What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 5
Key updates on the coronavirus pandemic in the region
Recent developments:
- Ottawa Public Health is reporting 51 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths Thursday.
- Five more people have died from COVID-19 east of Ottawa, and three more in western Quebec.
- Cineplex says it won't open theatres in Ottawa or Cornwall, Ont., this weekend.
- What to expect from Ontario's budget as COVID-19 ravages the economy.
What's the latest?
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is reporting 51 new cases of COVID-19 and four more deaths Thursday. OPH has declared 105 more cases resolved.
Five more people have died from COVID-19 in the area covered by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, and three more have died in western Quebec.
Cineplex says it won't reopen its Ottawa multiplexes this weekend, and will close its Cornwall, Ont., location, citing the 50-person capacity limit imposed by the province. Cineplex says it wants 50 people per screening room, as was allowed during the summer.
Today's Ontario budget, released at 4 p.m. ET, will pose a test for Premier Doug Ford, writes Mike Crawley.
WATCH LIVE | Quebec's premier gives an update at 1 p.m. ET:
How many cases are there?
As of Thursday's update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), 7,324 Ottawa residents have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 649 known active cases, 6,341 resolved cases and 334 deaths.
Public health officials have reported more than 11,400 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 9,800 resolved cases.
Eighty-five people with COVID-19 have died elsewhere in eastern Ontario, along with 51 in western Quebec.
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.
The Ontario government is lifting lockdown measures affecting indoor dining, gyms, entertainment venues and team sports in Ottawa as of Saturday. Social circles are not coming back.
Ottawa and the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) to the east are poised to be on orange alert, while eastern Ontario's other health units will be green, the lowest level on the province's new scale.
Ottawa's medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said people need to work and have more activities available for their overall health and people should focus on managing risks in businesses like they have in schools.
In Gatineau and the surrounding area, which is a red zone, health officials are asking residents not to leave home unless it's essential.
Indoor dining at its restaurants has been 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 — higher in seated venues.
Travel to another region is discouraged throughout the Outaouais.
The Royal Canadian Legion is asking people to pay their respects from home on Remembrance Day.
What about schools?
There have been about 190 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.
Ottawa's medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches says people should be wary of blind spots such as taking a lunch break at work or carpooling.
Masks are mandatory in indoor public settings in Ontario and Quebec and are recommended outdoors when people can't distance from others.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is now recommending Canadians choose three-layer non-medical masks with a filter.
Anyone with symptoms or who's ordered to do so by their local public health unit should self-isolate. The duration is subject to a range stipulated by health officials 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.
WATCH | Why a new, private transition care unit is raising some concerns:
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.
Testing numbers have been lower than the groups running it would like and they want people to know there are often same-day appointments available.
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.
Kingston's test site is at the Beechgrove Complex. The area's other test site is in Napanee. Both are open seven days a week.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit has permanent sites in Almonte, Brockville, Kemptville and Smiths Falls.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has sites in Alexandria, Cornwall, Hawkesbury, Limoges, Rockland and Winchester.
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:
Nine people have recently tested positive for COVID-19 in Akwesasne.
It has a COVID-19 test site available by appointment only. It expects to bring back its mobile site in the spring.
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.
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.
