COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Oct. 21, 2021

The fall colours of Gatineau Park can be seen on the hills in the background on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• 95 per cent of full-time staff at the Ottawa Catholic School Board are fully vaccinated
• Ottawa sees 20 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday
• Federal Conservatives say they're against decision to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for MPs

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 20 cases on Wednesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 30,555
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 19.4
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.7 per cent (seven-day average)
• 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 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. 
• COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at 300 Coventry Road: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The drive-thru assessment closes on Saturday.
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Saturday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 30 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 1 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

95 per cent of full-time staff at Ottawa Catholic School Board fully vaccinated

Ninety-five per cent of full-time staff at the Ottawa Catholic School Board are fully vaccinated, while 99 per cent of staff at Ottawa's French public school board have received at least one shot.

Six weeks into the new school year, vaccination rates continue to rise at Ottawa's four publicly funded school boards.  Both the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and Ottawa Catholic School Board have implemented mandatory vaccination policies for all teachers and staff.

As of Wednesday, 95 per cent of the Ottawa Catholic School Board's 5,256 full-time employees have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 80 full-time employees are partially vaccinated.

The Conseil des ecoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario says as of Oct. 20, 85.88 per cent of its 2,252 full-time employees are fully vaccinated, while 13.85 per cent are partially vaccinated. 

The Conseil des Ecoles Catholiques Centre-Est says 89.2 per cent of its 3,737 employees are fully vaccinated, and 5.6 per cent of employees have received one 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)

Ottawa sees 20 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday

Ottawa Public Health reported 20 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday, and no new deaths linked to the virus.

Ten of the 20 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday involve residents under the age of 20.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 30,555 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 602 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Conservatives say they're against decision to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for MPs

The federal Conservative Party is opposed to the new mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for the House of Commons.

On Tuesday, the Board of Internal Economy, a cross-party committee of nine MPs in the House leadership roles, announced anyone entering the House of Commons precinct must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Nov. 22.

The Conservatives say they don't think it should be up to a committee of MPs to decide who can and cannot enter spaces on Parliament Hill.

“While we encourage everyone who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated, we cannot agree to seven MPs, meeting in secret, deciding which of the 338 MPs, just elected by Canadians, can enter the House of Commons to represent their constituents,” said Conservative whip Blake Richards in a statement.