Household should isolate for 10 days if one person has COVID symptoms: Ottawa’s top doctor

With COVID-19 testing capacity at its limit in Ottawa, the guidance from Ottawa Public Health is to assume you have the Omicron variant and self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status, if you develop symptoms or test positive. And everyone in your household has to self-isolate as well.

The 10-day isolation period for the entire household begins when one member of the household first develops symptoms or tests positive. If, after 10 days, no one else develops symptoms or tests positive, the isolation for the household ends, but it can go longer if more people get sick.

"If, in that 10 days, that the person who has tested positive is isolating, that nobody else gets a positive test or develops symptoms, then everyone can go after the 10 days," Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said in a press conference Wednesday, "but, if somebody else does become sick, then it starts over again."

Etches admits that this is very difficult, but the isolation guidance is the safest approach to reduce the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the city as testing capacity remains strained.

She also clarified to CTV Morning Live on Thursday that the new guidance originates from the province.

"“To be clear, this isn’t my rule. These are coming from provincial guidelines," she said. "The guidelines are here across the province regardless of your testing system capacity.

“The difference here is that we don’t always have a test right now. But our testing partners are working to change that. I’m quite hopeful that we will see a growth in testing capacity again that will help with this.”

She said common symptoms include respiratory symptoms like a cough or runny nose, or other symptoms like muscle aches or fatigue.

"The cluster of symptoms points you more in the direction of Omicron," she said, "but it is the most protective approach. If you have one of these symptoms, that is when we say it could be Omicron and we are asking people to stay home and isolate."

The Omicron variant spreads more easily within households, even to vaccinated people, Etches says.

"The reason we say household is because, when it's Omicron, we are seeing it spread within the household and so it's something we would ask people to consider," he said. "You may become infectious for COVID because someone in your house has symptoms and you don't want to pass it on to someone who is more vulnerable."

If the members of the household can isolate from each other effectively, that can reduce the risk of transmission within the household, she said. The city does offer a voluntary isolation centre for people who do not have access to suitable shelter or cannot self-isolate safely in their own homes.

When it comes to children, Etches urged parents of school-aged children to make use of the rapid tests they would have received from their school over the holidays.

"One symptom, like a sore throat in a five-year-old, that wouldn't pass the screening test to necessarily infect the whole household, but every school child does have five rapid antigen tests. I would encourage people to use those rapid antigen tests if their child has symptoms that could be COVID," Etches said in an interview on the CTV News at Six.

"If it's not Omicron, I appreciate then that people don't need to isolate. So, we do want people to be able to have access to the testing so that they can understand if it's not Omicron and carry on," she added. "I have been talking to the testing partners who run the testing system and I am hopeful there will be some solutions coming to increase people's access to testing in the coming days."

Etches told a news conference Wednesday that the city is working with the province and other partners to increase testing capacity, including possibly enlisting the help of third-parties such as health care companies.

Etches says the best advice for all residents is to check Ottawa Public Health's website for the latest guidance.