COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 30, 2021

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Ontario has moved into Step 2 of the provincial government's "Roadmap to Reopen" plan.
• One third of all adults in Ottawa are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
• The number of active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa is now below 90.
• A deadly COVID-19 outbreak at a City of Ottawa-run long-term care home has ended.

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

• New COVID-19 cases: One case removed from the total on Tuesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,660
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 7.4
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 0.9 per cent (June 21-27)
• Reproduction Number: 0.96 (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

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

Step 2 begins now

Ottawa is now in Step 2 of Ontario's "Roadmap to Reopen" plan.

Step 2 began at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, two days ahead of schedule. It loosens several COVID-19 restrictions across Ontario, including allowing for the reopening of salons and other personal care services. Outdoor fitness classes no longer have a cap on participants and retail has expanded capacity.

The province moved to Step 2 ahead of time as vaccination targets were met and exceeded. Step 2 required that 70 per cent of adults in Ontario have one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 20 per cent have two. As of Tuesday, those figures across Ontario were 77.53 per cent and 37.32 per cent, respectively, which meet or exceed the threshold for Step 3.

Step 2 is scheduled to last 21 days, to give health officials time to monitor case trends. Ontario's new Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Keiran Moore, said there will be no early movement to Step 3.

A person getting a haircut is seen in this file image. (Pexels)

One third of adults in Ottawa fully vaccinated

The City of Ottawa made it official Tuesday: more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Ottawa.

According to Ottawa Public Health, as of Tuesday morning, 1,015,759 vaccine doses had been administered in community clinics, pharmacies, pop-up clinics and other locations. OPH says the total includes 741,114 first doses and 274,645 second doses.

To date, 79 per cent of adults 18 and older have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 33 per cent are now fully vaccinated.

In a public service announcement, the City of Ottawa said the milestone gives people a million reasons to celebrate, but there are still many more vaccines to administer.

"These are milestones we can be proud of. But we can’t fully celebrate yet. If you have not received your first vaccine, or accelerated your second dose, now is the time. We have a steady supply of vaccines and many appointments available," the city said.

"It doesn’t matter whether you choose a community clinic, a pop-up clinic or a pharmacy for your vaccine; what matters is that you get your COVID-19 immunity started now with a first dose or completed with that critical second dose."

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)

Daily COVID-19 case counts in Ottawa remain low and active cases continue to fall

Ottawa Public Health says there are 86 known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, down from 99 on Monday.

OPH's COVID-19 dashboard is reporting a negative daily change in the total COVID-19 case count for a second time this month, with total cases dropping by one to 27,660 since the pandemic began.

Typically this means in addition to newly added cases, the health unit removed some from the total after case management determined individuals who had been listed in Ottawa's total live elsewhere. Exact numbers for how many cases were added and how many were removed were not made available Tuesday. 

OPH suggests looking at the seven-day averages and the reproduction number for a better idea of how COVID-19 is trending in Ottawa. The weekly incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 population is 7.4 in the past seven days, up slightly from 7.3 but still among the lowest levels in 2021. The weekly testing positivity rate is below 1 per cent and there are six people in hospital, with one in the ICU.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

COVID-19 outbreak ends at Centre d'accueil Champlain

The City of Ottawa says a COVID-19 outbreak has officially come to an end at a city-run long-term care home.

In a memo Tuesday afternoon, Donna Gray, the city's general manager of community and social services, said Ottawa Public Health confirmed an end to the outbreak at the Centre d’accueil Champlain because there had been no new cases at the home for 14 days.

Vaccination against COVID-19 was high among residents, but lagged among staff, with 71 per cent of employees having had at least one dose before the outbreak began. That figure climbed to 77 per cent in June but remained the lowest among the four city-run long-term care homes. A memo in early June said Carleton Lodge had an uptake rate of 83 per cent, and Garry J. Armstrong and Peter D. Clark each had 80 per cent of staff vaccinated with at least one dose.

Gray had confirmed in late May that the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) had been detected in the home and that some of the residents who had tested positive were fully vaccinated.

Ottawa's medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said fully vaccinated people can still be infected by the virus.

"Where we see vaccine failure after the two doses, the most commonly is in people over 80, so it is going to be a more vulnerable population."

The Centre d'accueil Champlain long-term care home. located on Perrier Avenue in Ottawa. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)