COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Sept. 24, 2021 - CTV Edmonton

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

Fast Facts:

• Ottawa Hospital requiring visitors to be fully vaccinated
• Kingston hospital suspends 136 employees without pay for violating vaccine mandate
• Ottawa Bylaw receives two calls for customers refusing to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination on day one of vaccine mandate
• Ottawa sees lowest COVID-19 case count in more than a week

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

• New COVID-19 cases: 33 cases on Thursday
• Total COVID-19 cases: 29,476
• COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 39.2
• Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.1 per cent (seven-day average)
• Reproduction Number: 0.84 (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 are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort tra­velling out of country for medical treatment;
• 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.

Long-term care staff, caregivers, volunteers and visitors who are fully immunized against COVID-19 are not required to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering or visiting a long-term care home.

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 5:30 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 schools in Ottawa and eastern Ontario. All students, teachers and school staff must complete the COVID-19 School 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

Visitors will need to be fully vaccinated to visit patients or accompany a patient to the Ottawa Hospital.

The hospital has announced that starting Monday, it will require proof of vaccination for visitors entering the hospital.

"This is to ensure the safety of everyone in the hospital,” a statement said.

The Montfort Hospital is now asking visitors and people accompanying patients to an appointment at the east end hospital their vaccination status.

Beginning Oct. 6, visitors will need to show that they have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days ago.

Kingston's research and teaching hospital has placed 136 of its 5,000 employees on a two-week, unpaid leave of absence for failing to comply with the new COVID-19 vaccination policy.

The new policy at Kingston Health Sciences Centre requires all staff, physicians and learners to provide proof of having received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or a documented medical reason for not being vaccinated, by Wednesday.

Ninety-five per cent of the Kingston Health Sciences Centre's employees have met the first dose requirement, and fewer than 10 employees have been granted a medical exemption.

"As of September 22, 136 KHSC employees are in non-compliance with our immunization policy and have been placed on an unpaid two-week administrative leave," said KHSC in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

"Following those two weeks, further disciplinary may be taken, up to and including termination, if those individuals cannot show proof of vaccination or cannot produce a valid medical exemption."

Ottawa Public Health reported 33 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday, the lowest one-day total of new cases in the capital in more than a week.

There are now 12 people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses, including eight in the Intensive Care Unit.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa in March 2020, there have been 29,476 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 595 deaths.

Ottawa Bylaw received two calls about customers failing to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and refusing to leave a business on the first day of the new vaccination passport.

Residents 12 and older must now provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination to dine-in at restaurants, and attend bars, gyms, movie theatres, concerts and sporting events in Ottawa and across Ontario.

"Since the implementation of the provincial regulations related to vaccine passports on September 22, BLRS received two requests for service pertaining to customers not showing their proof of vaccination and refusing to leave the business," said Roger Chapman, Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services Director.

"In both instances, the business owner was referred to police for enforcement under the Trespass to Property Act."

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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Sept. 24, 2021 - CTV Edmonton
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