COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 9, 2021

People relax along the shores of the Ottawa River, as a heat warning is in effect for the region with expected daytime high temperatures of 31 to 33 degrees C, in Ottawa on Sunday, June 6, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Ottawa Public Health reported another new low in daily COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
• The Quebec government has announced that the Outaouais region will see restrictions eased even more this coming Monday.
• New analysis from the Ontario COVID-19 science table suggests Ontario students are three months behind in their learning because of repeated school closures.
• COVID-19 rapid test kits are now available to local businesses in the Ottawa Valley

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 15 cases on Tuesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,335
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days):  26.8
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.3 per cent (May 31 to June 6)
• 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 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,

OPH reports new 2021 low for daily COVID-19 cases

Ottawa Public Health said Tuesday that 15 more people in the city tested positive for COVID-19, the lowest daily case count since mid-December.

There were 13 new cases reported on Dec. 15, 2020.

This came as the province sees fewer than 500 new cases for the first time in eight months, with 469 newly confirmed infections.

No new deaths were reported in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Across eastern Ontario, Public Health Ontario reported just one new case outside of Ottawa in the Renfrew County and District Public Health Unit.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Outaouais moves to yellow zone on June 14

Residents of Gatineau and the rest of the Outaouais will be able to have visitors over to their homes and can return to bars and casinos as of Monday, under Quebec's reopening plan.

The Outaouais region is one of 10 Quebec regions moving to the province's Level 2 or "yellow zone" on June 14.

Under the yellow zone, indoor gatherings are no longer prohibited but are limited to the occupants of two households. A maximum of eight people from different households or all occupants from two households are allowed to gather outdoors.

Bars and casinos can open and so can amusement and water parks.

The border between Ontario and Quebec remains closed to non-essential travel.

New analysis suggests Ontario students are about three months behind on their learning because of school closures

New analysis backs up what many parents have said for months — that Ontario students, who are losing in-class learning, have fallen behind.

Ontario public school students are likely two to three months behind in their learning because of school closures brought on by COVID-19, leading to life-long losses in their expected earnings as adults if efforts aren’t made to bring them up to speed, a new analysis by the COVID-19 Science Table said.

The research shows that there will be long-term impacts on children.

“Long-term effects on economic mobility, on the children’s own development, on the students’ own skills and learning, and all of this is going to have negative affects not only on their wellbeing, but also on their life opportunities,” says Srivastava.

It’s impossible to gain back lost time, but the science table says schools can close the learning gap in the years ahead with more instruction, and additional money invested among other recommendations.

Mother and daughter sit in front of a blank computer screen. (August de Richelieu/Pexels)

Free COVID-19 rapid tests available to small- and medium-sized businesses in the Ottawa Valley

Businesses in the Ottawa Valley are set to receive a helpful tool as they work towards reopening.

COVID-19 rapid testing kits are being made available to small and medium-sized businesses by the Greater Arnprior, Renfrew & Area, and Upper Ottawa Valley Chambers of Commerce.

The tests are free of charge and will be made available to any business with 150 or fewer employees that wants them. Delaney says the nose-swabbing tests are less invasive than some other tests and yield results within twenty minutes.

The Greater Arnprior Chamber of Commerce says they are hoping employees will test themselves on average twice per week, and expects shipments of the tests to go out by the end of June.

A photo of downtown Arnprior. (Dylan Dyson / CTV News Ottawa)