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

A woman walks with a stroller at Major's Hill Park in Ottawa on Monday, Oct 11, 2010. (Pawel Dwulit / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• New COVID-19 vaccination rules for passengers on planes, trains in Canada
• Ottawa police make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all staff
• Slight uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ottawa

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 28 cases on Friday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 30,812
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 18.3
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.4 per cent (seven-day average)
• 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 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. 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. 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

New COVID-19 vaccination rules for travellers boarding planes and trains in Ottawa and across Canada

Travellers planning to board a flight at the Ottawa International Airport or VIA Rail at the Ottawa Train Station must now be fully vaccinated.

New rules that went into effect at 3 a.m. Saturday, require anyone 12 years of age and older to provide proof they have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to fly on domestic, transborder, or international flights departing Canadian airports.

The rules also apply to all passengers travelling on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountain trains.

The federal government says all travellers will need to show airlines and railways proof of vaccination. At airports, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority will support operators by confirming vaccination status.

The Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (David Kawai/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Ottawa police to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all staff

The Ottawa Police Service will require all staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but the policy doesn’t take effect for another three months.

The new policy, announced Friday afternoon, will come into effect when Ontario begins to lift vaccination requirements to enter restaurants, gyms and other non-essential businesses.

After a week of pressure from Mayor Jim Watson, councillors and the public to require all officers to be fully vaccinated, Chief Peter Sloly announced the new policy would take effect Jan. 31, 2022.

As of Friday, approximately 84 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated.

The Ottawa Police station on Elgin Street is seen in Ottawa, on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Slight uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ottawa

Ottawa Public Health reported 28 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Friday, but there has been a slight uptick in hospitalizations.

There are now six patients in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses, up from four on Thursday. Two people are in the ICU.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 30,812 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 603 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram