COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 15, 2021 - CTV Edmonton

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

Fast Facts:

• Many residents were again frustrated with booking COVID-19 vaccine appointments through the provincial portal, as few spots were available Monday morning.
• The Ontario government says border checkpoints between Quebec and Ontario will end Wednesday.
• Ottawa saw 23 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with no new deaths.
• Ottawa Bylaw handed out ten charges on the first weekend of Ottawa being in Step One of Ontario's reopening plan.

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 23 new cases on Monday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,449
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 18.0
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.3 per cent (June 7-13)
• Reproduction Number: 0.91 (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 Friday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre at 300 Coventry Road: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
• 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.
• North Grenville COVID-19 Assessment Centre (Kemptville) – 15 Campus Drive: Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 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, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday

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

For six hours this morning, Brynn Chleirich tried and failed to book her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine through Ontario’s booking portal.

“That’s not helpful, that’s not hope; that’s adding more anxiety and aggravation and frustration and lines and waiting lists,” Cleirich said.

A mother of five, a COVID-19 survivor, and living with Lupus, Cleirich says fear of catching the virus again keeps her up at night.

This week 13,000 additional doses of the vaccine are coming to Ottawa, but those doses are destined for pharmacies; meaning those trying to book through the provincial portal couldn’t access those appointments.

Eventually, through the help of a Twitter message, Cleirich was able to book an appointment directly through the Bruyère Health Centre. She says she cried tears of joy when she got the confirmation.

Others, like Jakeline Celis, pictured below, found appointments far from Ottawa. Celis will get her second shot in Simcoe, about a five-hour drive from the capital.

Some appointments were booked Monday in Ottawa, but other residents still expressed frustration with the system.

Border restrictions between Ontario and Quebec will end this Wednesday, allowing Ottawa and Gatineau residents to freely cross the river without going through police checkpoints.

Ontario's order preventing non-essential travel into Ontario from Quebec and Manitoba will expire on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. and will not be renewed, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones’s office said Monday.

And the Quebec government says it will also reopen its border to Ontarians who wish to travel as of Wednesday.

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson applauded the decision, saying the checkpoints have cost the city $800,000. He intends to send the bill to the provincial government.

Ottawa Public Health says 23 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19.

The public health unit's COVID-19 dashboard now reports a total of 27,449 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since March 11, 2020, when the first case was announced.

No new deaths from COVID-19 were reported locally on Monday. To date, 585 residents of Ottawa have died due to the virus.

The update from Ottawa Public Health shows an ongoing trend in the improvement of monitoring indicators such as the seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 population, which has been below 20 for three days in a row. Active cases continue to fall and there was a slight drop in the seven-day average for test positivity.

Ottawa Bylaw says ten charges and four warnings were handed out this past weekend as Ontario launched Step One of its reopening plan.

In a statement, Roger Chapman, director of Bylaw and Regulatory Services (BLRS), said officers responded to nearly 100 calls between Friday and Sunday.

"Between June 11 and June 13, BLRS responded to 92 requests for service and issued 10 charges, of which nine were for social gatherings and four warnings under the Provincial Orders. There were no charges under the Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw (TMMB)," Chapman said. "There was only one charge given to a business over the weekend for non-essential retail within a shopping centre, with no direct entrance outdoors."

The store was not named, but Ottawa Bylaw said it was in Bay ward.

Of the nine gathering charges, three were for gatherings at private residences and six were for gatherings of more than 10 people in city parks.

Of the four verbal warnings, one was for failing to wear a mask at a restaurant, one was for improper physical distancing at a restaurant, and two were for gatherings of more than 10 in city parks.

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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for June 15, 2021 - CTV Edmonton
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