COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for April 29, 2021 - CTV Edmonton

OTTAWA -- Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.

Fast Facts:

• Ottawa surpassed 500 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday.
• Ontario has announced a new paid sick leave program.
• Some Ottawa councillors are joining the call to reopen golf courses and other outdoor amenities in Ontario.
• Parks in three Ottawa wards are closing earlier than others after the city introduced new rules to crack down on large gatherings.

COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):

• New COVID-19 cases: 217 cases on Wednesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 23,864
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 130.5
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 9.9 per cent (April 21 to April 27)
• Reproduction Number: 0.85 (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.

Where to get tested for COVID-19 in Ottawa:

There are several sites for COVID-19 testing in Ottawa. To book an appointment, visit https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/shared-content/assessment-centres.aspx

• The Brewer Ottawa Hospital/CHEO Assessment Centre: Open Monday to Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at 300 Coventry Road: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Open Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (testing only)
• The Heron Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (testing only)
• COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Howard Darwin Centennial Arena: Open daily 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• Southwest Ottawa COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Richmond Memorial Community Centre: Open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Centretown Community Health Centre: Open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sandy Hill Community Health Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 pm.
• Somerset West Community Health Centre: Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Wednesday

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

Ottawa Public Health says another 217 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and five more people have died, pushing the city's death toll from the pandemic to more than 500 residents.

According to OPH's COVID-19 dashboard, there have been 23,864 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began and 503 residents have died.

OPH also reported an additional 302 newly resolved cases Wednesday, bringing the city's total number of active cases to below 2,400.

Under pressure, Ontario's Progressive Conservative government has announced it will deliver its own paid sick leave program to help curb the spread of COVID-19 transmission in essential workplaces.

If passed, the legislation will require employers to pay workers up to $200 per day for up to three days if they are feeling sick or need to get vaccinated.

The program will not require sick notes and workers will not have to fill out any forms or applications. Instead, the employer will pay the employee out of pocket and will be reimbursed by the province through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

The also government says it is continuing to work with Ottawa to "double up" payments of the federally-mandated Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) from $500 to $1,000 per week before taxes, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not yet agreed to.

Three Ottawa councillors have requested earlier closing times for the parks in their wards, in accordance with new measures announced by the city in mid-April.

Following reports of large gatherings, public drinking and littering at parks such as Mooney's Bay and Vincent Massey on the weekend after Ontario's stay-at-home order came into effect, staff created a plan to allow councillors to choose whether any or all parks in their wards should close at 9 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.

In a response to questions from CTV News Ottawa, city staff said councillors Jan Harder, Carol Anne Meehan and Eli El-Chantiry had requested earlier closing times for parks in their respective wards.

"Based on discussions with Ward Councillors, all parks in Wards 3 (Barrhaven) and 22 (Gloucester-South Nepean), and Sheila McKee Park in Ward 5 (West Carleton-March), now have a 9 p.m. closing time," said Dan Chenier, the city's general manager of recreation and cultural services, in a written statement.

All parks that are closing early have signs indicating as such, but the city says two additional types of signs, advising people of mask mandates and closed amenities, are also going up at more than 1,100 parks across Ottawa at a cost of about $16,000.

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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for April 29, 2021 - CTV Edmonton
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