What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Monday, March 1 – CBC.ca

Recent developments

What’s the latest?

Details of how to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment and where to go for that vaccine in Ottawa should be released today. Vaccines for those over age 80 in specific Ottawa neighbourhoods begin Friday.

Ontario’s website for booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments will begin a “soft launch” in six public health units this week, three of them in eastern Ontario. The wide launch is expected March 15.

The two main Canadian agencies that prepare puppies for a life guiding people with visual impairments say the unrealistic times of the pandemic won’t prevent them from turning out well-prepared guide dog.

WATCH | Ottawa photographers describe their quintessential COVID-19 photo:

One year after the pandemic changed how we live, CBC Ottawa asked local photographers to choose one image that they feel captures the essence of COVID-19. 1:35

How many cases are there?

As of Sunday, 14,705 Ottawa residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. There are currently 504 known active cases, 13,762 resolved cases and 439 deaths.

Public health officials have reported more than 26,100 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 24,500 resolved cases.

Elsewhere in eastern Ontario, 130 people have died of COVID-19, and 160 people have died in western Quebec. 

Akwesasne has had more than 240 residents test positive on the Canadian side of the border and seven deaths. Kitigan Zibi has had 21 confirmed cases and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory has had six, with one death.

CBC Ottawa is profiling those who’ve died of COVID-19. If you’d like to share your loved one’s story, please get in touch.

What can I do?

Restaurants, gyms, personal care services, theatres and non-essential businesses are open across eastern Ontario. Most sports can also resume.

Social gatherings can have up to 10 people indoors or 25 people outdoors. Organized events can be larger.

People are asked to only have close contact with people they live with, be masked and distanced for all other in-person contact and only travel for essential reasons, especially between differently coloured zones.

Both Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and the EOHU are orange under the province’s colour-coded pandemic scale.

They have more restrictions than the rest of the region, which is in green, the lowest level. Local health units can also set their own rules.

Renfrew County’s health unit has given multiple warnings that private gatherings are a problem and could cause stricter rules.

Western Quebec’s gyms and restaurants can open, joining non-essential businesses. Outdoor gatherings of up to eight people are now are now allowed.

That area’s new curfew hours are 9:30 p.m. until 5 a.m.

Like in Ontario, people are asked not to see anyone they don’t live with in person and travel from one region of Quebec to another is discouraged. 

Distancing and isolating

The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person speaks, coughs, sneezes, or breathes onto someone or something. These droplets can hang in the air.

People can be contagious without symptoms, even after getting a vaccine. New coronavirus variants can be more contagious.

This means it is important to take precautions now and in the months to come like staying home while symptomatic — and getting help with costs if needed — keeping hands and frequently touched surfaces clean and maintaining distance from anyone you don’t live with, even with a mask on.

WATCH | The challenges of training guide dogs in the last year:

Alex Ivic, manager at Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, says that a lack of real-world experiences, like crowded commutes and visits to other households, has presented a challenge when it comes to acclimating future guide dogs to different sights and sounds. 0:57

Masks, preferably ones that fit snugly and have three layers, are mandatory in indoor public settings in Ontario and Quebec.

OPH says residents should also wear masks outside their homes whenever possible.

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate, as should those who’ve been ordered to do so by their public health unit. The length varies in Quebec and Ontario; the latter recently updated its rules, including in schools.

Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions and/or weakened immune systems stay home as much as possible and get help with errands.

People have to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter Canada by land without a fine and have to pay for their stay in a quarantine hotel if entering by air.

Symptoms and vaccines

COVID-19 can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a cough, vomiting and loss of taste or smell. Children can develop a rash.

If you have severe symptoms, call 911.

Mental health can also be affected by the pandemic, and resources are available to help.

WATCH | The impact of loneliness on mental health:

A psychiatrist and loneliness author answer questions about the impact loneliness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has had on mental health. 6:01

Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine supply has stabilized and a third vaccine recently approved.

About 81,700 doses have been given out since mid-December, including about 49,100 doses in Ottawa and 13,300 in western Quebec.

Ontario’s first doses generally went to care home residents and health-care workers. and it’s now expanding.

The province’s campaign will include more priority groups such as people over age 80 starting in mid-March, moving to people as young as age 60 through July, and essential workers in May. 

Ontarians who are eligible can book appointments online or over the phone starting March 15. Vaccines are expected to be widely available in August.

Local health units have some flexibility in the larger framework, so check with them for specifics.

For example, Ottawa has chosen to offer shots to people over age 80 in certain areas of the city and adults getting home care for chronic conditions starting this Friday.

More details on those logistics are expected today.

That city believes it can have nearly 700,000 residents vaccinated by August, hitting a groove of nearly 11,000 doses a day by early summer.

Many eastern Ontario vaccine clinic locations are in the same communities as test sites and none are open yet for the general public.

WATCH | Why you’re asked to not cherry-pick vaccines:

As more COVID-19 vaccines become available, a new problem is emerging: people who say they will wait until the shot they prefer is available to get vaccinated. Experts say Canadians should take whatever vaccine is available to avoid prolonging the pandemic. 2:26

Quebec is giving a single dose to as many people as possible, starting with people in care homes and health-care workers.

It moves to older adults outside care homes starting March 10 in western Quebec’s six clinics, then essential workers and finally the general public. People who qualify can make an appointment online or over the phone.

Quebecers should get their second dose within 90 days.

Where to get tested

In eastern Ontario:

Anyone seeking a test should book an appointment.

Ontario recommends only getting tested if you have symptoms, if you’ve been told to by your health unit or the province, or if you fit certain other criteria.

People without symptoms but who are part of the province’s targeted testing strategy can make an appointment at select pharmacies. Travellers who need a test have very few local options to pay for one.

Ottawa has ten regular test sites, with mobile sites wherever demand is particularly high.

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has sites in Alexandria, Casselman, Cornwall, Hawkesbury, Rockland and Winchester.

People can arrange a test in Picton over the phone or in Bancroft, Belleville and Trenton, where online booking is preferred.

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit has permanent sites in Almonte, Brockville, Kemptville and Smiths Falls and a mobile clinic.

Kingston’s main test site is at the Beechgrove Complex, another is in Napanee.

Renfrew County test clinic locations are posted weekly. Residents can also call their family doctor or 1-844-727-6404 with health questions.

In western Quebec:

Tests are strongly recommended for people with symptoms and their contacts.

Outaouais residents can make an appointment in Gatineau at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond or 617 ave. Buckingham. They can check the wait time for the Saint-Raymond site.

There are recurring clinics by appointment in communities such as Maniwaki and Petite-Nation.

Call 1-877-644-4545 with questions, including if walk-in testing is available nearby.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis:

Akwesasne has a COVID-19 test site by appointment only and a curfew of 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

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.

People in Pikwakanagan can book a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259. Anyone in Tyendinaga who’s interested in a test can call 613-967-3603.

Inuit in Ottawa can call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing and now vaccines, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.

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