What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 12
Key updates on the coronavirus pandemic in the region
Recent developments:
- Ottawa has 91 of Ontario's 1,575 new COVID-19 cases.
- Schools in Quebec may have an extended winter break due to the pandemic.
- Ontario pharmacy grads are in limbo after their certification exam was postponed again.
- Ontario's new COVID-19 projections will be released at 3 p.m. ET.
What's the latest?
Ottawa has 91 new COVID-19 cases, its highest daily total of the month. One more person with COVID-19 has died in Ottawa and two more have died in western Quebec.
Quebec Premier François Legault says schools might have to close this winter, extending the holiday break in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Ontario is set to unveil new COVID-19 projections at 3 p.m. ET, two days after the province blew through its earlier estimate of an average 1,200 new cases per day by mid-November.
Members of Ontario's 2020 graduating class of pharmacists are facing another delay in their certification after their final exam was again postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
How many cases are there?
As of Thursday's update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), 7,725 Ottawa residents have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 495 known active cases, 6,880 resolved cases and 350 deaths.
Public health officials have reported more than 12,100 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 10,600 resolved cases.
Ninety-one people with COVID-19 have died elsewhere in eastern Ontario, along with 61 in western Quebec.
CBC Ottawa is profiling those who've died of COVID-19, starting with one of the city's youngest victims. If you'd like to share your loved one's story, please get in touch.
What can I do?
Both Ontario and Quebec are telling people to limit close contact only to those they live with, or one other home if people live alone, to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Ottawa is in orange in its provincial pandemic scale, meaning larger organized gatherings are allowed and restaurants, gyms and theatres can reopen.
Ottawa's medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches has said people should focus on managing risks and taking precautions, such as seeing a few friends outside at a distance.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit is in yellow, with slightly different measures such as later alcohol serving hours and more people allowed at restaurant tables.
The rest of eastern Ontario is green, the lowest level.
The medical officer of health for the Kingston, Ont., area is flagging a bump up in its curve and asking residents to stay within the region to avoid more "spillover" from Toronto and Ottawa.
In Gatineau and the surrounding area, which is one of Quebec's red zones, health officials say the situation is stable, but now needs to improve. They are still asking residents not to leave home unless it's essential.
Indoor dining at that area's restaurants remains prohibited, while gyms, cinemas and performing arts venues are all closed.
The rest of western Quebec is orange, which allows private gatherings of up to six people and organized ones up to 25 — with more in seated venues.
Travel to another region is discouraged throughout the Outaouais. Ontario says people shouldn't travel to a lower-level region from a higher one.
What about schools?
There have been about 200 schools in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region with a confirmed case of COVID-19:
- Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est
- Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario
- Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
- Ottawa Catholic School Board
Few have had outbreaks, which are declared by a health unit in Ontario when there's a reasonable chance someone who has tested positive caught COVID-19 during a school activity.
Distancing and isolating
The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, breathes or speaks onto someone or something. These droplets can hang in the air.
People can be contagious without symptoms.
This means people should take precautions such as staying home when sick, keeping hands and frequently touched surfaces clean, socializing outdoors as much as possible and maintaining distance from anyone they don't live with — even with a mask on.
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Ontario has abandoned its concept of social circles.
Etches says people should be wary of blind spots, like taking a lunch break at work with colleagues or carpooling.
Masks are mandatory in indoor public settings in Ontario and Quebec and should be worn outdoors when people can't distance from others. Three-layer non-medical masks with a filter are recommended.
Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate, as should those who've been ordered to do so by their local public health unit. The duration depends on the circumstances in both Ontario and Quebec.
Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions and/or weakened immune systems stay home as much as possible.
Anyone who has travelled recently outside Canada must go straight home and stay there for 14 days.
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 cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell.
Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pink eye. Children can develop a rash.
If you have severe symptoms, call 911.
Mental health can also be affected by the pandemic and resources are available to help.
Where to get tested
In eastern Ontario:
Ontario recommends only getting tested if you have symptoms, or if you've been told to by your health unit or the province.
Anyone seeking a test should now book an appointment. Different sites in the area have different ways to book, including over the phone or going in person to get a time slot.
People without symptoms, but who are part of the province's targeted testing strategy, can make an appointment at select pharmacies.
Ottawa has eight permanent test sites, with additional mobile sites deployed wherever demand is particularly high.
WATCH | Scaled-back Remembrance Day ceremonies this year:
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has sites in Alexandria, Cornwall, Hawkesbury, Limoges, Rockland and Winchester.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit has permanent sites in Almonte, Brockville, Kemptville and Smiths Falls.
Kingston's test site is at the Beechgrove Complex. The area's other test site is in Napanee.
People can arrange a test in Bancroft and Picton by calling the centre or Belleville and Trenton online.
Renfrew County residents should call their family doctor or 1-844-727-6404 for a test or with questions, COVID-19-related or not. Test clinic locations are posted weekly. There are none on Remembrance Day.
In western Quebec:
Tests are strongly recommended for people with symptoms or who have been in contact with someone with symptoms.
Outaouais residents can make an appointment in Gatineau seven days a week at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond or 617 avenue Buckingham.
They can now check the approximate wait time for the Saint-Raymond site.
There are recurring clinics by appointment in communities such as Gracefield, Val-des-Monts and Fort-Coulonge.
Call 1-877-644-4545 with questions, including if walk-in testing is available nearby.
First Nations, Inuit and Métis:
Akwesasne now has 30 known active cases of COVID-19, its highest of the pandemic.Ten of them are on the Canadian side of the international border.
Its council is asking residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
Aswesasne schools are temporarily closed to in-person learning and its Tsi Snaihne Child Care Centre has also closed. It has a 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 160 kilometres away — or visited Montreal — for non-essential reasons is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte reported its first confirmed case last week.
People in Pikwakanagan can book a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259.
Anyone in Tyendinaga who's interested in a test can call 613-967-3603.
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.
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.
