Coronavirus News
Coronavirus What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, Aug. 25
CBC Ottawa’s latest roundup of key updates during the coronavirus pandemic.A small tourist plane passes over downtown Ottawa at Parliament Hill. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)Recent developments: Ottawa Public Health reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, among 100 new cases logged provincewide. A new drive-thru COVID-19 test site is coming to Ottawa. A seventh OC Transpo…
Coronavirus
CBC Ottawa’s latest roundup of key updates during the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent developments:
- Ottawa Public Health reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, among 100 new cases logged provincewide.
- A new drive-thru COVID-19 test site is coming to Ottawa.
- A seventh OC Transpo bus driver has tested positive for COVID-19.
- Ottawa’s largest English school board is set to debate whether students younger than Grade 4 should also wear masks come September.
Coronavirus What’s the latest?
Ottawa Public Health reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with the number of hospitalizations in the city remaining steady at nine.
Ontario reported 100 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the province’s total to 41,607 since the pandemic began.
Assembly of a new drive-thru COVID-19 assessment centre in the parking lot of Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT) Park on Coventry Road has begun, the Champlain COVID-19 Response Committee says.
The new centre will be ready to take bookings “in the coming days,” the committee said in a written statement Tuesday.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will debate tonight whether to require its youngest students to wear masks when they begin school this September. Currently, Ontario only mandates students in Grade 4 and above must wear masks in the classroom.
The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority says its school buses won’t be running until Sept. 14 as it adapts to last-minute changes to school schedules amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
WATCH Ottawa school bus authority working on safe seating arrangements during pandemic
Vicky Kyriaco, general manager of Ottawa Student Transportation Authority, says students normally sit three to a seat, something that will have to change this year. 1:03
Late Monday, OC Transpo confirmed a seventh bus driver has contracted COVID-19 so far this month. The person is the latest case of what has been a recent spike in the number of employees at the transit agency testing positive for the virus.
Since the start of the pandemic, 32 OC Transpo employees have tested positive for the illness, but not all have had contact with the public. The head of the union wants the city to get to the root cause of the current spike in cases.
A second staff member at the Garry J. Armstrong nursing home has also tested positive for COVID-19.
Coronavirus How many cases are there?
There have been 2,855 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began, with 166 active cases and 2,423 cases considered resolved. There have been 266 deaths related to the illness in Ottawa.
Overall, public health officials have reported more than 4,170 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, with more than 3,600 resolved.
COVID-19 has killed 102 people in the region outside Ottawa.
As of Aug. 21, 52 people have died in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties. Additionally, 17 people have died in other parts of eastern Ontario and 33 in the Outaouais.
Coronavirus What’s open and closed
Ottawa is in Stage 3 of Ontario’s reopening plan, which means more businesses are open including dine-in restaurants and movie theatres.
Indoor gatherings of up to 50 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 100 are now allowed in that province but attendees must follow physical distancing guidelines.
Quebec has similar rules, with its cap on physically distanced gatherings in public venues now up to 250 people, allowing smaller festivals.
Museums across the National Capital Region have begun to reopen. The Canadian Museum of Nature is scheduled to reopen on Sept. 5.
Most Ottawa Public Library branches are now open for in-person browsing and computer use.
Elementary students in Ontario will be heading back to school full time come September, while most high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning, depending on the board.
Individual boards have started to release further guidance. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board released new guidelines on Aug. 19.
Quebec updated its school plans in early August, including making masks mandatory in hallways for students Grades 5 and up.
Coronavirus Distancing and isolating
The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes on another person or object. People don’t need to have symptoms to be contagious.
That means physical distancing measures such as working from home, meeting others outdoors as much as possible and keeping distance from anyone they don’t live with or have in their circle, including when you have a mask on.
Do you live in a multi-unit dwelling? When in common/shared spaces (entrances, lobbies, laundry rooms, elevators, gyms), it is recommended to wear a mask. It’s also very important that you practice physical distancing and wash your hands often. Learn more: https://t.co/hUfVldbqq0 pic.twitter.com/uSQGcKQgpu
Masks are now mandatory in indoor public settings in all of eastern Ontario and Quebec, where transit officials and taxi drivers are now required to bar access to users over age 12 who refuse to wear one.
Masks are also recommended outdoors when you can’t stay the proper distance from others.
Anyone who has symptoms or travelled recently outside Canada must self-isolate for at least 14 days.
Anyone who has symptoms and is waiting for a COVID-19 test result in Ontario must self-isolate at least until they know the result. Quebec asks people waiting to only self-isolate in certain circumstances.
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People in both provinces should self-isolate if they’ve been in contact with someone who’s tested positive or is presumed to have COVID-19.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health strongly urges self-isolation for people with weakened immune systems and OPH recommends people over 70 stay home as much as possible.
Top medical officials say people should be prepared for the possibility COVID-19 restrictions last into 2022 or 2023.
Coronavirus What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
COVID-19 can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a dry cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell.
Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pinkeye. Children can develop a rash.
If you have severe symptoms, call 911.
Coronavirus Where to get tested
In eastern Ontario:
In Ottawa any resident who feels they need a test, even if they are not showing symptoms, can be tested at one of three sites.
Inuit in Ottawa can call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.
In the Eastern Ontario Health Unit area, there is a drive-thru centre in Casselman that can handle 200 tests a day and assessment centres in Hawkesbury and Winchester that don’t require people to call ahead.
Others in Alexandria, Rockland and Cornwall require an appointment.
In Kingston, the Leon’s Centre is hosting the city’s test site. Find it at Gate 2.
Napanee‘s test centre is open daily for people who call for an appointment.
You can arrange a test in Bancroft, Belleville or Trenton by calling the centre and in Picton by texting or calling.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark unit asks you to get tested if you have a symptom or concerns about exposure.
It has a walk-in site in Brockville at the Memorial Centre and testing sites in Smiths Falls and Almonte which require an appointment.
There are test clinics in five Renfrew County communities this week.
Its residents should call their family doctor and those without access to a family doctor can call 1-844-727-6404 to register for a test or if they have health questions, COVID-19-related or not.
In western Quebec:
Outaouais residents now can get a walk-in test in Gatineau five days a week at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond and at recurring clinics by appointment in communities such as Gracefield, Val-des-Monts and Fort-Coulonge.
They can call 1-877-644-4545 to make an appointment or if they have other questions.
As of mid-August, there were longer wait times for test results here compared to some other regions of Quebec.
First Nations:
Local communities have declared states of emergency, put in a curfew or both.
Akwesasne has had 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Most are linked back to a gathering on an island with a non-resident who wasn’t showing symptoms at the time.
It has a mobile COVID-19 test site available by appointment only. Anyone returning to the community on the Canadian side of the international border who’s been farther than 80 kilometres away for non-essential reasons is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
Anyone in Tyendinaga who’s interested in a test can call 613-967-3603 to talk to a nurse. Face coverings are now mandatory in its public buildings.
People in Pikwakanagan can book an appointment for a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259.
Kitigan Zibi is planning for an Aug. 29 election with changes depending on the status of the pandemic at that time. It plans on starting to open schools and daycares next month.
Coronavirus For more information
- Ottawa Public Health.
- Your local eastern Ontario health unit.
- The Ontario Ministry of Health (in several languages).
- The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais.
- The Public Health Agency of Canada.
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