OTTAWA -- Ottawa's top doctor says she expects the city to move into the COVID-19 red zone within the next week, meaning tighter restrictions on gatherings and local businesses.
"We now expect that the provincial restrictions in the red zone ... will apply within the next week," medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches told reporters Tuesday.
Etches said she is speaking with the province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, later Tuesday afternoon.
"My conversation with the chief medical officer of health is that I believe we are in red. We've passed the red threshold and we’re staying in red."
Ottawa is currently in the 'orange-restrict' zone. Moving to 'red-control' would not mean full lockdown. However, it means tighter restrictions for bars and restaurants (10 people indoors, four per table), indoor and outdoor gatherings, and the closure of other businesses such as movie theatres.
The rate of people resting positive for COVID-19 has been above 40 per 100,000 for four straight days, exceeding the provincial threshold for the red zone. The positivity rate in the city is now 2.5 per cent.
"This means we’ve had too many situations where transmission has occurred where people are in close contact," Etches said.
The province's process to move the city to red will take some time. The province typically announces new restrictions on public health units on Fridays, with the changes slated to come into effect the following Monday. Etches said the timeline from the province is to be determined, but she said Ottawa residents should act accordingly now.
"Right now, we should be thinking of ourselves as in a red situation where the level of COVID in our community is higher, and we need to limit our close contacts more," she said.
"Waiting for an official change is not helpful when we know that right now today, if we can decrease COVID transmission in our community, we’ll have less work to do to bring it back down and get back out of red.
"The faster we act, the better. It’s in our control."
Mayor Jim Watson responded to a question in French to say he was disappointed that Ottawa is in this situation.
"If the province says Ottawa is in red, certainly it will be difficult for small businesses, specifically restaurants," he said in French. "It's not good news for small businesses but it's better than a lockdown or the grey zone."
Rates rising in the past week
Over the past several days, rates of transmission of COVID-19 in Ottawa have been on the rise according to data from Ottawa Public Health.
The key monitoring indicators are the rate of new cases per 100,000 population in the previous seven days, the average percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 in the past week and the reproduction number, which is the average number of secondary cases of disease caused by a single infected individual.
The red-control threshold is a weekly incidence rate of 40 or more cases per 100,000 people, a positivity rate of 2.5 per cent or higher and a reproduction number of 1.2 or more.
Ottawa's key rates as of Tuesday were as follows:
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 46.3
- Positivity rate in Ottawa: 2.5 per cent (March 8-14)
- Reproduction number: 1.07 (seven day average)
The rate per 100,000 people first went above 40 on Saturday and has been climbing daily. The positivity rate reached 2.5 per cent on Monday. The reproduction number remains below the red zone threshold, but has been trending at above 1 for most of March.
Ottawa's number of active cases, while not an official metric for determining red zone status, has also been steadily rising through the month, hitting a low of 487 people with known active cases on March 6. It is now at 620.
Dr. Etches also noted Tuesday that variants of concern (VOCs) are increasing in the city.
"We look to the volume of the positives that have been screened for the variant and test positive for the variant. Not confirmed by genetic sequencing, but positive on that screen," she said.
To date, Ottawa has seen 14 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant and two confirmed cases of the B.1.351 variant but, according to provincial data, 180 cases have screened positive for an undetermined VOC as of Tuesday's reporting.
"Over the month of March is where we've started to see that rise in the VOCs, that curve go up in our community," Etches added. "What we do know is it's increasing and the rate of increase is greater than the rate among the non-VOCs."
Business leader pleads for more time
An Ottawa business advocate and special events organizer is pleading for more time in the orange zone.
Michael Wood, the owner of Ottawa Special Events, told Newstalk 580 CFRA's "Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron" that he's calling for an emergency meeting with Ottawa Public Health.
"I did speak with somebody at OPH and they did ask me to send over exactly what we'd like to see," he said. "I will be meeting with key stakeholders in the city to put together a proposal that perhaps limits the amount of time we're in red (or) that if we can take these precautions and move forward and get these numbers down within the week, perhaps we can have another evaluation."
Wood says he's also meeting with the minister of small business on Wednesday. He says he wants health officials to give Ottawa at least one more week to get numbers down.
"Give us another shot. Let's get the message out that there's a lot at stake here and hopefully people will oblige and we can, perhaps, not go into red," Wood said. "If we do go into red, I would like to see it for as little amount of time as possible."
Wood says he believes public health matters and keeping people safe is a priority, but he knows this will be another hit to local businesses.
"It's going to have a detrimental toll. We've only been in orange for a month and the restrictions this time are going to be really tough," he said. "Public health comes first. I'm 100 per cent on that side, but I think we need to come up with something different than moving us into red. There's a mental health toll that comes with this."
Red-Control Restrictions
Organized public events, social gatherings and wedding, funeral and religious services, rites and ceremonies
Limits for all organized public events and social gatherings, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 5 people indoors
- 25 people outdoors
Limits for religious services rites or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services, where physical distancing can be maintained (applies in any venue other than a private dwelling):
- 30% capacity of the room indoors
- 100 people outdoors
Restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments
Capacity limits, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 10 patrons seated indoors
Outdoor dining, take out, drive through, and delivery permitted, including alcohol
No buffet style service
Line-ups and patrons congregating outside venues managed by venue; 2 metres distance and face covering required
Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
Require patrons to be seated; 2 metres minimum or impermeable barrier required between tables
Limit of 4 people may be seated together
Require contact information for all seated patrons
Face coverings required except when eating or drinking only
Personal protective equipment, including eye protection required when is a worker must come within 2 metres of another person who is not wearing a face covering
Establishments must be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
No consumption of liquor permitted between 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
Dancing, singing and the live performance of music is prohibited
Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible
Night clubs and strip clubs only permitted to operate as restaurant or bar
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Sports and recreational fitness facilities
Maintain 2 metres physical distancing at all times
Increase spacing between patrons to 3 metres in areas where there are weights or exercise equipment and in exercise and fitness classes
Capacity limits, where physical distancing can be maintained
- 10 people in indoor areas with weights and exercise machines
- 10 people in all indoor classes or
- 25 people in outdoor classes
No spectators permitted, however each person under 18 may be accompanied by one parent or guardian
Team sports must not be practiced or played except for training (no games or scrimmage)
Activities that are likely to result in individuals coming within 2 metres of each other are not permitted; no contact permitted for team or individual sports
Exemptions for high performance athletes and parasport
Patrons may only be in the facility for 90 minutes except if engaging in a sport
Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible; measures to prevent shouting by both instructors and members of the public
Face coverings required except when exercising
Require contact information for all members of the public that enter the facility
Require reservation for entry; one reservation for teams
Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Meeting and event spaces
Capacity limit for the venue, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 10 people indoors or
- 25 people outdoors
Establishments must be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
No consumption of liquor permitted between 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
Face coverings required except when eating or drinking only
Require contact information for all seated patrons
Limit of 4 people may be seated together
Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible
Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Retail
Capacity limits of:
- 75% for supermarkets and other stores that primarily sell groceries, convenience stores, pharmacies
- 50% for all other retail, including discount and big box retailers, liquor stores, cannabis stores, hardware stores and garden centres
Stores must post capacity limit publicly
Stores must have passive screening for patrons (for example, posting signs outside the store front about not entering if you have COVID-19 symptoms)
- This does not apply to indoor malls, which are required to actively screen their customers before they enter the mall. Malls can use the patron screening tool to help meet this requirement.
Stores within the malls subject to appropriate retail measures
Fitting rooms must be limited to non-adjacent stalls
Line-ups and patrons congregating outside venues managed by venue; 2 metres distance required inside and outside; face covering also required while in line
Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible
For malls:
- Maximum number of patrons permitted to be seated indoors in mall food court is 10
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Personal care services
Oxygen bars, steam rooms, saunas, bath houses and other adult venues, closed
Sensory deprivation pods closed (some exceptions)
Services requiring removal of face coverings prohibited
Require contact information from all patrons
Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments
Capacity limit for the venue, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 10 people indoors or
- 25 people outdoors
Table games are prohibited
Face coverings required except when eating or drinking only
Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
No consumption of liquor permitted between 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
Require contact information from all patrons
Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Cinemas
Closed, except for:
- drive-in cinemas
- rehearsal or performing a recorded or broadcasted event, with restrictions, which include:
- Performers and employees must maintain 2 metres physical distance except for purposes of the performance
- Singers and players of brass or wind instruments must be separated from any other performers by plexiglass or other impermeable barrier
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Performing arts facilities
Closed to spectators
Rehearsal or performing a recorded or broadcasted event permitted, with restrictions, which include:
- Performers and employees must maintain 2 metres physical distance except for purposes of the performance
- Singers and players of brass or wind instruments must be separated from any other performers by plexiglass or other impermeable barrier
Drive-in performances permitted
A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
This is a developing news story. More to come.
