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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Sept. 16, 2021

A staff member checks a student's temperature before entering the school. (Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels) A staff member checks a student's temperature before entering the school. (Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels)
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OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

  • CityFolk music festival kicks off tonight with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy
  • Ottawa businesses face negative reviews, boycott threats for hosting COVID-19 vaccine clinics
  • Over 90 per cent of staff at Ottawa's two largest school boards say they're fully vaccinated
  • Ottawa Senators hoping for sold out home opener despite current public health limits
  • Ottawa surpasses 29,000 total COVID-19 cases

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

  • New COVID-19 cases: 50 new cases on Wednesday
  • Total COVID-19 cases: 29,016
  • COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 34.8
  • Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.4 per cent (seven-day average)
  • Reproduction Number: 1.06 (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

CityFolk music festival kicks off at Lansdowne

Only fully vaccinated music fans will be able to checkout CityFolk music festival.

The popular festival kicks off tonight on the Great Lawn at Lansdowne, the first of two weekend events put on by the organizers of CityFolk and RBC Ottawa Bluesfest.

Capacity is capped at 5,000 people for each night of the festival. Only fully vaccinated fans will be allowed to attend the festival, and all patrons must wear a mask at all times except while eating and drinking.

RBC Bluesfest and CityFolk are teaming up to bring live music to Lansdowne Park in Ottawa over two weekends in September. (Photo credit: CityFolk)

Ottawa businesses face negative reviews, boycott threats for hosting COVID-19 vaccine clinics

Ottawa businesses hosting pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics say they have received negative reviews and threats of boycotts for helping to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates.

The Orange Monkey on City Centre Avenue and Finnigan's Pub on Montreal Road are among the businesses teaming up with Ottawa Public Health to host vaccination clinics on site.

While the clinics have been well received, the owners have also faced threats for hosting the vaccination pop-ups.

"Leading up to today, some negative feedback mostly on social media. People have put threats on there, some saying they're going to boycott the business, harm me," said Brian Beauchamp, owner of the Orange Monkey.

At Finnigan's Pub in Vanier, owner Drew Dobson says 99 per cent of the feedback on the COVID-19 pop-up vaccination clinic scheduled for Saturday has been positive.

"And a very noisy one per cent hostile and negative," said Dobson on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron.

"I've been called a Nazi in the last week, we've had negative reviews, we've been threatened with a boycott, and many other expletives. But thankfully it's a small minority of the people out there."

Here's the COVID-19 vaccination rates for teachers and staff at school boards in Ottawa and eastern Ontario

At least 90 per cent of the staff in Ottawa’s two largest school boards say they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Ministry of Education introduced a vaccination disclosure COVID-19 policy for all publicly funded school board employees, including teachers and staff.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board says 95.47 per cent of staff who filled out the attestation form are fully vaccinated, while 2.2 per cent are partially vaccinated.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board says 90.4 per cent of its employees are fully vaccinated, while 9.6 per cent of employees are not fully vaccinated.

As COVID-19 cases climb and the school year nears, some Vancouver Island parents say the time for mandatory vaccinations is now. (CTV)

Ottawa surpasses 29,000 total COVID-19 cases

Ottawa Public Health reported 50 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, pushing the pandemic's total beyond 29,000 cases.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 29,016 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 594 deaths.

 

Ottawa Senators hoping for sold out home opener despite current public health limits

Single game tickets are now on sale for the Ottawa Senators, and the NHL club is hopeful there will be a full house at Canadian Tire Centre for the home opener.

"We’re super excited to have hockey back, to have fans back in the building," said Tom Hoof, Vice President of Marketing for the Senators. 

Under Ontario’s public health guidelines, professional sports teams are allowed to have either 50 per cent capacity or 1,000 fans in indoor arenas; whichever is fewer people. The Sens are hopeful for a change.

"We’re selling for the whole building right now and hopefully the province will let us have everybody in," Hoof said. 

Hoof tells CTV News Ottawa there would be a process for fans to follow if there are capacity restrictions.

The Ottawa Senators hope fans will be allowed to pack the Canadian Tire Centre for the home opener. (Colton Praill/CTV News Ottawa)

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