As of today, walk-in COVID-19 testing services across Ontario will be paused as the province transitions to an appointment-only model set to begin Tuesday.
Those three regions have been dealing with a recent surge in COVID-19 cases. In the nation’s capital alone, 96 new cases and two deaths were confirmed yesterday.
How many cases are there?
As of the most recent Ottawa Public Health update on Saturday, 4,626 Ottawa residents have tested positive for COVID-19. That includes 786 known active cases, 3,547 resolved cases and 293 deaths.
Overall, public health officials have reported almost 7,000 cases of COVID-19 across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, with more than 5,500 of those cases considered resolved.
COVID-19 has killed 104 people in the region outside Ottawa: 52 people have died in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties, 34 in the Outaouais and 18 in other parts of eastern Ontario.
What’s open and closed?
Health officials are telling people to see fewer people in person, or stricter rules will force them to.
Ottawa’s medical officer of health issued a dire warning to residents Friday, saying the entire health-care system is on the verge of collapse if individuals don’t take personal responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19.
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In western Quebec, the health unit says residents need to stop gathering until the end of October or, like Montreal and Quebec, it will raise the alert level to the highest one possible and people won’t be allowed to see anyone they don’t live with.
An employee who works at the Pinecrest Recreation Complex has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Friday memo from the City of Ottawa. The employee was last at work on Sept. 26. (Patrick Louiseize/Radio-Canada)
What about schools?
There have been nearly 120 schools in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a staff or student, most of them in Ottawa.
Not all of them have had outbreaks, which are declared by a health unit in Ontario when there’s a reasonable chance someone who has tested positive caught COVID-19 during a school activity.
Many school boards have a list of affected schools:
Ontario updated its COVID-19 screening protocols for children last week, no longer telling them to isolate and get tested if their only symptom is a runny nose, headache, sore throat, fatigue or diarrhea.
They’ll still be asked to stay home, but can return after at least 24 hours if they feel better.
Some health units tweak the province’s guidelines, so check with the unit in your area. OPH says it will use the province’s rules.
Distancing and isolating
The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, breathes or speaks onto someone or something.
People can be contagious without symptoms.
This means people should take precautions like working from home, keeping hands and frequently touched surfaces clean, socializing outdoors as much as possible and maintaining distance from anyone you don’t live with — even when you have a mask on.
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> transmission is rising at a concerning rate in Ottawa. Let’s work together to turn this around! This means reducing our interactions where we are in close physical contact as much as we can to stop the spread of the virus. <a href=”https://t.co/rSkihlFG1b”>pic.twitter.com/rSkihlFG1b</a>
Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions and/or weakened immune systems stay home as much as possible.
Anyone who has travelled recently outside Canada must go straight home and stay there for 14 days.
Most people with a confirmed COVID-19 case in Quebec can end their self-isolation after 10 days if they have not had a fever for at least 48 hours and has had no other symptom for at least 24 hours.
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
COVID-19 can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell.
Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pink eye. Children can develop a rash.
Getting tested any sooner than five days after potential exposure may not be useful since the virus may not yet be detectable, says OPH.
If you have severe symptoms, call 911.
A healthcare worker walks along the line up of people waiting outside a COVID-19 testing facility in Ottawa on Sept. 15. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
Where to get tested
The Ontario government recommends only getting tested if you have symptoms, or if you’ve been told to by your health unit or the province because of your work.
Ontario health officials have said they’re trying to add more capacity, as the backlog of tests at the province’s labs had blossomed to more than 90,000 as of late last week.
Walk-in tests are being halted as of Sunday, and anyone seeking a test will require an appointment as of Tuesday.
Bear in mind that some of the following test sites may be transitioning to the new model over the next couple of days.
In the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, the drive-thru test centre in Casselman will close tomorrow and relocate to Limoges on Wednesday. The Limoges drive-thru centre, which normally operates seven days a week, will be closed Sunday and Monday.
The health unit also has sites in Hawkesbury, Alexandria, Rockland, Cornwall and Winchester.
In Kingston, the city’s test site is now at the Beechgrove Complex near King Street West and Portsmouth Avenue.
Saturday was its final day for walk-in testing, but people can schedule appointments there on Sunday and Monday. An online booking system will launch Tuesday.
Reporting 4 new cases in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/KFLA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#KFLA</a> on Saturday, October 3, 2020:<br>-2 females, 19 years and under, close contact exposure<br>-1 male, 19 years and under, close contact exposure<br>-1 male, 20 to 29 years, close contact exposure<br>Total cases 147, recovered cases 121, and active cases 26. <a href=”https://t.co/xcitYTjJc2″>pic.twitter.com/xcitYTjJc2</a>
People can arrange a test in Bancroft, Belleville, Picton or Trenton by calling the centre. Only Belleville and Trenton run seven days a week and also offer online booking.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit is operating sites this weekend in Brockville, Smiths Falls and Almonte.
The Brockville site is transitioning to the new model Sunday, but the health unit says people who meet the testing criteria can still show up and will likely be given an appointment later in the day.
The other two sites are by appointment only.
Two students hold hands as they wait to enter their Montreal school yard on Aug. 31, 2020. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)
Renfrew County residents should call their family doctor. Those without access to a family doctor can call 1-844-727-6404 for a test or if they have health questions, COVID-19-related or not.
They can call 1-877-644-4545 if they have other questions, including if walk-in testing is available nearby.
Tests are strongly recommended for people with symptoms or who have been in contact with someone with symptoms. People without symptoms can also get a test.
Anyone returning to the community on the Canadian side of the international border who’s been farther than 160 kilometres away — or visited Montreal — for non-essential reasons is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
Inuit in Ottawa can also call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.
People in Pikwakanagan can book an appointment for a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259.
Anyone in Tyendinaga who’s interested in a test can call 613-967-3603 to talk to a nurse.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
