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 needs a 48-hour COVID-19 vaccine buffer in the freezer, top doctor says
Ottawa's medical officer of health says it's important to keep a 48-hour supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the freezer as a "buffer" so the city doesn't run out of vaccines before the next shipment arrives.
Dr. Vera Etches defended the two-day reserve supply as Mayor Jim Watson and the Ontario government spar over the quantity of vaccines being sent to Ottawa and how many doses are in the freezer.
"I want to let people know they can have a really strong confidence that the vaccination program in Ottawa is running smoothly," said Dr. Etches in an interview on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron.
"The vaccines come in, that we use them and there is usually a delivery on Monday and so on Sunday we usually have enough for Monday and into Tuesday, a little bit. But we need that buffer because we can't run out of vaccine on Sunday, then Monday there would be nothing to give to people on Monday and sometimes the vaccine comes in later than we anticipate."
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)
Student drivers can't find a road test appointment in Ottawa until 2022
Some Ottawa student drivers say the earliest appointment they can find for their road test in the capital is in 2022.
Drivers are scrambling to book a road test after the Ontario government resumed in-vehicle road tests, with COVID-19 restrictions in place.
Elliot Gentle, 17, describes looking at the online booking system as "all X's until April of next year."
Gentle wants to book his G2 test as soon as possible, so he took the soonest appointment he could find, and his family will be driving him six hours away to do it.
"I currently have an appointment booked in Sudbury… in October, that was the only available time spots," says Gentle.
Drive Test Centre on Walkley Road.
Active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa fall below 300 for first time since November
Ottawa Public Health reported 22 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, while the number of active cases fell to its lowest level since November.
One new death linked to the virus was announced on Wednesday.
Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, 2020, there have been 27,481 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 586 deaths.
There are 287 active cases of COVID-19 in the capital.
Doug Ford says he'll speak with Ontario's health table about moving to Step 2 early
Premier Doug Ford plans to speak with Ontario's top doctor and health table to make a decision about whether Ontario can move to Step 2 earlier.
"I'll be sitting down with the health table and Dr. (David) Williams, and we'll make that decision," Ford said about potentially moving into Step 2 early. "But no one in this province wants to open up quicker than I do."
Ontario entered Step 1 on June 11, allowing outdoor dining and non-essential businesses to open.
The three-step plan said Ontario must stay in each stage for at least 21 days.
Source: Government of Ontario
Ottawa's public school board ending remote classes two days early
Elementary school classes at Ottawa's largest school board will wrap up remote classes two days early next week to give students a chance to return books and computers.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is designating June 24 and 25 as asynchronous learning days for all elementary students, including those attending in-person specialized program classes.
The final day for remote classes will be Wednesday, June 23.
"We wanted to provide students with an opportunity to come to school, retrieve personal belongings, and say goodbye to their educators before the summer," said the OCDSB in a statement.
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)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
10 years in U.S. prison for Canadian man who stole millions with fake psychic fraud
A former Montreal resident has been sentenced to 10 years in a United States federal prison for a multi-decade fraud that manipulated more than one million Americans into sending money to fake psychics.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.