OTTAWA —
Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
A month-long shutdown begins in Ottawa and across Ontario, imposing new restrictions on social gatherings, restaurants, gyms, personal care services and businesses
Ottawa opens new COVID-19 vaccination appointments for residents aged 70 and over
Ottawa Public Health reported a ninth straight day with triple-digit COVID-19 case numbers
The Outaouais sees a new one-day record for COVID-19 cases on Friday, the first day of new restrictions in the region
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
New COVID-19 cases: 175 new cases on Friday
Total COVID-19 cases: 17,585
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 97.2
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 6.5 per cent (Mar. 26 to April 1)
Reproduction Number: 1.13 (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 require testing 72 hours before a scheduled (non-urgent or emergent) surgery (as recommended by your health care provider);
You are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort travelling out of country for medical treatment;
You are an international student that has passed their 14-day quarantine period;
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.
COVID-19 Care and Testing Centre – Moodie: 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
COVID-19 CHEO Assessment Centre and Kids Come First Care Clinic at Brewer Arena: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
COVID-19 Assessment Centre for Adults at Brewer Park Arena: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at NAC: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 4
COVID-19 Care and Testing Centre – Moodie: 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
COVID-19 Testing Centre – Ray Friel – 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
COVID-19 CHEO Assessment Centre and Kids Come First Care Clinic at Brewer Arena: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
COVID-19 Assessment Centre for Adults at Brewer Park Arena: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at NAC: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday, April 5
COVID-19 Care and Testing Centre – Moodie: 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
COVID-19 Care and Testing Centre – Ray Friel: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
COVID-19 CHEO Assessment Centre and Kids Come First Care Clinic at Brewer Arena: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
COVID-19 Assessment Centre for Adults at Brewer Park Arena: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Centretown Community Health Centre: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sandy Hill Community Health Centre: 9 a.m. to 3:30 pm.
Somerset West Community Health Centre: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The drive-thru COVID-19 assessment centre at the NAC is closed April 5 and 6.
Vaccine eligibility screening tool:
To check and see if you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Ottawa, click here.
COVID-19 screening tool:
The COVID-19 screening tool for students heading back to in-person classes can be found here.
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
A four-week, province-wide shutdown begins in Ottawa and across Ontario today.
The Ontario government imposed the province-wide “emergency brake” at 12:01 a.m., as a result of an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Under the rules, indoor gatherings are prohibited, while outdoor gatherings are capped at a maximum of five people. Indoor and patio dining at bars and restaurants is prohibited, while gyms, fitness centres and personal care services must close.
“We put our citizens through a lot. We’re travelling down a road where we don’t really have a roadmap, we haven’t dealt with a pandemic and obviously there’s been a lot of challenges on some of the fronts,” said Mayor Jim Watson during an interview on CTV News at Six.
“We’re a resilient group of people here in the nation’s capital, I have great confidence they will respect the rules so that we can get rid of this lockdown in four weeks, and quite frankly start to live a little bit with a better summer and better fall of this year.”
Ottawa Public Health reported 175 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Friday, the ninth straight day with triple-digit COVID-19 case numbers.
No new deaths linked to the virus were announced.
Since the first case of COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, there have been 17,585 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 466 deaths.
Ottawa’s COVID-19 positivity rate increased to 6.5 per cent for the previous seven days. The COVID-19 incidence rate jumped to 97.2 cases per 100,000, up from 92.3 cases.
The city of Ottawa has opened more appointment slots for residents aged 70 and older to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement Friday morning, the city said it has confirmed delivery of additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and is able to offer more vaccination appointments to eligible residents.
“We’re received, for the next two weeks, a little over 89,000 doses for our community clinics in the various communities, that’s very good news,” said Watson in an interview with CTV News at Six anchor Christina Succi on Friday.
To book an appointment, you can visit Ontario’s online booking system or call the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven days a week.
A record 143 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Outaouais on Friday, the first full day for new restrictions in the region.
The Outaouais has seen 7,803 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, with the majority of the cases in Gatineau.
“It certainly is concerning,” said Dr. Matthew Oughton, Assistant Professor of Medicine at McGill University and infectious disease physician.
“This surge in cases seems to be driven by these more transmissible variants and these variants are more infectious,” he added.
For local retailers, the shutdown comes at an inopportune time.
“Last year, in April, we lost 30 to 40 per cent of our business, easily. I think this year it will be even worse because there’s more people running, more people into it, so I think it’s going to affect us a little more,” said Alain Poirier, owner of La Foulée Sportif.
The Outaouais moved into the Level 4-Maximum Alert red zone at 8 p.m. Thursday, while the Quebec government has imposed a 10-day lockdown on Gatineau and the MRC des-Collines-de-l’Outaouais due to rising COVID-19 cases.
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.
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