COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Sept. 15, 2021

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• Ontario has unveiled new details about its proof of COVID-19 vaccination system.
• Active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa dipped below 400 on Tuesday.
• Health officials in Kingston say passengers on a Megabus from Toronto to Kingston on Sept. 11 should monitor for symptons after a positive case was confirmed.
• A school in Cornwall that was closed due to COVID-19 reopened a day later to more than half of students.

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 25 new cases on Tuesday.
• Total COVID-19 cases: 28,966
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 34.3
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.6 per cent (seven-day average)
• Reproduction Number: 1.26 (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

Ontario releases new details on how people will prove their COVID-19 vaccine status starting Sept. 22

Ontario has released further guidance for businesses one week before COVID-19 vaccines become mandatory to enter some non-essential establishments.

Starting on Sept. 22, proof of vaccination status will be required to eat indoors at restaurants and bars, to enter a gym, movie theatre, sporting venue or concert, and to use a large meeting and event space.

Ontario residents will need to either print or download their second dose receipt from the government website until an “enhanced” certificate becomes available on Oct. 22.

To find out where proof of vaccination will be required, click here.

To find out what exceptions will be made for the program, click here.

Active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa drop below 400 on Tuesday

Ottawa Public Health says another 25 people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of known active cases is below 400.

To date, OPH has reported 28,966 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began. No new deaths were reported on Tuesday and the pandemic death toll in Ottawa stands at 594 residents.

Another 35 existing cases are now considered resolved, dropping active cases to 398.

There is one fewer COVID-19 patient in hospital in Ottawa. One person remains in intensive care.

Daily case counts are typically lower on Tuesdays.

In the last 30 days, OPH has recorded 259 cases of the Delta variant. No one infected with the Delta variant in Ottawa has died.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Kingston, Ont. health unit looking for passengers on Megabus from Toronto following positive COVID-19 case

The Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health Unit (KFL&A Public Health) is looking to speak to passengers who were aboard a Canada Coach Megabus that left Toronto's Pearson Airport on Saturday, bound for Kingston.

In a release, KFL&A Public Health says it confirmed a positive case of COVID-19 in a passenger on the bus from Toronto to Kingston, but the health unit has been unable to contact some of the passengers who may have been exposed.

The bus left the airport at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11 and arrived at the Kingston bus terminal at 10 p.m.

KFL&A Public Health says anyone who was on this bus route should self monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, isolate and get tested if symptoms develop. COVID-19 testing is recommended on or after day 7 (Sept.18, 2021) even if you do not have symptoms.

The Megabus station on John Counter Blvd. in Kingston, Ont. (Kimberley Johnson / CTV News Ottawa)

Students return to Cornwall, Ont. school one day after closure due to COVID-19

Students have returned to a Cornwall, Ont. school that was closed Monday due to COVID-19, following contact tracing efforts by the local health unit.

Eastern Ontario medical officer of health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis told CTV Morning Live on Tuesday that about half of the students at Viscount Alexander Public School have returned to class.

The decision to close the school was made out of an abundance of caution, he said.

"This was a unique case where we had one individual who was positive and a couple of other probable cases and we found this out over the weekend, so we didn’t have time to assess all the classes," he said. "We needed a bit of extra time so we, in discussion with the school board, said let's close the school for one day to identify which are high risk and which are not, and so on."

In a statement School Superintendent Chad Brownlee said the school was cleaned on Monday and staff reviewed protocols around personal protective equipment.

"Our school underwent a heightened cleaning, in addition to reviewing health and safety protocols and the use of PPE with staff. When students arrived this morning, staff met students at their buses to ensure that only those who had been cleared to come back were in attendance," Brownlee said. "This is all in addition to our regular routines of maintaining cohorts, masking, hand sanitizing, daily active screening, and social distancing when possible. We are happy that we were able to welcome many students back today, and are looking forward to continuing with in-person learning."

The Upper Canada District School Board said in a release Sunday night that the school would be closed for at least a week.

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