COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Nov. 4, 2021

The Peace tower is seen through rushes in Ottawa, Oct. 18. 2021. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Ottawa's 2022 budget includes $161 million for COVID-19 response
• Ontario expands eligibility for the COVID-19 booster shot 
• Ottawa surpasses 800,000 residents with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine
• Twenty-two new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 22 cases on Wednesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 30,925
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 16.6
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.4 per cent (seven-day average)
• Reproduction Number: 0.98 (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 are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort tra­velling out of country for medical treatment;
• 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.

Long-term care staff, caregivers, volunteers and visitors who are fully immunized against COVID-19 are not required to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering or visiting a long-term care home.

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

• COVID-19 Assessment Centre at McNabb Arena at 180 Percy St.: Open Monday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• 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. 
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
• The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 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 schools in Ottawa and eastern Ontario. All students, teachers and school staff must complete the COVID-19 School 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

Budget 2022: City hiking property taxes by three per cent

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to continue hitting the city of Ottawa's budget in 2022.

The draft budget tabled Wednesday outlines $161.6 million in budget pressures due to COVID-19.

Mayor Jim Watson says he and the other Big City Mayors will be making their case to the federal and provincial governments to sustain pandemic funding for municipalities in 2022.

If there is no funding, the city will need to dip into reserves to balance the budget, and may have to consider service cuts.

Ottawa City Hall. (File photo)

Ontario expands eligibility for third doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Tens of thousands of Ontarians will be able to book an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot as soon as this weekend.

The Ontario government is expanding the eligibility to receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.   Starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, the following groups can book a booster shot:

• Residents over the age of 70
• Health-care workers, and designated essential caregivers in congregate settings
• Individuals who received a complete series of a viral vector vaccine i.e. two doses of AstraZeneca or one dose of Janssen
• First Nation, Inuit, and Metis adults and their non-Indigenous household members

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)

800,000 Ottawa residents fully vaccinated

The city of Ottawa reached another milestone in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

As of Wednesday, 800,305 people have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and are considered fully vaccinated.

A total of 87 per cent of Ottawa residents are fully vaccinated, while 90 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

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)

22 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday

Ottawa Public Health reported 22 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, the seventh straight day with case numbers in the 20s.

Fifteen of the 22 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa involved residents under the age of 30.

No new deaths were reported in the capital.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 30,925 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 604 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram