What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Monday, Dec. 21
Key updates on the coronavirus pandemic in the region
Recent developments:
- An Ontario-wide lockdown starts Saturday.
- Ottawa's mayor rails against the province, pushing for a shorter lockdown in Ottawa.
- Ottawa is reporting 31 more COVID-19 cases.
- Two more western Quebec residents have died of COVID-19.
- City of Ottawa officials are giving an update at 3 p.m. ET.
What's the latest?
The Ontario government is imposing a provincewide lockdown starting Dec. 26, returning southern portions of the province — which includes eastern Ontario — to rules similar to early spring for four weeks.
Among many changes, that means only leaving home for essential reasons, delaying a return to in-person learning in schools and closing in-person dining and non-essential shopping.
The province says the coronavirus is spreading too quickly, causing too many people to need hospital care and die — and those trends will continue, including spreading to areas with lower case counts, without a shutdown across Ontario.
Premier Doug Ford said Ottawa is doing a great job managing its spread but there is too much risk if its rules don't match those of western Quebec.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says he's asking the province for a shorter lockdown period for the nation's capital, citing the "devastating impact" the new provincewide lockdowns will have on the city's economy.
Ottawa is reporting 31 more people testing positive for COVID-19 Monday, while western Quebec has 67 more cases and two more deaths.
How many cases are there?
As of Monday, 9,384 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa. There are 378 known active cases, 8,617 resolved cases and 389 deaths linked to COVID-19.
Public health officials have reported more than 16,400 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 14,500 resolved cases.
Ninety-one people have died of COVID-19 elsewhere in eastern Ontario and 99 people have died in western Quebec.
CBC Ottawa is profiling those who've died of COVID-19. If you'd like to share your loved one's story, please get in touch.
What can I do?
This section is being updated given today's Ontario announcement.
Before today's announcement, both Ontario and Quebec were 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.
In western Quebec, now considered a red zone by that province, health officials are asking residents not to leave home unless it's essential, including for Christmas. There is an exception for people living alone.
Being in the red means no indoor dining at restaurants and gyms, cinemas and performing arts venues are all closed.
Quebec will shut down non-essential businesses between Friday and Jan. 11 and has extended holiday school closures until Jan. 11.
Travel from one region to another is discouraged throughout Quebec.
WATCH | For young people navigating the pandemic, the holidays are ... complicated:
What about schools?
There have been more than 230 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.
WATCH | During life at home, backyard rinks provide some distraction:
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 and get friends and family to help with errands.
WATCH | Pandemic measures mean less support for families of sick kids:
Anyone who has travelled recently outside Canada must go straight home and stay there for 14 days.
Canada and several European countries have temporarily halted flights from the U.K. in response to a new coronavirus strain.
Symptoms and vaccines
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. 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.
Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by Health Canada.
Doses are now being given to health-care workers in Ottawa as part of a pilot project. Western Quebec's first COVID-19 vaccines are being administered at CHSLD Lionel-Émond in Gatineau today.
While details are scarce, it's expected the general public will be able to get vaccinated between April and September 2021.
Where to get tested
Many clinics have different hours around Christmas and New Year's Day, with more information in the links below.
In eastern Ontario:
Anyone seeking a test should book an appointment.
Ontario recommends only getting tested if you have symptoms, if you've been told to by your health unit or the province, or if you fit certain other criteria. That no longer includes international travellers.
People without symptoms, but who are part of the province's targeted testing strategy, can make an appointment at select pharmacies.
Ottawa has nine permanent test sites, with mobile sites wherever demand is particularly high.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has sites in Alexandria, Casselman, Cornwall, Hawkesbury, Rockland and Winchester.
People can arrange a test in Bancroft and Picton by calling the centre or Belleville and Trenton, where online booking is preferred.
Kingston's main test site is at the Beechgrove Complex. Another site is in Napanee.
WATCH | Pleas for action to protect prisons from COVID-19 outbreaks:
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit has permanent sites in Almonte, Brockville, Kemptville and Smiths Falls and a mobile test clinic visiting smaller communities or people with problems getting to a site.
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 had most of its known COVID-19 cases in November, with the virus still spreading in that community. Its council is asking residents to avoid unnecessary travel, and its curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. is back.
Akwesasne schools and its Tsi Snaihne Child Care Centre are temporarily closed to in-person learning. 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 had its first confirmed case in November and Kitigan Zibi logged its first in mid-December.
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.
