COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Sept. 5, 2021

A staff member at Escapade Music Festival in Ottawa checks the vaccination status of a festivalgoer. Escapade is only open to attendees who are fully vaccinated. Sept. 4, 2021. (Colton Praill / CTV News Ottawa)

OTTAWA -

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

Fast Facts:

• COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ottawa held steady Saturday amid an uptick in active cases.
• Escapade Music Festival returned in Ottawa, but only to fully vaccinated music fans.
• Ontario reported its highest daily COVID-19 case count in nearly five months on Saturday.

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 37 new cases on Saturday.
• Total COVID-19 cases: 28,498
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 21.1
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 2.2 per cent (seven day average)
• Reproduction Number: 1.12 (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

• COVID-19 CHEO Assessment Centre and Kids Come First Care Clinic - Brewer Park Arena - Open Saturday and Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Open Monday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• COVID-19 Assessment Centre for Adults - Brewer Park Arena - Open Saturday and Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Open Monday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre - Ottawa Baseball Stadium (300 Coventry Road) - Closed Saturday and Sunday. Open Monday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• COVID-19 Care and Testing Clinic – Moodie (595 Moodie Drive) - Closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday
• COVID-19 Care and Testing Centre – Ray Friel (1585 Tenth Line Road) - Closed Saturday and Sunday. Open Monday 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre (Kemptville) - 15 Campus Drive - Closed Saturday. Open Sunday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Centretown Community Health Centre - Closed Saturday and Sunday. Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday
• Sandy Hill Community Health Centre - Closed Saturday and Sunday. Open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday
• Somerset West Community Health Centre - Closed Saturday and Sunday. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday 

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

COVID-19 hospitalizations steady in Ottawa on Saturday

Ottawa Public Health says 37 more people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19.

To date, OPH has reported 28,498 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began. The pandemic death toll stands at 593 residents. No deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in Ottawa since July 8, 2021.

Another 17 existing cases in Ottawa are now considered resolved. The number of known active cases is up to 288 and the number of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals and ICUs held steady on Saturday at 10 in hospital with one in the ICU.

Ottawa Public Health has recorded 194 cases of the Delta variant in the last 30 days. No one infected with the Delta variant in Ottawa has died. 

 

COVID-19 Cases in Ottawa
Infogram

Escapade Music Festival kicks off with fully vaccinated patrons

Escapade Music Festival has returned to Ottawa for the first time in two years.

The festival normally hosts more than 20,000 people; this year, it will welcome just 9,000, all of them fully vaccinated for at least 14 days.

“We’re asking people to bear with us a little bit to understand there’s a reason we’re doing what we’re doing to try to make the event as safe as possible,” festival director Ali Schafaee said.

The safety protocols in place are enough for festivalgoers to feel safe amid the crowds, but even with precautions, the event comes just one day after Canada’s top doctor warned against large gatherings.

“I think right now is not the time to gather in huge numbers with people not within your household – not without taking significant layers of protection and not without knowing what you’re heading into,” Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday.

Escapade Music Festival at Lansdowne Park. Sept. 4, 2021. (Colton Praill / CTV News)

Ontario marks highest daily COVID-19 case count in months

Health officials reported 944 new cases of COVID-19 across Ontario on Saturday, the highest daily case count in nearly five months.

Another nine Ontarians have died from COVID-19 but five of those deaths happened more than two months ago and were added in Saturday's report as part of a data cleanup. The province says 728 existing cases are now considered resolved.

The last time the province reported more than 944 new cases in a single day was on May 30, when officials recorded 1,033 new cases.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average has been on the rise for weeks and now stands at 747, up from 686 at this point last week.

Of the new cases, 208 were in fully vaccinated people. There are 32 fully vaccinated COVID-19 patients in hospital out of 309 patients province-wide. The remainder are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.