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

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

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• COVID-19 capacity restrictions lifted for Senators, Redblacks, 67's, concerts and theatres
• 38 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Friday
• Ottawa school with largest COVID-19 outbreak set to reopen on Tuesday

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 38 cases on Friday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 30,183
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 28.0
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.7 per cent (seven-day average)
• Reproduction Number: 0.90 (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

• Temporary Pop-Up Testing COVID-19 Assessment at McNabb Arena on Percy Street: Open daily 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 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

COVID-19 capacity restrictions lifted for Senators, Redblacks, 67's, concerts and theatres

Ontario is lifting COVID-19 capacity restrictions for sports arenas ahead of the Ottawa Senators and 67's season openers.

The Ontario government has announced it's "cautiously lifting capacity limits" in select indoor and outdoor settings where proof of vaccination is required, allowing 100 per cent capacity in venues used for concerts, sports and movie theatres.

Effective Saturday, Oct. 9, capacity limits will be lifted to allow 100 per cent capacity in the following settings:

• Concert venues, theatres and cinemas;
• Spectator areas of facilities for sports and recreational fitness (would not include gyms, personal training);
• Meeting and event spaces (indoor meeting and event spaces will still need to limit capacity to the number that can maintain physical distancing);
• Horseracing tracks, car racing tracks, and other similar venues; and
• Commercial film and television productions with studio audiences.

The measures mean the Senators could have more than 18,000 fans in Canadian Tire Centre for the home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night.

The Ottawa 67's will be permitted to have full capacity in its 8,000 seat arena for its home opener at TD Place Arena on Sunday, and its second game of the season on Monday.

Courtesy: Andrea C.

38 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa at the start of the Thanksgiving long weekend

Ottawa Public Health reported 38 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Friday, as family and friends prepare to gather for the Thanksgiving long weekend.

No new deaths were reported.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 30,183 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 598 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Ottawa school with largest COVID-19 outbreak set to reopen on Tuesday

A Barrhaven school with the largest COVID-19 outbreak in an Ottawa school during the COVID-19 pandemic will reopen on Tuesday.

Ottawa Public Health has announced all students can return to St. Benedict Catholic elementary school in Barrhaven on Oct. 12, two weeks after the school was closed due to COVID-19 transmission.

As of Friday, 37 students at the school had tested positive for COVID-19. There are 17 active cases at the school.

St. Benedict Catholic School in Barrhaven. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)