COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for July 14, 2021 - CTV Edmonton

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

Fast Facts:

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

• New COVID-19 cases: One new case on Tuesday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 27,730
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 2.8
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 0.9 per cent
• Reproduction Number: 0.94 (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 Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 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 summer camp children and staff. All campers and staff must complete the COVID-19 School and Childcare screening tool daily.

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 confirmed a single case of COVID-19 in the city on Tuesday.

This comes after zero new cases were reported on Monday for the first time since July 7, 2020.

To date, Ottawa has seen 27,730 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. No new deaths were reported in Ottawa on Tuesday. The death toll from the pandemic stands at 592 residents.

The number of known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa continues to fall to pre-first wave levels and the incidence rate of new cases per 100,000 population is below 3. Hospital ICUs remain free of COVID-19 patients in Ottawa.

Ottawa Public Health is encouraging residents of Ottawa to take the first mRNA vaccine dose available to them when they go for their second shots.

The health unit posted a Twitter thread Tuesday afternoon after comments from the World Health Organization regarding mixing and matching vaccines by different manufacturers.

"Kindly note those comments were made in the context of possible booster shots being explored in some parts of the world, and not in context of Canada’s current vaccine rollout," OPH said.

The WHO’s Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said Monday that there is little data on mixing and matching vaccines and that it could be a “chaotic” situation if “citizens start deciding” to mix and match and take third or fourth doses, but the WHO later clarified that she was talking about individuals making decisions without public health guidance.

OPH said waiting for a preferred shot puts individuals and the community at risk of COVID-19.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health says he "absolutely" expects a rise in COVID-19 cases this fall.

"Last summer, we had the same type of lull," Dr. Kieran Moore said. "Ontarians are taking great advantage of the outdoors, but as soon as we come back [to] the indoors, normally, all respiratory viruses start to come back, especially around the third week of September."

Moore said a majority of new cases are in unvaccinated people and he urged residents to get their shots if they haven't already.

"We really, really want to have the highest immunization rate possible heading into September," Moore said. "No one wants to see our health system impacted … All of that hospital activity is preventable through immunization."

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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for July 14, 2021 - CTV Edmonton
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