COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Sept. 14, 2021

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• The Ottawa Hospital has apologized for a privacy breach involving unvaccinated staff members.
• Active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa are above 400.
• More than 800,000 residents of Ottawa have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
• A school in Cornwall, Ont. is closed for a week due to cases of COVID-19.
• A few dozen protesters held a peaceful rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates outside the Ottawa Hospital on Monday.

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 52 new cases on Monday.
• Total COVID-19 cases: 28,941
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 31.6
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.6 per cent (seven-day average)
• Reproduction Number: 1.21 (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

• 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 2 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 summer camp children and staff. All campers and staff must complete the COVID-19 School and Childcare 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

Ottawa Hospital apologizes for privacy breach among unvaccinated employees

The Ottawa Hospital says it has apologized to employees whose names were mistakenly visible on a mass email to unvaccinated staff last week.

A letter from the hospital's human resources office, obtained by CTV News Ottawa, said a system-generated email sent Sept. 8 to "employees who have declined the COVID-19 vaccination" included staff email addresses in the "To" section and not as blind carbon copies.

The original email, which CTV News Ottawa has not seen, was an invitation to complete an educational module about COVID-19 vaccination.

In a statement, the Ottawa Hospital said the issue was addressed promptly.

"This past week, an email was sent from one of our software systems to a list of unvaccinated staff members, inviting them to complete a vaccine education session. The staff names were unfortunately visible," the statement said. "The email was immediately recalled and all copies were deleted. An apology and explanation was sent to the staff members affected. TOH’s Information and Privacy Office investigated the matter and reported it to the Information and Privacy Commissioner."

The hospital did not confirm how many staff members were affected, but a source told CTV News Ottawa there were 391 names on the list.

Ottawa Hospital staff were required to receive their first dose by Sept. 7. They must have their second dose by Oct. 15.

File photo of The Ottawa Hospital. (CTV News Ottawa)

Active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa rise above 400

Ottawa Public Health says another 52 people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of known active cases is 408.

To date, OPH has reported 28,941 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. No new deaths were reported on Monday. The local death toll from COVID-19 stands at 594 residents.

Another 38 cases in Ottawa are considered resolved.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Ottawa hospitals held steady at seven, with one in the ICU on Monday.

One new COVID-19 outbreak was declared at a local French catholic elementary school on Monday. It involves two cases among students and zero cases among staff.

In the last 30 days, OPH has reported 173 cases of the Delta variant. No one infected with the Delta variant in Ottawa has died. 

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Ottawa surpasses 800,000 residents with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

As the push to vaccinate residents against COVID-19 continues, Ottawa surpassed a milestone last week.

More than 800,000 residents, or 76 per cent of Ottawa's total population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Ottawa Public Health data show that 803,783 residents had at least one shot as of Monday morning and 746,044 residents are fully vaccinated.

With a majority of residents already vaccinated, the pace of administration has slowed in previous weeks, but people continue to receive their shots. There was a noticeable bump in residents receiving their first doses following the Ontario government's announcement of an incoming proof of vaccination system and that trend continued this last week.

According to OPH, 7,282 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered locally last week. While that is down from the 8,416 administered the week of the vaccine passport announcement, it is still higher than all other weekly rates going back to mid-July.

More than 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ottawa since the rollout began last December.

The number of children 12 to 17 who have had their first doses has reached 90 per cent and 77 per cent are fully vaccinated. Shots are also rising among the 18 to 39 set, now at 77 per cent for first shots. Among 18-to-29-year-olds, 67 per cent are fully vaccinated. Seventy per cent of people in their 30s have both shots.

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)

Cornwall, Ont. school closed for one week due to COVID-19

The Upper Canada District School Board says that a school in Cornwall, Ont. has closed due to positive cases of COVID-19.

In a release Sunday night, the UCDSB said Viscount Alexander Public School will be closed for at least a week.

"Viscount Alexander Public School has been closed by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit until at least Sept. 20 as a means to limit further exposures and spread within the school and community," the UCDSB said.

Viscount Alexander is the first public school in Ontario to close because of COVID-19 this school year.

The first day of the school year in the UCDSB was Sept. 7.

Viscount Alexander Public School in Cornwall, Ont. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

A few dozen protesters rally against vaccine mandates outside Ottawa Hospital

Aside from a few choice words of anger directed at media, the protest outside the Ottawa Hospital on Monday was largely peaceful.

A few dozen people rallied across the street from the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. The event was billed as a silent vigil of solidarity.

The protest was advertised in advance and was widely condemned by politicians and health officials before it even began.

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson asked those who planned to protest in front of the Ottawa Hospital Monday to respect essential services and he warned that police would be ready to respond, if necessary.

A small group of counter demonstrators demonstrated in support of health-care workers Monday afternoon.

One was dressed in a T-Rex costume and held a sign that said "This is an asinine place to protest."

People arrive for a protest against COVID-19 vaccinations and health measures, outside the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus in Ottawa, on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)