COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 6, 2021

Cloth face masks hang to dry on a clothesline. (Photo by Jacek Pobłocki on Unsplash)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Ottawa is not receiving its fair share of COVID-19 vaccine doses, mayor says
• Ottawa Public Health reported three new COVID-19 related deaths on Saturday
• One Ontario region is now COVID-19 free with zero active cases

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 31 cases on Saturday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,265
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days):  31.9
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.5 per cent (May 28 to June 3)
• Reproduction Number: 0.86 (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 is not receiving its fair share of COVID-19 vaccine doses, mayor says

Mayor Jim Watson says the city of Ottawa is still not getting its fair share of COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Ontario government.

City staff have spent the weekend working with the Ontario government to secure more doses of vaccine, as the province accelerates the second dose timeline for residents 70 and older.

"We have frustration with the province because they continuously lower the age limits, but they don't give us a corresponding increase in doses so it creates this level of frustration," said Watson in an interview on CTV News at Six with Christina Succi.

Starting Monday, Ottawa residents 70 and older, along with residents who received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine before April 18, will be able to book an earlier second dose appointment.

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 cases in Ottawa drop on Saturday, but OPH reports three new deaths

Ottawa Public Health reported 31 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday, and three new deaths linked to the virus.

Since the first case of COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, there have been 27,265 cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 577 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

One Ontario region is now COVID-19 free with zero active cases

There is one health unit in Ontario without a single active case of COVID-19.

Timiskaming Health Unit, located about 310 kilometres north of Sudbury, is the only health unit of Ontario’s 34 without a current case. 

Toronto has 2,514 active cases of COVID-19, while there are 533 active cases in Ottawa.