What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 17
Key updates on the coronavirus pandemic in the region
Recent developments:
- Ottawa has just 11 of Ontario's 1,249 new COVID-19 cases.
- Ontario is looking at extending the school winter break.
- Pandemic living arrangements aren't always ideal, say some younger Ottawans.
What's the latest?
Ottawa has just 11 of Ontario's 1,249 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases. Two more people have died, both residents of care homes in the midst of outbreaks.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the province will decide by the end of the month whether to extend the winter break for schools, as Quebec is considering.
Three Ottawans in their 20s and 30s wrote about their living experiences as part of our new COVID-19 Diaries series.
How many cases are there?
As of Monday, 7,968 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa. There are 462 known active cases, 7,145 considered resolved and 361 people with COVID-19 have died.
Public health officials have reported more than 12,700 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 11,200 resolved cases.
Eighty-nine people with COVID-19 have died elsewhere in eastern Ontario, along with 65 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 and the EOHU are currently in the orange zone of the provincial pandemic scale, which allows organized gatherings and restaurants, gyms and theatres to bring people inside.
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.
WATCH | COVID-19 Diaries from 3 younger Ottawans:
The rest of eastern Ontario is green, the lowest level.
The medical officer of health in the Kingston, Ont., area says the coronavirus seems to be spreading more quickly in recent days.
Dr. Kieran Moore is asking people more at risk of serious health issues to only see people they live with and get necessities delivered as much as possible.
In Gatineau and the surrounding area, which is one of Quebec's red zones, health officials are asking residents not to leave home unless it's essential.
Indoor dining at restaurants remains prohibited and 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 from one region to another 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.
Ontario has abandoned its concept of social circles.
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.
WATCH | Reaction to Moderna's vaccine update:
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.
The Coventry Road drive-thru site now closed, with plans to reopen Thursday in the National Arts Centre parking garage. A test site should open at the McNabb Community Centre next week.
Kingston's test site is at the Beechgrove Complex. The area's other test site is in Napanee.
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.
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.
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 has had its most known COVID-19 cases of the pandemic this month, with eight known active cases on the Canadian side of the international border.
Its council is asking residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
Akwesasne 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 this month.
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.
