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

Two people make their way up a painted staircase in Ottawa on Monday, July 19, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• 'I'm sorry that I didn't get it': Cornwall woman promotes COVID-19 vaccine after spending 24 days in ICU
• Ottawa's top doctor is concerned children are attending school while symptomatic with COVID-19
• Active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa drop below 400 on Wednesday

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 41 cases on Wednesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 29,775
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 31.5
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 2.3 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

• Temporary Pop-Up Testing COVID-19 Assessment at McNabb Arena on Percy Street: Open daily until Oct. 6 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

'I'm sorry that I didn't get it': Cornwall, Ont. woman promotes COVID-19 vaccine after spending 24 days in ICU

A Cornwall, Ont. woman is encouraging skeptics to get the COVID-19 vaccination, after spending 24 days in the ICU.

"I'd like to add that people who are skeptical out there, please get your vaccine. It is so important," says Brenda Lee Legault. "Don't risk your life. I'm sorry that I didn't get it."

Legault was fighting for her life in Cornwall Community Hospital this summer after contracting COVID-19.

"They put me on 95 per cent oxygen and they put me in ICU immediately," Legault told CTV News Ottawa on Wednesday.

Legault thinks she caught the virus at an event she catered in early August, coming down with a cough, diarrhea and fever.

She went to the hospital and was given antibiotics, but when that didn't work she returned. Legault ended up in the intensive care unit for 24 days, scared and alone.

"It's like my life flashed in front of me, it really changed me inside, you know?" Legault said. "The experience I went through was horrific I would say, because 10 days being sick, on the tenth day I thought I was going to die."

Brenda Lee Legault in the ICU at Cornwall Community Hospital. (Photo courtesy: Brenda Lee Legault)

Ottawa's top doctor concerned children are attending school while symptomatic with COVID

Ottawa's medical officer of health says there are signs COVID-19 transmission in schools is being limited with the public health measures in place.

However, Dr. Vera Etches is concerned children are attending school while symptomatic.

COVID-19 outbreaks have been declared at 15 schools in Ottawa, while St. Benedict Catholic School in Barrhaven has been closed due to COVID-19 cases.

"What concerns me most is the percentage of children who test positive who have been in school while symptomatic, and the high number of high-risk contacts or close contacts that are happening within schools and across social networks," said Dr. Etches.

The medical officer of health acknowledges the increased demand for testing in Ottawa means people have had to stay home from school and work to isolate while waiting for appointments and results.

"We need to limit community transmission of COVID-19 from entering our schools, so parents and caregivers please continue daily screening of children using the Ottawa Public Health online screening tool," said Dr. Etches.

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

Ottawa Public Health reported 41 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Meantime, the number of active cases fell below 400 for the first time since Sept. 11. There are 381 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 29,775 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 595 deaths.

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
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