Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Dr. Vera Etches

First, I would like to begin by expressing my condolences to the family and friends of the personal support worker who recently passed away from the Madonna Care Home. Our thoughts are with you.

The Ottawa community has understood well the extraordinary measures required to avoid a health system catastrophe from COVID-19 infections increasing too quickly.  Because of Ottawans taking precautions, we are seeing results.  We can start to get back to work and access more services.  Thank you for continuing to observe recommendations through this challenging time.  

Testing

The Champlain Health Region Incident Command (CHRIC) oversees COVID-19 testing centres and the Eastern Ontario Laboratory Association.  Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is working with CHRIC to continue to adjust the COVID-19 testing strategy to balance demand for tests with laboratory capacity and ensure testing follows identified priorities.

Tests are completed in three general categories in Ottawa and across the province. First, for public health purposes related to case and contact management and controlling outbreaks.

When someone tests positive for COVID-19, OPH conducts contact tracing to identify contacts at risk for infection to stop the chain of transmission. In addition to self-isolation or self-monitoring of contacts, testing is used to identify those who may have become infected. When there is an outbreak in a congregate setting or workplace, staff and residents with the closest contact are tested, but depending upon the scenario, individuals on one floor or in the entire setting  are tested as part of disease control actions.  

Second, ongoing “surveillance” testing occurs in congregate settings. CHRIC and OPH are taking a risk-based approach so that congregate settings that face greater challenges to infection prevention and control complete testing more frequently. The frequency and approach will be further defined by the province.

The last category of testing is of the broader public that may be at risk of infection with COVID-19. People who have COVID-19-like symptoms are a priority for testing as soon as possible after symptoms appear.  The testing of more asymptomatic  people may provide more information about the geographic distribution of infections and hopefully help identify sources of exposure in the community to enable action to stop transmission.

Any Ottawa resident who feels they need a test, even if they are not showing symptoms, can present for testing. In addition to the COVID-19 Assessment Centre and Care Clinics, some family doctors’ offices are providing this service, and mobile services are available for populations with need by referral. OPH still recommends using the COVID-19 self-assessment tool if you are worried you were exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms.

Daily screening of workers for symptoms of COVID-19

With workplaces increasingly reopening, OPH is encouraging daily screening of everyone working in the workplace by asking people if they have symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever and cough, sore throat or cold symptoms. Symptomatic people should go home, self-isolate and seek COVID-19 testing.  Tests are currently being turned around in about a day. Screening tools are available on OPH’s businesses and workplaces webpage at ottawapublichealth.ca.

OPH encourages individuals to seek medical care if feeling unwell by contacting your healthcare provider.

Dr. Brent Moloughney

Living with COVID-19

As we adapt to living with COVID-19, controlling the rate of transmission and the number of cases will help keep this virus under control. Only a few cases at the beginning of the pandemic in Ottawa required us to ramp up public health measures. At that time, the number of infections was doubling every three to four days.  

Until there is a vaccine or an effective treatment, while there is COVID-19 infection in Ottawa, public health advice includes practicing physical distancing, hand hygiene, wearing a cloth mask when physical distancing is not possible and limiting your contacts; all these measures are going to be part of our new normal.

Warm weather has finally arrived, businesses are reopening and more people are going back to work. This is good for our mental health and the economy, and we need to be wise with our actions as we continue to live with COVID-19.

I’m happy to see more people wearing masks when out in public places. This shows that people are getting the message to wear a mask when physical distancing may not be possible. This will become our new normal as the city reopens. Remember: my mask protects you and your mask protects me.

We are following the provincial framework to reopen which includes monitoring four dimensions: virus spread and containment, health care system capacity, public health behaviours and testing and tracing capacity.

Questions are arising about what is permissible and what is not as provincial orders change and many provincial restrictions remain in place.  Please continue to use the principle of protecting yourselves and others as you choose activities.

Examples of high-risk activities include having guests over, going to crowded places and participating in team or contact sports. Low-risk activities include going to less-crowded beaches or parks, enjoying a hobby alone like bird watching or shopping online with home delivery or curbside pickup options (preferably locally).

I know Ottawa is a resilient city. We’ve been through challenges before. And we’ve always worked together to address them and come out on the other side.

I am saddened, disturbed and concerned about what was reported in the Canadian Armed Forces report (OP Laser – JTFC Observations in long-term care facilities in Ontario). I am supportive of the Ontario government’s immediate action to investigate further in long-term care homes (LTCH) across the province. Everyone deserves proper care and a safe home.

OPH is continuing to work with healthcare partners to provide infection prevention and control (IPAC) support LTCH to control COVID-19 in our community. Homes in outbreak are contacted almost daily and regular on-site visits enable direct assessment of IPAC practices in the homes. Every LTCH and retirement home is rated every day in terms of needs for support, whether for IPAC training or supplies, and as it relates to staffing. In other cities, the military has been brought in when staffing levels could not be met. Here in Ottawa, LTCHs in greatest need have been paired with hospitals and the Champlain Health Region Incident Command (CHRIC) monitors how hospitals are meeting staffing requests of homes, as well as works to build capacity of homes to hire needed support. The LTCH regulator’s inspectors have been kept informed about work underway in Ottawa-based homes.

Beat the heat

We are currently experiencing our first heatwave of this summer, which will be challenging in a different way this year. Heat warnings mean extra precautions need to be taken by everyone. Some of the usual ways we cool off are not yet available this summer because of measures put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Please think ahead and plan for ways to stay cool and keep in touch with others who may not be able to stay cool, especially during a heat warning. Some ways to protect yourself and help others during hot weather:

• Cool off in an air-conditioned space when available.
• Cool off in the shade or at City of Ottawa parks and greenspaces.
• Use a fan and mist your skin with water.

The City of Ottawa has set up four emergency cooling centres to provide relief from the heat to residents in need. The emergency cooling centers are set up to ensure users can practice proper physical distancing and will have access to washrooms and water. Residents should bring a cloth mask with them to the cooling centres if they have one. Emergency cooling centres will be open Tuesday, May 26 from 3 pm to 7 pm, and will operate on Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday May 28 from 11 am to 7 pm.  We expect this heat wave to subside by end of day Thursday. The emergency cooling centres are located at the following City facilities: 

• Ron Kolbus Centre: 102 Greenview Avenue
• Hunt Club Community Centre: 3320 Paul Anka Drive
• Sandy Hill Community Centre: 250 Somerset Street East
• St-Laurent Complex: 525 Coté Street

Visit OPH’s Extreme Heat and Humidity page for more information.

Testing

OPH continues to follow guidance provided by the Ontario Ministry of Health regarding testing. Any Ottawa resident who feels they need a test, even if they are not showing symptoms, can present for testing. Note that this may lead to longer waits to access testing if many people show up. In addition to the COVID-19 Assessment Centre and Care Clinics, some family doctors’ offices are providing this service, and mobile services are available for populations with need. OPH still recommends using the COVID-19 self-assessment tool if you are worried you were exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms.

We continue to work with healthcare partners to ensure this increased testing capacity is best used to find out where the virus is in the community and break chains of transmission.

Mental health support​

Unfortunately, as is often the case during a difficult time, we are seeing that mental health concerns and issues are on the rise, perhaps exacerbated because residents may not have access to their regular coping strategies. ​The Ottawa Distress Centre has seen a significant spike in calls for help to access mental health and addiction supports and for people in crisis. ​Increases in stress, anxiousness, sadness and loneliness have been highlighted from local service providers.   ​

​OPH and our community and hospital partners have come together to better support residents. ​We are very proud of our partners supporting mental health and grateful for the work they have been doing. ​Some examples include the Royal Ottawa's C-PROMPT clinic providing ongoing counselling services, which received over 400 referrals since it launched on April 16, and the Royal's Health Care Worker Mental Health Clinic providing clinical services to healthcare workers and paramedics. ​The Ottawa Health Team and partner agencies, including OPH, are providing the Counselling Connect service for same-day or next-day phone or video counselling. And, as part of the Kids Come First Health Team, Youth Services Bureau (YSB) has modified their 24/7 crisis service to help youth and families get connected to the right Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions service in Ottawa.

​​Visit OPH’s Mental Health and COVID-19 page for additional resources.

Living with COVID-19

I am pleased to share that when OPH contact tracers follow-up with COVID-19 positive cases, contacts per case dropped from approximately20 contacts to ​an average of five. This shows that people are being smart about distancing and helping to continue plank the curve.

Despite this progress, we only have a small margin of safety if we want to continue to pin down the virus. If we increase our close contacts too widely and too quickly, the number of cases and outbreaks may rise sharply, which will put a burden on the health care system – something we have fortunately avoided so far. As we reopen and are no longer focusing on “just staying home,” we need to be smart about distancing, engaging in lower risk activities and learning to live with the virus.

Keep protecting others by wearing a cloth mask when a two-metre distance cannot be kept and limiting your contacts. We are working with various partners to develop a supply of cloth masks for those who will have difficulty accessing or purchasing a mask. I hope to share more details as we finalize those details and partnerships.

NEW: Ottawa COVID-19 Dashboard

We’ve been exploring different measures to better convey how OPH is monitoring COVID-19’s spread in the community, which is especially important now that restrictions have begun to ease and the province is reopening. Today, we launched the Ottawa COVID-19 Dashboard to provide this information to the public in a user-friendly format.

We’ve introduced a colour-coding system to let people know what is the bottom-line. On a scale from red, orange, yellow and green, we are currently in the orange category. The colour rating is based on our public health and health system capacity, our ability to test and track the virus and on current spread in the community. This new public dashboard, which will be updated daily, will hopefully help residents better understand the situation and the impact of their actions. Each of us matter and each of us will help determine the trajectory of the number of infections in our community and our freedoms into the future.

Thank you to everyone who practiced physical distancing over what was another beautiful weekend in Ottawa. Spending time in nature can have positive impacts on our mental health and the sunshine and warmer temperatures makes being outdoors much more enticing for many of us. 

I want to continue to stress the importance that as we go about reopening Ottawa and resuming activities, we must do so in a smart way, which includes keeping our two metre distance from others and wearing a mask in close contact with people outside our households. The likelihood and severity of a second wave is largely determined by our actions; what we do today will impact our future freedoms.  

Testing strategy 

Yesterday Premier Doug Ford stated that anyone in Ontario who is worried about having been exposed to COVID-19 can present for testing even if not showing symptoms. Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and the COVID-19 Assessment Centre & COVID-19 Care Clinics are awaiting further guidance provided by the Ontario Ministry of Health regarding testing.  

Any Ottawa resident who feels they need a test, even if they are not showing symptoms of illness, can now go for testing at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre or the COVID-19 Care Clinics and should not be turned away unless volumes are significant.  Populations at highest risk for COVID-19 transmission like healthcare workers and people with symptoms of illness will need to be prioritized if demand outstrips capacity. 

The available test detects COVID-19 virus in the body, not antibodies, so the test cannot tell you if you have had COVID-19 infection in the past. 

Since yesterday’s provincial announcement, we have seen increased numbers of individuals presenting for testing at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre and COVID-19 Care Clinics. If you do present for testing, please be prepared for longer wait times and wear a mask if you are able to do so. When wait times are significant, priority will be given to residents from high-risk groups and those showing symptoms.  

Our website has been updated to reflect this change in testing: please see www.OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for more details. We expect a formal testing strategy to be announced by the ministry later this week. 

In addition to the COVID-19 Assessment Centre and Care Clinics, some family doctors offices are providing this service, and mobile services are available for populations with need. We will be announcing further options for accessing COVID19 tests in the future.I am pleased that our labs have been able to increase testing capacity. As it stands, the Champlain region is able to process approximately 1,900 tests per day. We are working with healthcare partners to ensure this increased testing capacity is best used tofind out where the virus is in the community and break chains of transmission, with a focus on populations at highest risk.  

For more information on testing, please visit ottawapublichealth.ca. 

Reopening cautiously 

We’ve been asked about the number of cases rising in Ontario and whether it really is the right time to be reopening. At this point, increases in cases are mostly in the Greater Toronto Area, not in Ottawa.   We will continue to monitor the situation locally and inform the public; people need to know what is happening where they live. 

Last Friday, Dr. Doug Manuel shared a cautionary note on reopening: while everyone in Ottawa has contributed to flattening the curve, we cannot move forward as though the virus is gone.  We still have outbreaks and a stable level of hospitalizations in Ottawa. We must find ways to live with this virus.  Our goal is to resume activities in a way that decreases risk of transmission – keeping distance between ourselves and supporting businesses’ employees’ health and protecting others by wearing masks when within two metres of someone. 

Heat preparedness 

Hot weather has come early this year in Ottawa and southern Ontario. To reduce the burden on our health care system, I want to remind residents of ways to prevent heat-related illnesses.    

Heat and high humidity can be difficult to deal with, especially for people at risk such as older adults, infants, outdoor workers and people with pre-existing health conditions.  

Ottawa Public Health is encouraging residents to get ready for the heat by having a plan on how they will stay cool and prevent heat related illnesses.  With many of our usual places to cool off not open right now, such as libraries, pools and shopping malls we will have to rely on other means to cool off.   

Cool water and the use of fans or air conditioning are two very effective ways of staying cool. Some good reminders to prevent heat related illnesses include: 

• Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated 
• Cool off in the shade or at a park or greenspace.  
• Use a fan and mist your skin with water  
• Take cool baths and showers as often as needed  
• Soak hands and/or feet in cool water 
• Keep your home cool by closing blinds and curtains during the day 
• Stay connected with people in your community who have a difficult time coping with hot weather and those who live alone. Check on them regularly. 
• Practice sun safety. 

For more information visit ottawapublichealth.ca/beattheheat. 

Hot weather concerns and face masks: 

Wearing a mask is important to decrease transmission of COVID-19 in any indoor setting where it may be difficult to maintain at least two-metre distancing or the room or corridor is small. Wearing a mask may not be necessary outdoors (where higher temperatures may be more of a concern) if distances can be maintained. 

Masks do become more uncomfortable in hot temperatures, but they will still work. The general public should plan outdoor outings for the coolest times of the day and take breaks in the shade or a cool environment if they are finding a face mask uncomfortable in the heat.   

For people undertaking physical exertion in heat, a mask can make the effort more difficult. Decreasing intensity/volume of work, more frequent rests, and more cooling breaks may be necessary. Discuss your health needs with your employer. 

Paramedic Services Week 

This week is Paramedic Services Week, an opportunity to recognize the invaluable work these frontline workers commit to every day. 

Our paramedics are on the front lines during this fight against COVID-19 and have played an integral role in responding to and preventing the spread of COVID-19. 

On behalf of Ottawa Public Health, thank you Ottawa paramedics for being there to help protect the health and well-being of all Ottawa residents.  

At the end of this first week of reopening, and as the warmer weather appears to be here to stay, many people may be feeling like we have entered a new phase of this pandemic, and they would be correct. And, now is not the time to ease up on our efforts that have been keeping this virus pinned down. We are still learning how we can live with COVID-19 in our community while continuing to do some of the activities that we enjoy. I can’t say enough that we must continue to keep physical distancing and wear a cloth mask in situations when we can’t keep a two-metre distance from others outside our household.  These activities prevent infections.

We are still in this together as a community to protect ourselves and others.   

As we resume some of our usual activities and routines like shopping or grabbing take-out coffee, perhaps seeing others we have not seen in a long time at that two-meter distance, you may experience a variety of emotions. I for one got a little emotional yesterday when I saw the usual person serving in the coffee shop down the street when it reopened after two months. This is normal during times of stress and uncertainty and when we see signs of overcoming adversity. 

Thank you so much for your efforts in the first phase of the pandemic response and for your resilience to continue your hard work and share ideas on how we can live within this new normal.   

Testing strategy 

Testing to detect as many COVID19 infections in our community as we can is another one of the efforts that will help keep the virus pinned down as we begin to reopen Ottawa. 

I’d like to remind everyone that testing is now available to anyone with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. Many family physicians’ offices are open, so please check with them first.  And, the assessment centre, care clinics and laboratories have the capacity to offer this testing for everyone that needs it. 

By getting tested, you are helping us find every case we can to stop transmission of COVID-19; this information helps us to detect cases more quickly, understand what transmission is occurring in the community, investigate potential sources and identify outbreaks earlier.   

The testing strategy continues to evolve based on the needs of the community, testing capacity as well as provincial guidance. Currently, discussions are underway about in what situations it makes sense to test people who are asymptomatic. We currently test people who are asymptomatic in situations of outbreaks in congregate care settings.  Ottawa’s testing capacity has grown significantly since the declaration of the virus in Canada, but we still do not have the capacity to test everyone in Ottawa. We’re working closely with our healthcare, provincial and federal partners to best use our testing capacity. 

We encourage employers and organizations to consider using a screening questionnaire available on OPH’s website that your staff and volunteers can use to self-assess for COVID-19 symptoms before starting their work day. Any employees with even mild symptoms should not work when ill and are strongly encouraged to present for testing.

Focus on prevention 

I know that testing gets a lot of attention, but prevention is essential and has always been a key focus for the work of public health. We would much rather prevent cases of COVID-19 in our community than chase the virus down once it starts spreading. We know that prevention saves the health care system dollars, but it also saves lives.  Not getting sick in the first place is better for everyone, particularly when there is no effective cure for the infection. 

Early public health advice to practice physical distancing has prevented transmission in our community, and I thank all of you who continue to practice preventive measures such as physical distancing, washing your hands frequently, not touching your face and wearing a cloth mask when in close contact with people outside your household.  Testing is not enough.  These measures are important to continue to limit transmission in the community.  

Case and contact management 

Connecting with people with confirmed COVID-19 and their contacts, to support them to do their part to manage their illness and decrease further transmission, is another essential public health measure in place to help keep the virus pinned down as we begin to reopen Ottawa.

When OPH is notified of a confirmed case of COVID-19, we call the individual within 24 hours and begin the process of contact tracing. Through our case and contact management work, OPH is seeing that the number of close contacts per case is now often less than five and contacts are usually household contacts. Before physical distancing and self-isolation measures were introduced, OPH was notifying approximately 15 to 20 close contacts per case. We will continue to monitor the impact of reopening and how this influences the number of close contacts per case. Modelling shows that in Ottawa, if contacts rise by even 20 per cent, we can anticipate to see hospitalizations increase.   

I encourage everyone to get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather. Please keep doing what you're doing to limit your total contacts: stay two metres apart, wash your hands and wear a cloth mask when you can’t keep physical distance. Your actions are appreciated and will be what allows us to live in a more sustainable way in the future.   

Thank you to the people of Ottawa for celebrating your long weekend differently this year. It is great to see many people enjoying the outdoors while practicing physical distancing and limiting your contacts.

Reopening Ottawa

As part of Ontario’s Framework for Reopening the Province, many businesses are reopening today. While this will have positive impacts on the economy and hopefully mental health, there are now increased opportunities for interacting with others and a greater chance of the virus spreading. The vast majority of the population remains susceptible to the COVID-19 virus and the virus is still present in the community, with undetected and asymptomatic infections posing a challenge to containment. Our message remains the same: the fewer people you come into contact with the better to keep COVID-19 pinned down.

The recommended physical distancing measures don’t change with reopening. Dr. Theresa Tam has encouraged Canadians to only go out if you can “go out smart”.

As we start our long weekend, we hope all residents can take some time to enjoy the weather and being outdoors. Please remember to continue to stay two metres away from people who do not live in your household, and if you are in public places where you cannot maintain this two metre distance, please wear a non-medical cloth mask if possible. As some businesses and public spaces reopen, there are increased opportunities for interacting with others, so there is a greater chance of the virus spreading. Our message remains the same: the less people you come into contact with, the better to keep COVID-19 pinned down.

We are still  in a pandemic situation. We trust that the people of Ottawa will continue to be vigilant to protect themselves and others. Although we are seeing some positive signs, such as the number of cases and deaths decreasing and hospitalization rates stabilizing, the virus has not left our community. We want to prevent a second wave of the virus, because if infections increase rapidly our healthcare system could be overwhelmed, more people will die, and businesses will potentially suffer from having to scale back again.   

The daily case numbers continue to show that there is community spread of the virus - cases that we cannot attribute to direct contact of a confirmed case or travel. For example we have had 1,753 cases, with about half (52%) acquired in institutions. But, as for the situation in the community, there were 20% from known close contacts and approximately 20% are community acquired cases where the individual could not identify the source of the virus. Contributing to this situation is that people can be asymptomatic and still spread the virus. With a lot of focus on long-term care homes, I believe people are starting to think that the virus is only occurring in those homes. This is not the case.  We are strongly encouraging everyone who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 to self-isolate and to present for assessment, even if the symptoms are mild, so we can track down the sources of infection in the community and break chains of transmission.

We do not know how long we will live with COVID-19 in the community, so we have to find healthy ways to cope in this new reality. Please stay home if you are ill, continue washing your hands, disinfecting shared surfaces, and wearing a non-medical mask when physical distancing is not possible.

Monitoring and Testing

As more businesses and public spaces reopen in Ottawa, all of us have a role to play – Ottawa Public Health, residents, our partners, and businesses. 

Some of the key roles for public health are to:

• monitor the number of confirmed cases
• Identify and follow-up with close contacts
• identify sources of infection
• control outbreaks in the community 

OPH announced on Wednesday that testing is now available to everyone with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. The province also followed with this announcement yesterday for all Ontarians. It is essential for us to identify people with COVID-19 infections and follow-up with them quickly to provide information and the importance of self-isolating and to identify their close contacts, so that they can also self-isolate. This management of cases and their contacts is one of the essential public health measures in place to help keep the virus pinned down as we begin to reopen Ottawa.

Again, we encourage anyone with symptoms to go for testing. You can now be assessed for testing at both the Assessment Centre and Care Clinics; they have the capacity for this increased testing. 

People have asked us why they should go for testing, especially if their symptoms are mild and they are managing okay at home. By getting tested, you are helping us find every case we can to stop the transmission; this information helps us to detect cases more quickly, understand what transmission is occurring in the community, investigate the source, and identify outbreaks earlier.    

Support for long term care homes   

COVID-19 Support Teams have continued outreach to long-term care homes (LTCH) identified by public health as “red,” or high risk. Homes flagged as “yellow” (i.e. moderate risk) are also being engaged for outreach.

Health-care teams in the Champlain Health Region successfully tested residents in all 60 local LTCH ahead of the provincial government’s May 15 deadline. Over the last three weeks more than 7,000 residents and 8,000 staff have been tested by teams comprised of hospital staff, public health, and paramedics.

Meeting this testing mandate reflects a tremendous effort by our regional partners. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the Brewer Assessment Centre staff, the Queensway Carleton Hospital, Hopital Montfort, and the Ottawa Paramedic Service for their commitment to supporting LTCH in the Champlain Region.

A number of partnerships between hospitals and LTCH have now been established to support staffing needs, and more continue to be established as assessments continue. Retirement homes are being included in our outreach model, and are being categorized with the same colour criteria as LTCH.

The “tier two” escalation process that has been established for regional support if a hospital is unable to adequately staff its partner long-term care home(s) is being tracked daily (see example below).

Gradual reopening and supports for businesses

The province has announced the plan to gradually reopen some businesses and public spaces. By slowly reopening, we will be better able to assess and monitor any increases in transmission of the virus within the community, and hopefully reduce the impact of any outbreaks.

OPH has links to the province’s recommended guidelines for businesses and workplaces on our website to help guide reopening in a way that considers the health and safety of both employees and customers. 

We will be monitoring the impact of the reopening of businesses and other easing of COVID-19 restrictions. As these changes increase our interactions with others, there is an increased risk of infection rates rising.  We have to stay vigilant and continue to practice physical distancing and limiting the total number of people that we come in contact with; these are what have flattened the curve and kept demands on hospital capacity manageable so far. Recommended physical distancing measures don’t change with reopening.

What residents can do to reduce transmission

Thank you to the people of Ottawa for your hard work and efforts to protect our community.  I’ve already spoken about what to do if you’re feeling ill. We also want everyone to continue your efforts to lower the chance that you will spread the virus unknowingly to someone else or that someone will give it to you.

When you are outside your home, we recommend that you protect yourself and others by:

• maintaining physical distancing of 2 metres or 6 feet as much as possible
• limiting close contact to those within your own household as much as possible
• washing your hands regularly; and
• wearing a non-medical mask – a cloth mask –  where physical distancing may not be possible, such as at the grocery store or on transit. 

Wearing a mask is new for many people, but we have already seen this happening in our community. When more people wear a mask, especially as more businesses and public spaces reopen, wearing masks is one element that allows a city to control spread of transmission, get control of the disease, and have more freedom. We know that some individuals who are infected with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, and wearing a mask limits their ability to infect others.

If you are wearing a mask, you are caring for others. As Chair Egli said at yesterday’s town hall: “My mask protects you, and your mask protects me.”

There is information on our website about where to get a non-medical mask and how to wear and wash a mask. We also launched a mask contest today on The Link Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health’s youth-focused Instagram), to encourage youth to embrace proper mask use and come up with fun and quirky names for masks. 

We also recently connected with residents through an online survey and the results give us increased confidence that the people of Ottawa are committed to continue to follow public heath guidance and protect each other. 94 percent of respondents said they will continue to practice physical distancing even as some restrictions are relaxed. And almost 90 per cent of respondents said they would be willing to wear a non-medical mask in public to be allowed to access more services.

Lastly, I would like to remind residents that we want to hear your thoughts, perceptions, and understanding of current restrictions in place related to COVID-19. You can share your feedback through our online platform at engage.ottawa.ca/covid19.

Thank you again for your community response to this pandemic. Enjoy the long weekend, just two metres apart!

As we continue to see the number of cases of COVID-19 in the community decline, I want to thank Ottawa residents for your efforts to follow public health messaging. I continue to be touched and proud to be a part of this community that has come together and shown such great support for each other during these unprecedented times.

Updated testing criteria

We have reached the next phase in the capacity for COVID19 testing in Ottawa. Ottawa Public Health (OPH) now recommends that anyone experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms should be tested. Those with symptoms can be assessed by a healthcare provider, and tested, if required, at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre or one of the COVID-19 Care Clinics. If wait times are high, priority will be given to essential workers and healthcare workers. Many primary care offices remain open to assess patients as well, so please call your family physician’s office to see if they can accommodate your visit first. As usual, the advice to stay home when ill is important to stop the spread of infections.  When traveling to access an assessment centre, care clinic or other healthcare setting, please use a non-medical mask or face covering and keep your hands clean.

If you are in distress (e.g. significant trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting, or have a significant worsening of any chronic disease symptoms), do not go to the assessment centre or a care clinic. Go to the nearest emergency department or call 9-1-1.

Testing in long term care homes and emergency childcare centers

As of yesterday, testing has been completed in Ottawa’s 28 long-term care homes and 76 staff have been tested in the three emergency childcare centers in Ottawa. ​At the moment, there is no plan to expand the surveillance testing to other settings, however OPH has proactively reached out to retirement homes that need support with our healthcare partners. And, supports to other congregate care settings, like group homes and shelters, continue to evolve.

COVID‐19 Support Teams have continued outreach to long‐term care homes identified by public health​ as ‘high risk’ and homes flagged as moderate risk are also being engaged. A number of partnerships between hospitals and long‐term care homes have been established to support staffing and other needs in the homes. These interventions are making a difference and more partnerships are established as assessments continue. ​

Looking ahead

As we adapt to living with COVID-19 and begin to reopen our city, we are working with residents, community and health care partners and all levels of government to ensure new and expanded measures are in place: more widespread testing of symptomatic people, technology to support case and contact management and universal face covering where physical distancing is not possible.

We have asked for your thoughts, perceptions and understanding of current restrictions in place related to COVID-19 through various feedback mechanisms including our COVID-19: Share your thoughts engagement platform. We are asking respondents what they are doing to make physical distancing more manageable and so far, have received many ideas on reopening the city. We have heard about mask use, expanded testing, and how businesses can operate while ensuring people maintain a safe distance from each other.

This information is helping to inform decision makers and we encourage all residents to continue sharing their experiences with us. Since launching the COVID-19 online engagement on May 1 we have heard from more than 1500 residents through our surveys and ideas tool. The first phase closes soon but there is still time to have your say: visit https://engage.ottawa.ca/covid19.

​​The actions we have collectively taken to date - and will continue to take – will impact our future. Earlier in the year, I referenced several p-words related to what we were just learning was a pandemic - including preparedness, prevention and politeness. I have a few more words to add. Let’s continue to be proactive and pragmatic. We need to help people get back to work and we can work to prevent a resurgence with maintaining physical distancing and wearing non-medical masks or face coverings when within 2 metres of others. Thank you for your patience, your perseverance and your passion.

Today marks the start of National Nursing Week, a time when nurses are recognized for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the health and well-being of us all. Ottawa Public Health (OPH) nurses play a vital role across the Ottawa community and in the life of every resident in the city. As respected members of our public health teams, nurses bring tremendous technical expertise to promote and protect our community's health and to prevent disease and injury across populations.

During this week, please join me in extending a thank you to the OPH nurses and all nurses across the healthcare sector for their tireless work now and every day.

Testing for COVID-19 infection

OPH continues to work with the Champlain Health Region Incident Command (CHRIC) to make COVID-19 testing available to the public, carry out testing to manage outbreaks and a surveillance exercise in long-term care homes and emergency child care centres. The Ontario-area laboratories appear to be managing the volume of testing created from encouraging people over 60 who have COVID-19-like symptoms to present to an Assessment Centre or Care Clinic for assessment.  As the surveillance exercise wraps up, more of the population will be encouraged to present to rule out COVID-19 if they have symptoms of the infection.

Gatherings of up to five people

There have been many questions in the last few days regarding gathering with people outside our households if the group size is less than five. While Ontario regulation allows gatherings of up to five people, OPH recommends keeping to activities with members of our households as much as possible, no matter what the size of the group. If we increase our interaction with others too much too soon, the level of infection has more chances to rise and we may risk overburdening our health care system – something we have avoided so far, thanks to the actions of people in Ottawa.  People may not realize they are infected and still pass on the COVID-19 virus.  There are still cases arising in the community where people infected were not in contact with a known case and did not have a history of travel to an affected area.

Provincial parks reopening across Ontario

Some good news for everyone to access more outdoor space for walking, biking, hiking, and more to stay active and healthy: as of today, the provincial government will begin reopening provincial parks and conservation reserves for day use with limited access. Before planning your trip, please visit www.ontarioparks.com/park-locator to check the status of your local provincial park. Also, it is important to remember to continue to practice physical distancing if you decide to use these areas. Lastly, masks can provide another level of protection to people around you if you are not able to maintain a 2-metre distance from them.

Today, I ‘d like to take a moment to recognize the local health care worker who died as a result of COVID-19, while working to protect the health of others. The family, friends and colleagues of the worker are in our thoughts.  It is very difficult to lose a member of the health care community, and we are devasted by this loss on top of the loss of so many residents.

Long-term care homes

OPH continues to be concerned for our residents in long-term care during this pandemic. It is important for the population, and especially those with loved ones in long-term care homes, to know that most long-term care homes in Ottawa have no outbreaks and zero cases of COVID-19. For those homes that do have outbreaks, hospitals have been paired up with the homes facing the greatest pressure and the situation has improved in the operation of these homes.  We continue to see deaths from infections that started with transmission in the past. 

Managing risk while easing restrictions

This week marked the start of easing some of the COVID-related community restrictions, such as the reopening of some parks and businesses, and more announcements are being made by the province frequently. Although more public spaces are available, the community remains extremely vulnerable to a resurgence of disease. Most people are not immune to COVID-19 and the vast majority of the population remains susceptible. 

Therefore, we must continue to practice physical distancing as some measures are being relaxed – that message does not change.  And, I am encouraged that the motivation of the people of Ottawa to protect others around them will not change.

 We are in the fortunate position in that we are able to observe what other countries are doing with regards to relaxation of restrictions and we will continue to monitor how the situations develop as they reopen their businesses, schools and outdoor spaces.

We are in a time where people need to, and they want to, return to the activities they love. OPH recognizes the burden that COVID-19 has created and the impacts on the direct health of Ottawa’s residents. And, we are concerned about the indirect harms COVID19 has caused -- stress and anxiety, loss of employment, food insecurity, exposure to violence, delayed access to medical and dental services and reduced social support -- as these have big influences on health and wellbeing. 

OPH is working with provincial, municipal and community partners to support a progressive relaxing of restrictions that will minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19 in the community.  If we increase our interaction with others too much too soon, the level of infection will rise and we risk overburdening our health care system – something we have avoided so far, thanks to your actions.  We need to continue to keep this virus pinned down and at a manageable level within the community, and I would like to also see a further decline in hospitalizations to show we are reaching lower levels of virus in the community. 

What is important is that the actions of everyone in the city will be what determines our future.

What you have done so far, and what we do today will impact our future. The people of Ottawa have done such a good job at protecting themselves and others by following the physical distancing measures. Keeping two metres between each other is what will continue to protect us. We need to continue physical distancing moving forward as we resume other activities.

During this period, wearing of cloth masks in the community when you cannot maintain a physical distance of two metres will be important to reduce transmission from individuals that do not have symptoms and may not realize they are ill. As well as, continued community testing of people with COVID19-like symptoms will be essential, along with testing to control outbreaks. OPH will continue to work with health care sector partners to ensure testing capacity. 

Please continue to visit our website www.OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for updated content about where to purchase a mask, how to wear a mask and updated physical distancing information.

The Ottawa community has come together and has shown such great support for each other in these hard times. This week is the annual Mental Health Week that recognizes the importance of mental health awareness in Canada. As we face the COVID-19 pandemic, we need each other now more than ever. Being honest and clear about our needs, and how we are doing with regards to our mental health is of utmost importance, so that we can continue to support each other. There are resources available on Ottawa Public Health’s (OPH) website that you can use to support family, friends, colleagues and yourself.

Update on transition to new case management system and epidemiology report

OPH is transitioning to a new case management and reporting system. In the interim, a condensed epidemiological report is posted on OPH’s website until the transition is complete. We appreciate the public’s patience with this process.

What is important to highlight regarding the data is that the level of hospitalizations is not in steep decline and that gives us an idea of infection in the community.   

This means that while we have seen success in planking the curve, we have to remember that the level of infection in the community is simply being kept at a manageable level. There continues to be a risk, that as we increase our interactions with others, that the level of infection in our community will rise quickly again. 

Testing in long term care homes

Surveillance testing for all residents and staff in 28 long-term care homes in Ottawa continues. Testing has occurred in 15 homes to-date, with testing in all homes to be completed on, or ahead of schedule, before May 15, 2020. This surveillance has included testing of approximately 1,880 residents and 1,826 staff with results still pending from multiple homes.

This undertaking has only been possible with the collaborative effort of many partners:

• The long term care homes,  
• Champlain Health Region Incident Command,  
• The Ottawa Hospital,  
• Queensway Carleton Hospital,  
• Montfort Hospital,  
• BORN Ontario,
• City of Ottawa,  
• Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association,  
• The Public Health Ontario Laboratory-Ottawa,  
• Ottawa Paramedic Services, and  
• Ottawa Public Health team members.  

With all of the interest in testing, it is important to place surveillance testing in the overall context of controlling transmission of this disease. The purpose of this surveillance testing is to provide a snapshot of the current state of COVID-19 infections in long-term care homes particularly, since we know people can have mild or no symptoms and still be infectious. While the surveillance testing provides a picture of what's happening at one moment in time, infection, prevention, and control measures continue to be the most effective ways to decrease COVID-19 in long-term care homes. This includes employees avoiding working if symptomatic, ensuring all employees wear a medical grade face mask at all times while at work, and proper cohorting of people infected with COVID-19.

COVID-19: Share your thoughts online engagement

To date, our COVID-19 engagement survey has almost 8,500 visits to the platform, 1,236 users have participated in the survey, and we’ve received over 115 ideas on how to make physical distancing more manageable.

From what we’ve heard so far, the restrictions that have been especially difficult for residents include the closure of parks, reduced family and social connectedness, physical distancing requirements, and the closing of schools and childcare.

Residents are encouraged to visit engage.ottawa.ca/covid19 to complete the survey in English and French and provide feedback. The feedback received will help the City and OPH develop a recovery plan that meets the needs and expectations of our community, as much as possible.

Masks and Physical Distancing

There have been questions about masks over the past few days, and you may be seeing more people wearing material masks in the community.

Someone wearing a mask is sending a signal that they care for you.

Because of the risk of rising rates of infection again, OPH recommends that residents continue to maintain physical distancing of 2 metres from others, and to wear a non-medical mask when this distance cannot be maintained, such as on public transit or at a grocery store, to decrease transmission of COVID-19. For more information about non-medical masks, including how to make one or where to buy one, please visit our special mask website. 

We know COVID-19 is circulating in our community and that transmission can occur when a person is asymptomatic. Wearing a non-medical mask is not a replacement for physical distancing, hand washing, and monitoring your health.

We are seeing more people biking with their families on multiuse paths and joggers are seen alongside the river, this is good to see people outside and being active. City parks and beaches are partially reopening, and we hear that people want to spend time with family and friends outside their household.

OPH continues to advise that limiting activities to members of your own household remains important to limit the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.  Physical distancing of at least two metres from non-household members needs to be maintained as we begin to open some public spaces.

Thank you to Ottawa residents for all the efforts you have put into date. You ARE making a difference. Physical distancing is working but we can’t let up. Limiting outings to essential trips only is working. We all need to continue to do these things, so that we can be confident in moving forward with relaxing current restrictions.

We will get through this time together. Stay connected, but stay physically apart. Stay healthy and Stay safe.

Today I am pleased to announce that Ottawa Public Health and the City of Ottawa are launching the first phase of a city-wide engagement opportunity to hear from residents about our collective community response to COVID-19. We are looking to learn more about your thoughts, perceptions and understanding of current restrictions in place related to COVID-19.

This online engagement platform, called COVID-19: Share your thoughts, will allow us to learn how residents are making changes in their lives to protect themselves and loved ones, what their experience has been receiving and understanding information, what kinds of supports residents have accessed, ideas to maintain physical distancing into the future and what is perhaps much needed right now – good news stories.

The City and OPH are currently exploring how we can safely reopen the city in a gradual, phased approach while aligning with the Province of Ontario’s framework for reopening the province, and we must include public feedback.

The information we receive from residents will help to ensure we develop a plan for the post-peak period that aligns with the province and meets the needs and expectations of our community as much as possible.  OPH is also working with stakeholders, such as the Mayor’s office and City leadership, City task forces, health system partners, the NCC and others, to interpret and apply the anticipated provincial guidelines within Ottawa.

Community and client engagement is one of the transformational initiatives in OPH’s strategic plan. Engagement is a process to work with our community, not just for our community, and ensures the decisions we make, and the work that we do, is rooted in the voices of clients and partners.

I encourage everyone to visit https://engage.ottawa.ca/covid19 or https://participons.ottawa.ca/covid19 to participate in English and French. Please check back regularly as we will update this page to seek ongoing feedback as we continue to navigate next steps.

Aging Well in Ottawa

One other way that OPH regularly engages with our residents is through Facebook. This week we launched another moderated Facebook page, called Aging Well in Ottawa for residents 55 years of age and older and their caregivers. This page has had a lot of interest in its first week.  Ottawa Public Health staff will be online from 9 am to 3 pm daily (Monday to Friday) to discuss timely health topics, address questions and support residents to connect with one another. Please join us online for this exciting new initiative.

Updated testing criteria

OPH is now recommending that any residents over 60 years of age experiencing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, go for assessment.  The full list of who is eligible for testing is available on our website.  You can get tested at a COVID-19 Assessment Centre or a COVID-19 Care Clinic.

If you are in distress (e.g. significant trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting, or have a significant worsening of any chronic disease symptoms), do not go to the Assessment Centre or a COVID-19 Care clinic. Go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 9-1-1.

New case management system and epidemiology report

OPH is transitioning to a new case management and reporting system called the COVID-19 Ottawa Database. This transition will position OPH to better manage COVID-19 case volumes, facilitate remote work options for the case management team and continue to uphold provincial reporting obligations.

To support the transition, OPH is currently conducting quality assurance to validate the data in the new system. In the interim, a snapshot report will be posted until the transition is complete, likely early next week. 

COVID-19 Cases

As of 4 pm on April 28, 2020, OPH is investigating 1,297 lab-confirmed cases, 76 newly reported since yesterday. Over the last few days, we have been seeing these larger increases in the number of cases than previous weeks. We anticipated this increase as more people are eligible for testing and therefore getting tested and due to the surveillance exercise that took place last weekend in which all staff and residents of nine long-term care homes were tested.

Sadly, we are reporting five new deaths, all in long-term care residents, since our last report yesterday. Of the 76 deceased total, 69 (91 per cent) were aged 65 years or older, six were 45-64 years old and one was 20 to 44 years old; 39 males and 37 females.

It is important to note that our reporting does not reflect the number of cases or deaths in a single day; but rather reflects the number of new cases since the last report which can include data from a range of days.  For example, the 76 cases reported today were from specimens collected April 24-27 and the 5 deaths reported today also occurred April 24-27.

The number of reported confirmed cases is always just a percentage of the number of actual infections (symptomatic and symptomatic) in our community because testing capacity has only been extended to priority groups to date. Therefore, it is important that we all continue to keep physical distance from people outside of our households.  We are working with our health care partners to implement more testing for more of the population and continue our contact tracing to better understand the spread of the virus in our community.

The majority of new confirmed cases have been in healthcare institutional outbreaks, but there continues to be community transmission (Figure 3).  Our reported data may differ from other numbers published elsewhere, such as care homes themselves, due to data entry lag, different reporting sources, or download times. Care homes get the information of residents’ results first and take appropriate measures to isolate and care for their residents and staff.

National Immunization Awareness Week

This week is National Immunization Awareness Week, an annual event held at the end of April to recognize the importance of immunization in Canada.

Prevention is at the heart of what we do at Ottawa Public Health, and this global pandemic is a terrible reminder of how a virus can impact our lives when there is no vaccine.  Vaccines are a proven way to protect people and communities against very harmful and serious diseases such as measles, polio, tetanus and more. As researchers and scientists across the world continue to search for a vaccine against COVID19, I want to remind residents of the importance of maintaining physical distancing and also keeping up with routine immunizations for yourselves and your loved ones.

There are two great initiatives happening this week regarding immunizations: 

1. The Kids Comes First Health Team (CHEO, OPH, community pediatricians and CANImmunize) has opened a Children’s Immunization Clinic for infants and children under two (2) years of age in the Ottawa region who are unable to get their routine series of immunizations due to COVID-19 closures. 
2. There will be a moderated discussion on our Parenting in Ottawa Facebook page with a Public Health Nurse about immunization this Friday (May 1).   

New Aging Well in Ottawa Facebook Page 

Facebook has been a valuable platform for Ottawa Public Health to engage with families and residents over the past years. To build on this success, Ottawa Public Health launched a new Aging Well in Ottawa Facebook page this week for residents 55 years of age and older and their caregivers. An Ottawa Public Health staff will be online from 9 am to 3 pm daily (Monday to Friday) and residents connect with one another. Please join us online for this exciting new initiative.

Reporting of data

Starting tomorrow, Ottawa Public Health will be transitioning to a new case management and reporting system. This new web-based secure system allows our team to more quickly and easily document each individual case investigation and share data with the provincial Ministry of Health. Due to the technicalities of this transition, there will be no epidemiology report published on our website on Thursday, April 30. No data will be missing or lost; the information from April 30 will be included in the May 1 report.

Provincial announcement

Today the Ontario premier unveiled the province’s framework for gradually re-opening the economy.

We will review the framework with our municipal and health care system partners and provide more information on what this means in Ottawa in the coming days.

Testing in long-term care homes

This past weekend, surveillance testing began in nine long-term care homes in Ottawa.

This exercise was completed as part of the provincial directive announced last week to implement surveillance testing at long-term care homes.

The Ottawa Paramedic Service deserves a big thanks for this weekend’s collaborative effort to implement the pilot surveillance testing of long-term care home staff and residents.  The task of testing over 1700 residents and healthcare workers could not have been completed without 26 Ottawa paramedics willing to help with taking swabs.

I also want to thank our partners from the Champlain Health Region Incident Command and the Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association for their efforts this weekend, working alongside Ottawa Public Health team members, who also have my thanks for continuing strenuous efforts to control COVID-19 in our community.

This kind of collaboration with City, healthcare and public health workers makes me proud of the response in our area and is the way we will continue to work with an ongoing focus on supports for long-term care homes.

We know that asymptomatic transmission can occur, and we can expect an increase in the number of detected cases in health care workers and residents as a result of this surveillance exercise. The purpose of this surveillance testing is to better understand the current state of COVID-19 infections in long-term care homes.

While testing is important to provide a picture of what's happening at one moment in time, infection, prevention and control measures, including wearing a medical grade face mask at all times while at work, and proper cohorting of people infected with COVID-19, continue to be the most effective ways to decrease COVID-19 in long-term care homes.

Physical activity while physically distancing

Lastly, with the weather warming up, many more people will be taking advantage of the outdoors for exercise, which is encouraged.  Physical activity and getting fresh air are important for our overall physical and mental wellness; I advise everyone who can go outside, to do so, in a safe way.

It is important to take care of our mental and physical health. Our neighbourhood sidewalks, streets, and multiuse paths are all still available to get outside and get moving. For most people, it is okay to go out for a walk, run or ride your bike, as long as you can continue to practice physical distancing.

Others may need to stay in their homes for their own safety and/or the safety of the community, like if you’ve recently returned from outside Canada, if you’ve come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19 – even if they are mild. Ottawa Public Health’s website has new information on staying safe while being physically active in our neighborhoods as well as questions to consider before going outside.  Visit our website for information to stay safe when doing these activities.

Thank you to our entire community for all the actions taken – these actions matter. Take the time to go outside and enjoy the warmer weather while staying safe.

I am proud of what the people of Ottawa have done to protect our community since the start of the COIVD-19 pandemic. So many people have been willing to protect others, care for others, and have stepped up to help others. This good will and hard work are appreciated, and will be needed as we continue to learn to live with COVID-19. I know I can trust Ottawa residents to continue doing what is needed to prevent an unmanageable increase in infections in our community into the future.

Todays’ update focuses on some of the work that Ottawa Public Health is doing with different sectors, such as businesses, as we plan to safely move towards a way to live and work that is more sustainable in the long term, when the time is right. 

OPH is working with the City’s Senior Leadership Team, members of the business community, various community services partners, and many other stakeholder groups to figure out the best way to gradually and safely move forward with COVID-19 in our community, following direction from the province of Ontario, in coordination with the federal government. We must ensure we continue to protect those people that are most vulnerable, such as residents in long-term care and retirement homes. 

Relaxing of restrictions will take time – and we are not quite there yet. Protecting people has been the priority and will continue to be a priority. Most people are not immune to COVID-19. So, when we begin to relax measures and increase our interactions with other people, we expect there will be an increase in transmission of the virus. COVID-19 will be a part of our lives and how we live into the foreseeable future. We need to find a balance of risks and benefits of easing restrictions, including identifying what we can do to mitigate risks. 

Members of the business community want to help ensure that the opening up of economic activity is done safely, so that businesses do not need to face closing a second time. Businesses are thinking about ways to operate differently to mitigate the risks of spreading COVID-19. For example, having more people working from home, changing the set-up in some offices and businesses, and considering ways for employees and customers to wear masks and have easy access to wash their hands will all help decrease COVID-19 transmission. The desire to move ahead carefully is consistent with the direction of the province. The Premier has said that any changes will be implemented in a phased approach. There will not be one date for everything to change and return to normal.   

I appreciate the engagement with partners, stakeholders, and residents. We will work together as a community to inform how we will learn to live with COVID-19 in the coming months.

Lastly, a reminder during current religious holidays, that physical distancing measures are still needed and the provincial emergency order in place requires people gather in groups of less than 6. I encourage you to find new ways to celebrate virtually with family and friends and to limit your contact to members of your own household as much as possible. 

COVID-19 peak in Ontario vs Ottawa

Yesterday, the province of Ontario released updated modelling which shows the enhanced public health measures, including staying home and practicing physical distancing, are working to contain the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve. However, the Premier, Minister of Health and Canada’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, agree these measures must remain in place to continue reducing the number of cases and deaths.

While this is strongly encouraging, it is too soon to say that we are currently peaking here in Ottawa. We are waiting for more evidence to show that COVID-19 is slowing down in our community, particularly based on the number of hospitalizations, which follow the rate of infection by about a week. While hospitalizations have stabilized over the last week, we want to see this number start to go down before we can confidently say COVID-19 has peaked in Ottawa. Therefore, I am asking residents to continue practicing physical distancing and to stay home except for essential trips, like for groceries and physical activity. What we’re doing is working but now is not the time to relax these measures and undo the hard-won progress we have made together.

People living in long-term care homes, retirement homes and other congregate settings still need the protection provided by the community doing its part.  Healthcare workers still do not have as much personal protective equipment as they will need into the future.  And, the province is still working on building a surveillance system and testing strategy essential for monitoring the levels of infection in our community that could rise with relaxing restrictions.

For the latest epidemiological data for Ottawa, visit our website.

Masks

I know there has been evolving messaging about whether or not to wear a mask. If you are coughing or sneezing, wear a non-medical mask to protect people around you from getting sick. This is very important if you go to an appointment, clinic or a hospital. Do not go to other public places when you are sick, even if you are wearing a mask.

If you are not sick or not displaying symptoms and are going to a public place (e.g., grocery store or pharmacy) wearing homemade masks or  face coverings may offer some additional protection to those around you where maintaining physical distancing is difficult.

Additionally, I’d like to remind residents that medical masks and N95 respirators should not be worn by healthy community members since they need to be protected for healthcare workers

For more information on masks, please visit OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Masks.

Long-term care and retirement home outbreaks

I continue to express my condolences to those who are impacted by the outbreaks in long-term care and retirement homes be it staff, residents or family members.

I am encouraged by the way the government has enabled staffing levels to be addressed to ensure homes have enough support. OPH continues to work with healthcare partners to ensure long-term care and retirement homes are a top priority for protection.

I get a lot of questions about testing in long-term care and retirement homes. When there is an outbreak in a home or congregate setting, all healthcare workers are tested regardless of whether they have symptoms. Close contacts of a positive case are also tested regardless of symptoms. And, testing is not the solution because regardless of the result, someone could be in the early stages of an infection or go on to become infected.   What is absolutely vital is using proper personal protective equipment, keeping cases isolated and consistently incorporating proper infection prevention and control measures. This is what will protect people the most and this is also the focus of OPH and our healthcare partners.

Case contacting and follow up

I’d like to address how Ottawa Public Health investigates and follows up with each positive case of COVID-19. OPH has a mandate to follow up with all persons who test positive for COVID-19 as well as their close contacts. Each case is monitored on a daily basis, meaning my team will reach out to each positive case and their close contacts every day for 14 days to see how each person is doing, provide information and address questions and concerns. The reason it is so important to check in daily is so OPH can ensure cases and close contacts are following proper home isolation guidelines and to provide clear direction on what each individual should be doing to protect themselves and others. Additionally, this is a new disease so daily follow up is imperative in recording information on how the disease is progressing.

I’d like to acknowledge my case management team who has undertaken this crucial undertaking. Consistent case follow up is one of the many things OPH is doing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Thank you

Thank you for your collaboration in practicing physical distancing and for finding new and innovative ways of supporting each other including by providing donations and making homemade masks.  This is very important work that we encourage volunteers continue. 

I want to thank the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) for their support during this crisis to significantly enhance our capacity with over 100 nurses for triaging, test results, case management and contact tracing.  Our City of Ottawa partners deserve recognition and thanks. Other City departments have been supporting our efforts in various ways, including the redeployment of resources to OPH and support of the Human Needs Task Force and the Business Task Force, among other things. Thanks also to  our healthcare system partners for their continued efforts to increase capacity, share resources, facilitate patient flow, and so many other aspects of this response. Lastly, I want to thank the media for their continued work in ensuring residents have accurate, timely information. 

For an in-depth review of OPH’s work on the COVID-19 response to date, you can watch yesterday’s Board of Health meeting on YouTube. Residents can also tune in to tomorrow’s City Council meeting on YouTube or on Rogers TV.

OTTAWA – April 21, 2020 - As the community continues to follow physical distancing recommendations from Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa area hospitals want to remind the public to continue to come to hospital if they think they have a serious health concern. We appreciate that the public is taking the recommendations to stay home so seriously, but it should not come at the cost of one’s health or safety. If you are in need of urgent medical attention, please go to your nearest Emergency Department or call 911 right away.

Hospital staff are taking every necessary precaution to ensure the health and safety of our patients, caregivers, staff, and community. Our staff and medical staff are ready and able to care for you in the safest way possible.

There are a number of clinical programs that continue to run and care for patients in need, in person and virtually.

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute has maintained capacity to provide care for all cardiac emergencies. Please don’t ignore your heart symptoms. A delay in seeking care could have a lasting impact on the outcome of your treatment. It is important for all patients to keep in touch with their family doctor, and other specialists (like cardiologists) who manage their care. In select cases, a virtual or telephone consultation with one of our cardiologists may be appropriate.

While we are all encouraged to stay home whenever possible, we understand that for some, home is not always a safe place. The Ottawa Hospital’s Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program, run out of the Civic Campus Emergency Department, is still here to care for patients who have experienced sexual or intimate partner violence. The program is offering virtual follow-up clinics, to provide access to care for those unable to come to the hospital. There are also sexual assault programs run out of CHEO and Cornwall Community Hospital. Please contact the one closest to you.

As the regional stroke centre, The Ottawa Hospital also wants to remind the public not to ignore the symptoms of a stroke at the first onset. Time is of the essence when treating any condition, especially a stroke. It’s important to seek medical attention immediately if you think you might be experiencing a stroke.

We also know that increased stress and anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic can bring or worsen mental health and substance use issues. If you are struggling, please reach out for help. As many of you are aware, The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre has opened an urgent access mental health clinic to help individuals who are at risk of declining mental health or hospitalization. The C-PROMPT clinic is available with a referral from your primary care provider. CHEO offers mental health support for any children or youth in need.

While there are changes to some of the substance use services in our community, many programs are still offering services—but changing the way they are offered, such as offering virtual counselling. The Royal’s Substance Use and Concurrent Disorders is open and accepting new clients. This includes a Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Clinic that is providing services virtually during the pandemic. To access these substance use services at The Royal, call 613-722-6521 ext. 6508.    

At CHEO, many clinics are connecting virtually with children and youth who have existing relationships with the care teams there. However, CHEO has seen a 70 per cent drop in new cases of diabetes in the last 30 days, and those children and youth who have gone to the Emergency Department are sicker than is expected normally. And while CHEO unfortunately continues to see new cases of childhood cancer, some of these children and youth are only coming in to be seen after the symptoms have been around for longer than they would usually see.

The COVID-19 Care Clinics in the west and east ends continue to provide treatment for individuals who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of respiratory illness requiring a medical assessment, such as coughs, fever, and other cold-like symptoms. The clinic in the west end is operated by Queensway Carleton Hospital staff, while the clinic in the east end is operated by Hôpital Montfort – both with the help of community primary care physicians and pediatricians.

• Care Clinic - west end: D. A. Moodie Intermediate School in Bells Corners, open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Care Clinic - east end: 1485 Heron Road, open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

-- 30 --

Media contacts:

Bruyère:

Jesse Cressman Dickinson, jcressmandickinson@bruyere.org

CHEO:

Paddy Moore, pmoore@cheo.on.ca

Montfort:

Martin Sauvé, martinsauve@montfort.on.ca

Queensway Carleton Hospital:

D.G. Stringer, dgstringer@gmail.com

The Ottawa Hospital:

Michaela Schreiter, mschreiter@toh.ca

The Royal:

Karen Monaghan, karen.monaghan@theroyal.ca

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute:

Leigh B. Morris, lmorris@ottawaheart.ca

April 17, 2020 – Special Statement from Dr. Vera Etches

Ottawa, you are proving to be a committed and resilient city, and I appreciate all of the feedback I have been receiving about considerations for relaxing some measures, when it is time, in coordination with the provincial and federal governments. Maintaining physical distancing and handling the uncertainty around the impact of COVID-19 is unprecedented in our lives. How we collectively work through these current challenges, and how we bounce back from this adversity in a positive way, will continue to build our strength as a community.

There would be more cases of COVID-19 in our community had everyone not done their part over the past month. Please keep up this hard work over the next stretch of time. Thank you again for all the actions you are taking as a community – these actions are saving lives.

Cases and new deaths

As of 4 pm on April 16, 2020, OPH is investigating 728 lab-confirmed cases (50 newly reported since yesterday). An increase in testing and possibly the expanded testing recommendations might be contributing in part to the increase in newly-identified cases.    

Expanded testing criteria

The Province has again increased the categories of people eligible for testing:

• Some asymptomatic residents and staff in long-term care and retirement homes experiencing an outbreak;
• People experiencing at least one common symptom, and certain less common COVID-19 symptoms have also been added;
• People and workers in congregate settings;
• First responders;
• Caregivers;
• People with frequent health care contact; and
• People living in remote, isolated, rural or Indigenous communities.

These expanded criteria will allow us to test more people and get a better sense of the potential scope of infection in our community. This is important into the future to enable more targeted strategies and the eventual relaxation of restrictions. I encourage everyone that meets these criteria testing to get tested. We are starting to see the testing numbers increase again.

Managing mental health

We know that this situation is taking a toll on people’s mental health. This was a common concern shared on Twitter this morning when I asked for residents’ ideas on how we can sustain physical distancing measures a bit longer.  Everyone will experience this situation in their own way. It is completely natural to feel stress and concern during these times and so it is important to practice positive coping strategies.

Our team has added various resources on the Ottawa Public Health website, including a video on maintaining your mental health and a list of telephone, text or chat services. These may be helpful to you. However, if you are in crisis, please contact the Distress Centre at 613-238-3311. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Also, in response to the COVID-19 situation, the Walk-in Counselling Clinic is offering phone and video counselling services.

Wearing face coverings and masks

A lot of people have been asking if they should be wearing face coverings or masks when they do leave their home and go out into the community; this was also a common theme on the Twitter discussion about how we can sustain physical distancing. We know that there is some asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic transmission of COVID-19; so if you cannot maintain physical distancing, wearing a mask helps to protect people you may come into contact with when you’re out in the community. It provides an added layer of protection.

Continue physical distancing

We continue to ask people to limit trips outside the home to essential needs such as for groceries, medicine or daily physical activity and to limit close contacts to members of their household. Thank you to the many residents who have provided ideas on Twitter about how we can be resilient in this difficult time; the top themes shared were about consideration for how our outdoor spaces can be used and for all to continue to spread love and kindness in different ways. I will take these suggestions into the planning process for when we are able to safely relax restrictions.

Our efforts are working. We are seeing signs of hope, but we need to keep practicing physical distancing in order to get to the other side of the curve.

Daily case numbers

Details about the daily case numbers are updated on our website daily. 

Lastly, I want to again thank the media for working diligently to keep residents informed about the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa. 

The Province of Ontario is taking important steps to protect some of the most vulnerable residents in our community - the elderly and others with medical needs who live in long-term care facilities in Ontario. The safety of those most vulnerable to COVID-19 is of utmost importance. Hospitals in the region are in compliance with this new directive and are in the process of actioning the various recommendations. Given the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic and response, Champlain Health Region Incident Command will be operationalizing the directive in the coming days and we will be addressing the nuances of this roll out.

We are working together as a region to build capacity across the system for patients. Last week, we put processes in place to streamline transfers of COVID-19-positive patients requiring acute or critical care from smaller hospitals in the region to a select number of larger hospitals. This ensures that patients whose care needs cannot be met at their local hospitals will be moved to a higher-level care in a coordinated manner to balance capacity across our acute care centres. This process is running smoothly and has been used to facilitate several transfers. In addition, we are beginning to transfer patients with alternate level of care to regional hospitals to provide care in a setting that matches their needs.

By applying this regional approach to patient flow, we’ll be able to ensure that we’re continuing to provide the best possible care for our most vulnerable patients.

COVID-19 Care Clinics in the west and east ends continue to provide treatment for individuals who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of respiratory illness requiring a medical assessment, such as coughs, fever, and other cold-like symptoms. The clinic in the west end is operated by the Queensway Carleton Hospital, while the clinic in the east end is operated by Hôpital Montfort – both with the help of community primary care physicians and pediatricians. To date the clinics have provided care for nearly 500 patients.

I have an update on the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Brewer Arena: the Assessment Centre has new operating hours, and will now be open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – seven days a week. Over the last month, the Assessment Centre has tracked patients arriving for care and the changes to the hours reflect that need for assessment. The care team has also been very successful in streamlining the process, allowing us to test more patients per hour than when we started. Today was another busy day at the Assessment Centre and we are grateful to the media for spreading the word on the new testing criteria. 

This isn’t easy and we are not yet on the other side of the curve. We will keep communicating with the public to help people understand what is being asked of them.

Physical distancing

There is still a provincial order in place to limit gatherings to five people or less. The advice is still to stay home unless going out for essential reasons like groceries or prescriptions, to seek healthcare, help someone in need, or for daily physical activity.   

We keep getting questions from residents and community groups about what physical distancing means. Can you talk with your neighbour over the fence or from a distance? Yes, if you are maintaining a two-metre distance between each other, and you are taking care to avoid people gathering in ways that could lead to more risk. 

People are worried when they see others gathering in parking lots and driveways. Physical distancing is important because we know that some people may not have symptoms yet because they are in the early stages of infection. These individuals can spread the virus to others if physical distancing is not maintained.

Resources for residents

I want to acknowledge that this situation is difficult. These are stressful, uncertain and unprecedented times. We understand and recognize that many people are feeling isolated or lonely, even fearful. Many are anxious about the future, worried about falling behind in school, or wondering about how they’re going to pay the bills if their hours have been cut at work or they’ve been laid off from their jobs. The Ottawa Distress Centre is available for anyone who needs to talk to someone and to seek help.

Of course, people want to connect with others during these difficult times. You want to be able to talk to your best friend, lean on your family, connect with your neighbours.  

We’re asking that you use your best judgement and consider the safest options for doing so. Take advantage of technology for connecting with friends and family and try, as much as possible, to limit your in-person contacts to members of your household.  

People are also asking about whether or not they should go outside for exercise. Physical activity and getting fresh air are important for our overall physical and mental wellbeing.  Unless you have been asked to self-isolate under the Quarantine Act, you can still go for a walk, run or ride your bike in your neighbourhood, on shared paths and through your local park.  

Ottawa Public Health has also added new resources on staying active during this time, as well as a video on maintaining your mental health, to our website.

For those needing financial support to get through this crisis, the COVID-19 page on the City of Ottawa website has a list of resources available from all levels of government.  

Long-term care and retirement homes

I’d also like to address the approach to protecting people in long-term care and retirement homes. Ottawa Public Health shares the concerns expressed by the community and by other levels of government about the importance of protecting this vulnerable population.  

All long-term care facilities and seniors’ residences operating in the City of Ottawa receive regular communications and guidance from OPH’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) team and are familiar with outbreak management protocols and COVID19-testing guidelines. For some time now, OPH has been instructing all retirement and long-term care homes with even one positive or presumptive case to take all the measures required to protect people in a respiratory outbreak situation. New provincial testing guidelines issued last week mean that we are now expanding COVID-19 testing in these homes to include asymptomatic residents and healthcare workers, whereas previous provincial direction was to only test people who were symptomatic. For all homes, the threshold for testing has been lowered, so that now residents will be tested even if they do not have a fever and a cough if there are other signs of a change in the person's health that could be related to a COVID19 infection. Everyone being admitted to a home will be tested, even if they do not have symptoms of infection. 

Other supports to long-term care homes and retirement homes are being increased through partnership with other healthcare providers – like faster access to personal protective equipment and assistance with people who can do testing. 

Number of cases

As of 4 pm yesterday, Ottawa Public Health is investigating 643 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the community and 16 ongoing outbreaks in institutions. That’s 24 new cases since yesterday. We now have 244 resolved cases. 

There are currently 41 people in hospital and 18 of them are in ICU. 

Sadly, 13 people have died. Of these individuals, 11 were over the age of 65 years and two were between 45-64 years old, seven males and six females. 

Thank you again for all the actions you are taking as a community – these actions matter. By staying home you are keeping yourself, loved ones, and the community safer and supporting healthcare workers and other essential services providers to do their part to save lives.

• Health care workers (HCW) and staff who work in health-care facilities
• Residents and staff in long-term care facilities, retirement homes, and other institutional settings (e.g., correctional facilities, homeless shelters)
• Hospitalized patients admitted with respiratory symptoms (new or exacerbated)
• Members of remote, isolated, rural, and/or indigenous communities

As a reminder, Ottawa Public Health is recommending that health care workers with any of the

following symptoms be tested, regardless of exposure or travel history:

• fever
• sore throat
• new or worsening cough
• sputum production
• new or worsening shortness of breath
• rhinorrhea (runny nose)

Testing is necessary for health care workers even with mild respiratory symptoms, as they are on the frontlines in treating patients with COVID-19, and should be closely monitored.

If you are sick, and wondering whether you should go to the Care Clinics, the COVID-19 Assessment Centre, or the Emergency Department, here is some information that might help.

• Care Clinics: For anyone with mild to moderate symptoms of febrile respiratory illness (cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat).
• COVID-19 Assessment Centre: For anyone seeking to get tested for COVID-19, and who meets the criteria for testing, defined by OPH.
• Emergency Department: For all medical emergencies and anyone in need of immediate medical attention.

Assessment Centres in Eastern Ontario:

• Almonte COVID-19 Assessment Centre
  • By appointment only – 1-800-660-5853 ext. 2499
  • Almonte General Hospital – 75 Spring Street, Almonte, ON
• Brockville COVID-19 Assessment Centre:
  • Open seven days a week – 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Memorial Centre – 100 Magedoma Boulevard, Brockville, ON
• Casselman COVID-19 Assessment Centre (drive-through only)
  • Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • 872 Principale Street, Casselman, ON
• Cornwall COVID-19 Assessment Centre
  • By appointment only (please call 613-935-7762 to book)
  • 850 McConnell Avenue, Cornwall, ON
• Hawkesbury COVID-19 Assessment Centre
  • Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • 750 Laurier Street, Hawkesbury, ON
• Ottawa COVID-19 Assessment Centre
  • Open 7 days a week – 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Brewer Arena – 151 Brewer Way, Ottawa, ON
• Perth and Smiths Falls Assessment Centre
  • By appointment only – open 7 days a week – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Patients will drive up to the Main Entrance and remain in their vehicle while an in-vehicle assessment is completed.
  • Smiths Falls Hospital Site - 60 Cornelia Street West, Smiths Falls, ON
• Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre
  • Call: 1-844-727-6404
• Rockland COVID-19 Assessment Centre
  • Open Monday to Saturday, by appointment only (please call 613-933-1375 or 1 800 267-7120 for a referral)
  • Clarence-Rockland Family Health Team Office
  • 2741 Chamberland Street, Rockland, ON
• Winchester COVID-19 Assessment Centre
  • Open Monday to Friday noon to 6 p.m.
  • Lions Club Hall
  • 515 Albert Street, Winchester, ON

As always, if you are in need of urgent medical attention, please go to your nearest Emergency Department, or call 9-1-1. We are ready and able to help anyone in need.  

Thank you to all Ottawa residents for your continued diligence in practicing physical distancing over this past holiday weekend. Many of you cancelled family gatherings, opting instead to connect via telephone or video chats. We know this is not easy, but it is vitally important in our continued efforts as a community to flatten the curve of COVID-19.

We have heard that people continue to seek clarity about what is acceptable within physical distancing. Physical distancing involves taking steps to limit the number of people you come into close contact with. Overall this means limiting your contacts to members of your household as much as possible and avoiding all non-essential trips in the community. If you are in your driveway, on your front porch or out for a walk and want to connect with your neighbours, we encourage you to do this as long as you can maintain a 2 metre distance. These measures, along with proper hand hygiene and coughing and sneezing etiquette, are the best way to slow the spread of illness in our community.

Update on testing

During this holiday weekend, I hope you are finding ways to spend time with your household members and celebrate virtually with friends and family outside your household.

The actions you are taking now will save lives and make a difference for your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. Remember that COVID-19 affects everyone regardless of age and current health status. We often hear stories of older adults with COVID-19 as individuals older than 65 years old often experience the worst outcomes from COVID-19.  However, 79% of all confirmed cases in Ottawa are among people less than 65 years of age. It is important for all of us to do our part and prevent the spread. 

Number of cases

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 524 lab-confirmed cases in the community and 14 outbreaks in institutions. That’s 30 new cases since yesterday. We also have 170 resolved cases and two previously reported outbreaks are declared over.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care changes daily. There are currently 37 people in hospital (four more than yesterday) and 13 of them are in ICU (no change since yesterday).

Sadly, 11 people now have died. Of these individuals, 10 were over the age of 65 years and one was 45-64 years old, seven males and four females.

Clarification about testing

Our website has been updated with the latest COVID-19 testing criteria. We will continue to update the public with any new changes in testing recommendations that come from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Continuing to expand access to testing is important into the future to enable more targeted strategies and relaxation of physical distancing.

If you think you have COVID-19 symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has it, reminder for you to use the COVID-19 self-assessment tool to help determine how to seek further care.

Clarification who needs to seek care and where to go

We continue to hear that people want more clarity about where to get tested or access health care for COVID-19.

• The Brewer Arena Assessment Center is the primary location for swabbing people who need to be tested for COVID-19.
• If you can manage your symptoms at home (e.g. your symptoms are generally mild), be tested if you meet the latest COVID-19 testing criteria, but you may not need to seek further health care.
• If you have escalating symptoms of respiratory illness, including a fever or worsening cough and flu-like symptoms, and are in need of medical attention, you should go to the COVID-19 Care Clinics.
• If you are in distress (e.g. significant trouble breathing, chest pain, fainting, or have a significant worsening of any chronic disease symptoms), do not go to the Assessment Centre or a COVID-19 Care clinic. Go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 9-1-1.

Anyone with serious illness should never hesitate to go to Emergency Departments. The Ottawa-area hospitals all have capacity to provide emergency service to those who need it and they are using strict infection prevention and control measures.

Thank you again for all the actions you are taking as a community – these actions matter.  There would be more cases of COVID-19 in our community had everyone not done their part over the past month. 

Visit www.ottawapublichealth.ca/coronavirus for the latest news and updates.  

With many religious holidays this weekend and in the coming weeks, this time may feel more difficult for many people. These holidays are often celebrated with gatherings of friends and family.   

I urge everyone not to gather in person, even with extended family outside of your household, as we still need everyone’s efforts to flatten the curve. Instead, I encourage you to find ways to connect through technology for these celebrations.     

We know following these measures has been difficult, and it’s understandable if you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Personal connections are how we often support one another through tough times, and this lack of in-person connection is one facet of what makes this emergency unique and more difficult.

I encourage everyone to find ways to support their mental health at this time. Take the time to do what is best for you - whether that means taking a walk alone, taking a break from the news, or cooking a holiday meal with your household members. 

Some people may consider using alcohol during times of stress. We also know that alcohol is the most commonly used substance in Ottawa. This was the case before this pandemic, and recent news reports during COVID-19 have indicated an increase in alcohol sales across the country. Alcohol use is associated with more negative outcomes for individuals and families.  There are some important things we can do to ensure we are balancing our alcohol intake during these challenging times:

• Set limits for yourself and stick to them;
• Drink slowly, and have no more than 2 standard drinks in 3 hours;
• Avoid stockpiling alcohol; and
• Keep a daily routine, be physically active, and virtually connect with family and friends as healthy ways to manage stress.

For all residents, there are resources and supports available for alcohol, substance use, and mental health, as well as for women and children specifically. Please visit our OPH mental health and COVID-19 webpage to learn more and see what is available for you and your family.

Number of cases

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 458 lab-confirmed cases in the community and 13 outbreaks in institutions. That’s 29 new cases since yesterday. We also have 143 resolved cases.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 30 people in hospital (five less than yesterday) and 12 of them are in ICU (one less than yesterday).

Sadly, nine people now have died in total. Of these, 8 were over the age of 65 years and 1 was 45-64 years old. Six males and three females.

Increasing testing

There is now more capacity to test people at the COVID-19 Community Assessment Centre at Brewer Arena.

The priority of the healthcare system is being able to test those who are most in need of testing. High priority individuals include:

• Health care workers and staff who work in health care facilities;
• Residents and staff in long-term care facilities, retirement homes, and other institutional settings (e.g. correctional facilities, homeless shelters);
• Hospitalized patients admitted with respiratory symptoms; and
• Members of remote, isolated, rural, and/or indigenous communities.

Testing is also available for the following people to be tested for COVID-19 if they’re showing symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath:

• Essential workers (people working directly with the public)
• Household members of health care workers and staff who work in health care facilities
• Pregnant individuals in the last three months of their pregnancy
• Returning international travelers
• Close contacts of confirmed or probable cases

It is also important to remind everyone that it is still not recommended for asymptomatic people from the general public to be tested.

New Care Clinic

To increase access to health services, a second care clinic opened this morning in Ottawa’s east end. It is operated by Hôpital Montfort, in partnership with Ottawa Public Health and the region’s Clinical Care Coordination Centre (C4). The clinic’s primary function is to provide treatment for people with symptoms of respiratory illness – cough, fever, and cold-like symptoms – that can’t be managed at home.  

If you do need to access the Assessment Centre for testing or either care clinic over the long weekend, check out our webpage for updated Easter weekend hours.    

Thank you again for all the actions you are taking as a community – these actions matter. There would be more cases of COVID-19 in our community had everyone not done their part over the past month. 

Visit www.OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for the latest news and updates.  

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 36 people in hospital (up from 30 yesterday) and 14 of them are in ICU (no change from yesterday). No new deaths have been reported as of 4 pm yesterday.

As a reminder, we have added detailed information on our OPH website regarding cases. If you have specific questions about case counts, number of people hospitalized and other demographic information please go to OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus.

If you look at the epidemiological curve of Ottawa residents with confirmed COVID-19, you’ll note that the number of daily cases is slowing down. While this is hopeful, it would be premature to conclude that the curve is flattening and that COVID-19 is circulating less in our community. Testing people for COVID-19 is an important strategy to confirm how many cases are in our community.  In conversation with our health system partners, we know that the Brewer Arena Assessment Centre has capacity to test more people and we are encouraging people to make use of this service.  

Currently the highest priority for testing, includes:

• Health care workers (HCW) and staff who work in health care facilities
• Residents and staff in long-term care facilities, retirement homes, and other institutional settings (e.g., correctional facilities, homeless shelters)
• Hospitalized patients admitted with respiratory symptoms (new or exacerbated)
• Members of remote, isolated, rural and/or indigenous communities

We also strongly encourage the following people to also be tested for COVID-19:

• Close contacts of confirmed or probable cases
• Individuals (e.g., children, partners, or other household members) living with HCWs or with staff who work in health care facilities
• Returning international travelers who seek medical attention
• Critical infrastructure workers – this includes grocery stores, food services, maintenance and transportation workers, and utilities. See the full list of Ontario’s essential workplaces

There is now a new online portal to access COVID-19 test results directly from the provincial laboratory system. This portal was launched on Sunday by the Government of Ontario and offers fast and secure access to test results on your computer and mobile device.

Yesterday, Dr. Theresa Tam announced that the Special Advisory Committee on COVID-19 has come to a consensus that wearing a non-medical mask, even with no symptoms, is a measure you can take to protect those around you in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain such as when using public transit or at the grocery store.

In addition to the importance of testing and the use of non-medical masks, my message today is clear: It is critical that we continue to practice physical distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Ottawa.

We know that COVID-19 is a heavy virus spread through droplets. A non-medical mask can reduce the chance of your respiratory droplets coming into contact with others or landing on surfaces.

I want to emphasize that wearing a non-medical mask in the community has not been proven to protect the person wearing it – it is an additional way to protect others around you.

We have updated a section on our website devoted specifically to frequently asked questions about masks. Please visit OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for more information.

With many religious holidays coming up such as Easter, Passover and Ramadan this may feel like an even harder time for many to practice physical distancing. These holidays are often spent gathering with family and friends. Residents must continue to find ways to connect using technology during these celebrations. I urge you not to gather in person, even with extended family outside your household, as we still need everyone’s efforts to flatten the curve.

As we enter spring, we have had some beautiful weather and the days will continue to get warmer. I continue to encourage residents who are not ill to go outside and get some fresh air. You can spend time in your yard or walking around your neighbourhood. Go for a walk, run or bike ride through your neighbourood park. But you must ensure you are practicing physical distancing at all times and that you are limiting your contacts to household members.  You must not rest or play on structures or gather with others in parks as this could increase your exposure to the virus. Visit ottawa.ca/recreation for more information and guidance.

Finally, please watch this video for my message to residents about how we can continue to practice physical distancing. We’re all going through this together and we will see the other side of the curve.

The COVID-19 Care Clinic, which opened yesterday in Ottawa’s west end, is providing residents of Ottawa with improved access to the primary care they need. On Monday, 67 patients received treatment at the Care Clinic, and a small number were transferred to hospital for additional care. The clinic aims to support family medicine clinics who are not purpose-built to see a large number of patients requiring droplet-level precautions, as well as to support patients whose primary care providers are only providing virtual care at this time. Additionally, this model provides a high standard of care in a venue that is not an Emergency Department, protecting the ED resources for patients requiring hospital-level care. 

The Care Clinic creates additional capacity for the system to meet the needs of patients with mild to moderate febrile respiratory illness requiring medical assessment (irrespective of whether or not they meet swabbing criteria for COVID-19).  

It is important for the public to understand that the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at the Brewer Arena is different from the Care Clinic model. The Brewer Arena is a dedicated swabbing facility for patients meeting COVID-19 testing criteria, and NOT requiring medical intervention. If you do not require medical intervention, and are seeking to get tested for COVID-19 (you must meet criteria as defined by OPH), please go to the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at the Brewer Arena.   

If you are in need of urgent medical attention, please go to your nearest Emergency Department or call 9-1-1. We are ready and able to help anyone in need.   

As part of the ongoing efforts to provide important health care services to Ottawa residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 Care Clinic opened its doors to the public on Monday, April 6, at the D. A. Moodie Intermediate School in Bells Corners. This new clinic is open daily from 9am to 4pm, and plays an important role in the region’s integrated response to COVID-19. 

The Care Clinic is a partnership with Queensway Carleton Hospital, Ottawa Public Health, and the region’s Clinical Care Coordination Centre. It is operated by Queensway Carleton Hospital staff, along with community primary care physicians and pediatricians. 

The new clinic functions as a treatment location for individuals who are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness, which cannot be managed at home, such as coughs, fever, and other cold-like symptoms. The addition of the Care Clinic also serves to absorb the increase in patient volume at hospital Emergency Departments. This allows our Emergency Departments to remain clear to deal with emergencies. 

In the clinic’s first day of operation, 67 patients were treated and four (4) were taken to Queensway Carleton Hospital’s Emergency Department. 

“I want to thank everyone involved in setting up the COVID-19 Care Clinic. Getting the clinic set up quickly is a great example of the coordination and teamwork of many people,” said Dr. Joseph Pollard. “While today is only the second day, it is already running very smoothly, and the clinic is certainly serving its purpose. We have been able to find some of the sicker people and get them to the hospital. We’ve also been able to see and assess many others, helping to divert that traffic from Emergency. The cases we’ve seen have been appropriate – the community is using the facility wisely.” 

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 370 lab-confirmed cases in the community and seven outbreaks in institutions. That’s 48 new cases since our last report on Saturday. We also have 56 resolved cases.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 30 people in hospital and 14 of them are in ICU.

Sadly, six people now have died in total. Of these, five were over the age of 65 years and one was 45-64 years old. Three males and three females.

As a reminder, we have added some of this detailed information on our website if you have specific questions about case counts, number of people hospitalized and other demographic information please go to OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus.

I know that residents and media are interested in local modelling data.  I was happy to have Dr. Manuel from the Ottawa Hospital join the media availability last week. We are working with him and his team to make further data available to the public later this week.

The decision to extend the closure of City facilities and services until the end of June was not taken lightly. This is a crucial time in our efforts to plank the curve. Now more than ever, it’s important for residents to stay home except for essential trips out of the home and to practice physical distancing at all times when they do venture out.

These actions make a difference. There would be more COVID-19 infections in our community now if residents were not doing their part.  Together, we are making sure hospitals are able to provide life-saving care.

We recognize that this is not easy. The days can feel quite long when staying home. You may be feeling lonely or anxious. I encourage you to find ways to continue to connect with your friends, extended family or neighbours through technology.

The Distress Centre of Ottawa is also available to provide support. If you need someone to talk to, you can call 613-238-3311 24/7 to connect with someone.

We also recognize that for many in our community, financial pressures are making this situation much more difficult. All levels of government are taking steps to help in this regard. Please visit Ottawa.ca for information on these measures and for a list of resources.

Finally, I wanted to share that the COVID-19 Care Clinic opened today in Ottawa’s West end, under the leadership of the Queensway Carleton Hospital and the Champlain Health Region Incident Command. The clinic involves the City of Ottawa, CHEO, primary care physicians, community pediatricians and the regional COVID-19 planning team.  It is equipped to do basic diagnostic tests, such as chest X-rays and lab tests. It is located at 595 Moodie Drive and will be operating Monday to Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.

Residents should go to the COVID-19 care clinics if they have escalating symptoms of respiratory illness, including a fever or worsening cough and flu-like symptoms, and they are in need of medical attention. Residents do not need to be tested before going to the care clinic.

The care clinic will help people get the treatment they require for respiratory illness, while helping keep emergency departments for emergencies.

I want to thank everyone for doing their part to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This is easier when we recognize we are all in it together. We all make a difference, when we all practice physical distancing. 

Thank you to everyone that is doing the right thing – staying home and keeping your physical distance. We can change the impact that this pandemic has on our city when we all work together. 

Yesterday, the province shared projections of total numbers of cases and deaths in Ontario in different scenarios. It is important to note that the different curves and projections show that the measures we are currently taking (e.g. closures of schools and public spaces and ensuring everyone keeps their distance), do make a difference in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and can prevent deaths. The actions of every individual determine which curve we will experience – and we are aiming for the lowest curve possible. The least number of infections at once will ensure that the healthcare system can continue to handle the demand. We are working with our partners to determine what these provincial projections may mean for our city. 

We understand many people may be frustrated with the length of time to receive test results. There is now a new online portal to access COVID-19 test results directly from the provincial laboratory system. This portal was launched yesterday by the Government of Ontario and offers fast and secure access to test results on your computer and mobile device.  

Number of cases

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 322 lab-confirmed cases in Ottawa in the community and six outbreaks in institutions. That’s 33 new cases since our last report. 

Sadly, we are sharing the news of the fourth COVID-related death in Ottawa.  This death is not related to an outbreak in an institution. To respect the person and their family’s privacy we will not be providing greater details on this case.  

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care changes daily. There are currently 26 people in hospital – one more than yesterday, and 12 of them are in ICU, which is two more than yesterday. We have had an increase of one facility experiencing an outbreak since yesterday’s report.

The additional institutional outbreak reported in our surveillance report is at The Ottawa Hospital. It is important to note that there is only one confirmed case in this outbreak. As in all outbreaks, Ottawa Public Health will follow up with any close contacts of individuals with confirmed COVID-19. Ottawa Public Health and The Ottawa Hospital are working closely together to implement measures to reduce the severity and length of the outbreak.

Thank you again for your cooperation as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. I am inspired by the supports that so many Ottawans are providing to each other, whether checking in virtually or helping with grocery runs. While we usually want to visit in-person, to share and manage in times of stress, keeping our contacts to household members as much as possible is going to get us through this pandemic.

Please continue to visit OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for the latest information.

As the weather gets warmer, some people may be considering moving to seasonal cottages to isolate themselves there.  We want to discourage this and are encouraging our residents to stay at home. This will ensure that residents have the necessary social and health supports in place if you become ill with COVID-19. Health care systems in smaller and remote communities typically have less capacity to provide health care services with the increased demands of COVID-19 and risk being overwhelmed if needing to care for non-permanent residents.   

I totally understand concerns that families have about their loved ones who reside in retirement or long-term care homes. Some families are considering whether to take loved ones out of their retirement or long-term care home. This is a challenging decision and I can share some issues that families need to consider. Putting COVID-19 aside for a moment, a family would need to think about the individual’s health, particularly why they decided to live in the retirement or long-term care home in the first place, and the extent of which their condition has changed over time. Will the family be able to assure the safety and care their loved one requires? COVID-19 presents additional challenges. If the resident is coming from a home with an outbreak, then need to assume that they may be infected and act accordingly with precautions in the home for 14 days so other household members would not become infected. There is the additional risk over time that other members of the household, who perhaps could have asymptomatic infections acquired outside the home, to expose their family member. And lastly, that the former resident would not be able to return to the home if there was an outbreak at their facility. As I indicated, not a simple decision for families to make. 

I'm sure you've all heard Ontario's projections for COVID-19 cases and death earlier today. I'd like to reiterate that we need everyone to stay home and practice physical distancing. The public health measures we have implemented in Ottawa and across Ontario are critical to make the difference we are seeking from the projected worst-case scenario.  So, I want to repeat what the province has said: Stay home. Stop the spread.And stay safe. 

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 289 lab-confirmed cases in Ottawa in the community and five outbreaks in institutions. That’s 37 new cases since our last report. Again, the majority of this increase is due to the backlog of tests with specimens collected on or before March 22.  

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 25 people in hospital – one more than yesterday, and 10 of them are in ICU, which is three more than yesterday. We have had no increase in the number of facilities experiencing an outbreak since yesterday’s report. This includes three retirement homes, one long-term care home, and one group home. 

Thank you again for your ongoing cooperation in keeping residents informed and reducing the spread of COVID-19.

We have seen the projections released by the Ontario Government this afternoon, and we are reviewing them to ensure our regional preparation activities are aligned.

I’m able to share with you today an initiative between all hospitals in the Champlain region to optimize the movement of patients through the healthcare sector—this is known as patient flow.

Our hospitals have a long history of collaborating to ensure that the safety of patients and staff is at the forefront of everything that we do. As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve locally, we have developed a regional patient flow strategy that will allow patients to be cared for in the most appropriate centre given their unique care needs.

Patient flow across the region will be coordinated by a single command centre. Hospitals will transfer COVID-19 positive patients who need acute or critical care to a select number of designated hospitals that have units for COVID-19 positive patients. Patients who do not require this level of care will be transferred out of acute and critical care hospitals to the most appropriate hospital setting. 

Our goal is to optimize the entire healthcare system in the region. This will ensure that we are ready for a surge of patients requiring care for COVID-19, while ensuring we continue to provide services to the many patients requiring care unrelated to the pandemic.

Evaluating patient flow from a regional lens will enable hospitals to maintain access to patient care, and ensure that no single area of the health system becomes overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is critical as everything interconnected, and we have to support our partners.

As I mentioned yesterday, the first COVID-19 Care Clinic—led by the Queensway Carleton Hospital and supported by regional partners—will be opening on Monday, April 6.  

We are ready to open a second Care Clinic, which will be located in the East End —led by Hôpital Montfort— and this will based on the volume of patients we observe. The second Care Clinic can be operational at any time if activated by Ontario Health.

This will serve to further protect our Emergency Departments, and will also reduce pressure on our family doctor’s offices. 

If you’re waiting at home for your results after being tested for COVID-19 and begin to experience shortness of breath or chest pain, please go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 911. Otherwise, please continue to self-isolate while you await your results. Please go to your nearest Emergency Department for all non-COVID-19 related medical emergencies. We are ready and able to help anyone in need.

Hi I'm Dr. Doug Manuel. I am a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital and a Distinguished Professor at the University of Ottawa. I am a research scientist, a public health specialist and family doctor. I've been asked by the Hospital and Ottawa Public Health to assist with COVID-19 modelling and projections.

We just heard a few hours ago about projections from Ontario Public Health. I am helping with local insights to those numbers. We have good local data that can help us augment those provincial projections.

For me, projecting COVID-19 is like forecasting a hurricane. We need to constantly update our projections with the latest data, including local data to help understand when and where the hurricane will reach landfall. That is what we will be doing in the coming weeks. While it’s hard to forecast long-term, we are able forecast more effectively for a shorter range — and that will give us time to plan as a region if needed.  

There is one really big difference between projecting hurricanes and projecting COVID-19. We can't prevent a hurricane from reaching the shore. Ontario’s projections today told us that we can prevent many, if not most of the health effects of COVID-19, including deaths. The actions of individuals in our community make the difference – if we work together, we can change the direction of this pandemic.

Thank you. 

I am joining you today to speak about how our officers are serving our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As you are all aware, our service is now responsible for the enforcement of the rules set out under the Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protections Act relating to gatherings of more than five people, restaurants offering dine-in options to customers, businesses open without an exemption and gatherings in City parks, including the use of play structures.

Yesterday our officers received 130 calls in regards to Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act issues and closed parks.

We had complaints about a farm allowing horseback riding lessons, hair salons continuing to operate, groups playing soccer at Millennium Park in Orleans, beach volleyball at Britannia Beach … neighbours gathering in each others back yards.

We have heard concerns from residents not sure when they should be contacting 3-1-1:

Let me be clear. If you see residents playing on a soccer field, or on a play structure in a park … regardless of whether it is on City or Private property, you can report this to 3-1-1.

If you see a restaurant offering dine-in services to customers, or a non-essential business that is operating …. Call 3-1-1.

We have a dedicated team of Officers who are not only responding to these calls but are proactively visiting parks across the City.

Our goal right now is to educate the public … to let them know these rules are in place for their safety… We have issued dozens of verbal warnings at this point … but please know that failure to comply with our verbal warnings can result in fines under the provincial Act of up to $100,000 for individuals, $500,000 for a director of a corporation or $10-million for a corporation itself.

I would like to remind the public that these orders have been put in place for public safety and to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. I thank each and every resident who has been adhering to these new regulations. We know physical distancing is not easy, but by following these rules we will make a difference and we will get through this together.

We want to ensure that all residents have important information about measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, regardless of whether they can access our webpage or social media channels. Therefore, every household in Ottawa will soon receive a handout in the mail with detailed information about physical distancing.  A reminder that when receiving a package, newspaper, or mail, to always wash your hands well with soap and water after handling it.  If you have questions about mail and parcels and risk of COVID-19, check out our updated FAQ on this topic.

It is imperative that all residents continue to practice physical distancing and keep contacts limited to those within your household as much as possible. 

More people are being asked to self-isolate: people with confirmed COVID-19 and their close contacts, adults older than 70 years of age, people with respiratory symptoms, and anyone returning from travel.  When self-isolating, it is important to stay in a separate room from other people in your home as much as possible and when you are in the same room to keep a distance of at least two metres and wear a mask.  Additional guidance for self-isolation and also for household members is available on our website.       

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 252 lab-confirmed cases in Ottawa in the community and five outbreaks in institutions. That’s 58 new cases since our last report.  Again, this increase is mainly due to the backlog of tests with specimens collected on or before Mar 20, and not a spike of recent cases.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 24 people in hospital – one less than yesterday, and seven of them are in ICU, which is the same as yesterday. We have had no increase in the number of facilities experiencing an outbreak since yesterday’s report. This includes: three retirement homes, one long-term care home, and one group home.

There continues to be discussion about who should wear a mask and the effectiveness of masks.  At this time, we are advising that anyone who is sick or is caring for someone who is sick to wear a mask.  It is very important that people with symptoms wear a mask, especially when going to an appointment, clinic or a hospital. Overall, we need to make sure our healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of caring for people have first priority for medical masks.

For people who are healthy and not coughing and sneezing, you are not required to wear a mask. I would first stress the importance of hand washing and physical distancing – these are known strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  While homemade masks alone will not prevent the spread of COVID-19, I would not discourage people in the community who want to wear a homemade mask.

Yesterday, Dr. Tam and Minister Hadju also provided updated guidance on the use of homemade masks. 

A homemade facemask may prevent you from touching your nose and mouth and may help cover a cough or sneeze to keep it to yourself.  To improve effectiveness:

• a mask should be well-fitted with no gaps;
• you must wash your hands before and after handling a mask;
• and you need to follow proper handling and washing as the outside can become contaminated.

We do have guidance on our website how to put a mask on properly if you need or decide to wear one.

Thank you again for your ongoing patience and cooperation in keeping residents informed. Please continue to visit: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus    

I want to thank everyone for joining us today as we update you on the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa.

I’d like to start by announcing today that we will be hosting a virtual town hall on the topic of COVID-19 in Ottawa.

This virtual town hall will take place on Thursday, April 9 at 2 pm.

This will be an opportunity for residents with to call-in and ask questions about COVID-19 to myself and other City leaders.

Like we did with the last City Council meeting, residents can also watch the virtual town hall on Rogers Television.

I encourage you to watch for details on the City’s social media channels, as well as in an ad in this weekend’s Ottawa Citizen and Le Droit.

As many of you aware, one of our OC Transpo operators has tested positive for COVID-19.

This individual has been in self isolation since developing symptoms on March 20, and remains in self isolation at home after receiving the positive test result on March 21.

I want to assure you all that OC Transpo has put several measures in place to protect both customers and bus operators.

OC Transpo is working with Ottawa Public Health to trace and contact individuals who have, or may have been, in close contact with this operator, this would include staff, friends and family.

OC Transpo has identified and removed the vehicles that were driven by the operator from service.

These vehicles will undergo a deep clean and full sanitation before entering back into service.

OC Transpo customers who have concerns about this exposure can call OPH at

613-580-6744 to speak to a public health nurse, or they can visit Ottawa-public-health-dot-c-a.

Our best wishes are with the operator as they recover from this virus.

As you know, many residents and businesses are being financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – either through layoffs, closures or reduced business.

We have developed some property tax relief for those residents and businesses with a 2020 Property Tax Hardship Plan, which was approved by City Council last week.

If you are approved, the payment for both the interim and final property taxes will be due on October 30.

I want to remind you that in order to qualify for approval, you must complete an online application that is available on ottawa.ca/taxrelief.

It’s important to go online now and complete the application, as the grace period for all property owners to pay the interim property tax bill ends on April 15.

I want to also remind impacted landlords that many of your tenants are in the same financial boat as you are.

Property owners with tenants who do not pass on the deferral are deemed ineligible for the hardship deferral program and all taxes, penalty and interest are payable immediately.

We will all get through this better if we continue to work together as a community.

I also want to remind residents that is it critical that we listen to our medical experts here at OPH, as well as our federal and provincial experts, and practice physical distancing.

If we want to flatten the curve and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community, this is of utmost importance.

I have heard some concerning reports of larger groups of residents gathering together – in both public and private settings.

For example, Bylaw and Regulatory Services had to respond to a child’s birthday party held in a backyard, which had between 12 and 20 children present.

Bylaw officer had to visit Lansdowne Park on a complaint that more than 20 people were playing on the play structures and in the skate park.

Bylaw also received complaints about a yard sale in the Greenboro area.

It’s unfortunate, but we just can’t have these types of gatherings.

I know we want to continue some sort of normalcy in our lives.

We want to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and special occasions.

We want to spend time with our family and our friends.

But, please, limit your gatherings to the members of your immediate family who live in your residence.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our City Bylaw officers who have been busy responding to calls reporting large social gatherings.

Bylaw and Regulatory Services received 139 calls for Provincial Orders and closed parks – and this was just yesterday.

So, please, stay home and respect the physical distancing guidelines.

This is our collective responsibility.

We need everyone to work together to help protect all our residents.

Speaking of lending a helping hand, I also want to remind residents that the City has launched a formal donation process for businesses and residents to donate commercial-grade personal protective equipment to protect our emergency responders and front-line workers who are supporting the COVID-19 pandemic response.

The PPE supplies must be commercial-grade and in their original packaging.

I want to thank all the residents and businesses who have generously come forward to donate through this formal process.

For those still interested in donating, you are asked to email donations@ottawa.ca, and provide information on the items and quantities. 

Again, I want to thank all our residents for their generosity and for their collaboration as we continue to fight COVID-19.

Responding to this crisis must be a joint effort . OPH and the City can message all kinds of useful information but if the general public does not follow the directions given then we have a problem and that problem is not going to go away.

An excellent and telling example of that is the growing number of incidents of people gathering in public places like parks. Most people are following the rules and those efforts are greatly appreciated but many are not .

I tweeted out a photo on this issue yesterday and it has been looked at by more than 1600 people. It has been liked and shared . There were no negative online comments and yet all through the day I received email concerns about people gathering in a variety of different parks and using play structures. Bylaw has been alerted and they will do what they can.

However one has to ask if this is really the best use of City resources at this point in time . People have suggested to me that we  put fences up in the parks or remove swings and slides . Again the question is whether this is really the best use of City resources . In both cases the answer is a resounding no.

We all know or should know and the City and OPH will continue to pump out the message that we should not be gathering in the parks or other public spots. The Provincial and Federal governments continue  send the same message and we thank them for that. Do the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing with kids to entertain and the weather warming up, but the right thing and stay out of the parks.

Secondly, and just as importantly please recognize that this fight is not over and will not likely be over any  time soon. The restrictions will continue for the foreseeable future whether it be school closures or the rules relating to how  businesses can currently operate . We must accordingly continue in a response mode to this crisis. I fully believe we can be successful in our efforts if we work as a collective and respect the greater communal goals.

We must stay the course by staying apart. Thank you.

As we start a new month, we recognize that our new norms of physical distancing, school closures, and changes to employment settings and situations will remain in place this month.  Please be sure to check out the resources available from Ottawa Public Health, provincial and federal government, and other partners to support you during this time.  There are many resources to: support your physical and mental health; supplement finances; provide childcare for essential workers; help student learn at home; and much more. 

Despite the situation continually changing each day, a few things continue to remain the same. Our goal remains the same – we want to flatten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community.  And at this time, our guidance remains the same: stay home and only go out for the essentials.  If you have returned from travel or have respiratory symptoms, you must self-isolate. 

We want to reiterate a statement from Dr. Theresa Tam yesterday, that COVID-19 does not discriminate.  All residents are susceptible to COVID-19.  Young people are getting it and are being hospitalized in Ottawa.  People of all ages need to stay home, limit contact to those people in your own household as much as possible, and only go out for essential work or supplies. 

OPH makes taking care of our employees a top priority, so we can take care of the public. We have a policy for “forced rest” for people to take breaks on a regular basis.   This will ensure sustainability of response during this pandemic. 

Number of cases

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 194 confirmed cases in Ottawa and five outbreaks – in three retirement homes and one long-term care home that we shared yesterday, plus a new outbreak with 1 confirmed case at a group home - Ottawa-Carleton Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities. That’s 50 new cases since our last report.  This increase in cases is in large part due to the processing of the “backlog” of tests with the majority of specimens taken on or before March 19. The epidemic curve on our website provides the picture of the increase over time.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 25 people in hospital – 5 more than yesterday, 7 of them are in ICU, which is 1 more than yesterday.  Looking at the overall data for the outbreak, seniors aged 65 years and older were the most frequent age group ever hospitalized (49%) or ever in the ICU (67%).  So this means, the majority of hospitalizations (51%) and 33% of ICU admissions are people under 65 years of age.  

Case and contact management

On the topic of case and contact management, we continue to receive guidance from the provincial Ministry of Health.  Currently OPH case managers are in touch with all positive cases and close contacts and provide education on self-isolation requirements. 

Based on the latest guidance, we are strengthening case and contact measures to ensure that individuals with COVID-19 and their close contacts remain on strict self-isolation. These efforts will help us flatten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community in addition to the social distancing measures currently being encouraged.

I want to reiterate to the public that Emergency Departments in the city are still here to care for you. Please continue to go to the nearest emergency department for any medical emergency. We are ready and able to help anyone in need. 

If you’re waiting at home for your results after being tested for COVID-19 and begin to experience shortness of breath or chest pain, please go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 911. Otherwise, please continue to self-isolate while you await your results.  

I want to take a moment to thank all of the people and organizations who have donated personal protective equipment to health-care organizations throughout the region. Just to name a few: Hydro Ottawa and Tomlinson Group made significant donations over the last couple of days.  We would like to thank our researchers at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute for their continued efforts in raising PPE for the region.  The University of Ottawa has also gathered substantial donations in PPE both from researchers and students across faculties, as well as from the community.  

If you would like to donate PPE, please send an email to COVIDDonations@toh.ca – which is where the community can send their offers. Gowns, masks, gloves, face shields, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer are all welcome. It is important to note that this is a regional supply and donations will be distributed to health-care organizations throughout the Champlain Region.  

The Clinical Care Coordination Committee – C4- continues to plan and activate the regional response to COVID-19 with our partners in Eastern Ontario.

I can update you on some of the C4 planning that is now being rolled out, in partnership with the Almonte General Hospital and Winchester District memorial hospitals.

The Almonte Assessment Centre opens today. It is by referral by the family physician and an appointment is required. In addition, the Winchester Assessment Centre opens tomorrow.

A reminder that the Hawkesbury Assessment Centre is also up and running through a partnership with The Eastern Ontario Health Unit and the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital.

The Ottawa Assessment Centre at Brewer Arena continues to serve its purpose of relieving some of the pressure off local Emergency Departments, so that they can provide care to those who are acutely ill. So far, 5,500 people have been assessed at the Centre – and about 85% have been swabbed.

I can tell you that there are ongoing efforts to increase the PROVINCIAL lab testing capacity. As of Sunday, the provincial lab increased its capacity by over 150% to approximately 4,800 tests per day.

This has reduced the PROVINCIAL backlog by one THIRD since March 25. This is good news for those patients in our region, who are awaiting their results from the centralized lab.

In the meantime, the REGIONAL lab has about a 48-hour turnaround time, so we are getting closer to the type of patient experience we want for the residents of Eastern Ontario.

If you’re waiting at home for your results after being tested for COVID-19, and begin to experience shortness of breath or chest pain, please go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 911.

Please continue to go to the nearest emergency department for any non-COVID related medical emergencies. We are ready and able to help anyone in need.

Donations of PPE continue to come in throughout the region. In response to the donation offers, we created COVIDDonations@toh.ca,which is where the community can send their offers. Gowns, masks, gloves, face shields, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer are all welcome. It is important to note that this is a regional supply. 

The situation around COVID-19 continues to evolve quickly, and our team has been working around the clock to review new directives and guidelines coming from upper levels of government, assess the local situation and provide our community with the best possible advice.

As we mentioned yesterday, we are changing how we report case data on our website. Going forward, our website will have more information on case data and will align with provincial reporting. Please watch for this in the coming days.

Given the rapid changes, we continue to encourage residents to visit our website at OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for the latest information.

This morning, we were informed that the Ministry of Education has decided that Ontario schools will remain closed until at least May. We recognize that this situation is difficult for families. It’s difficult for children who want to be in school, learning, and interacting with their friends, teachers, and other school supports. It’s also difficult for parents as many continue to work either from home or in the community at essential businesses or services. However, continued physical (social) distancing is crucial to flattening the curve.

Number of cases

As of 4 pm yesterday, OPH is investigating 144 confirmed cases in Ottawa. That’s 14 new reported cases since we reported to you yesterday.

Sadly, we have also had our third COVID-related death in Ottawa.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care also changes daily. There are currently 20 people in hospital – three more than yesterday, six of them are in ICU, which is one less than yesterday. We also now have one additional resolved case for a total of 11.

Long-term care and retirement homes

As a result of new direction from the Ministry of Health with respect to long-term care and retirement homes, the COVID-19 outbreak definition has changed whereby we are to now consider a single laboratory confirmed case of COVID-19, in a resident or staff member, as a confirmed respiratory outbreak in the home. As a result, additional homes have now moved out of “outbreak watch” to status as having a confirmed COVID-19 outbreak. This does not change OPH’s response, since outbreak precautions were already put in place, however, it does change reporting of the number of confirmed outbreaks in these institutions.

As such, OPH now has four confirmed outbreaks - three in retirement homes and one in a long-term care home.

In addition to Orleans Promenade and Maplewood, which were previously reported, we have now added Park Place and Garden Terrace as facilities with confirmed outbreaks. The confirmed facilities are as follows:

Orleans Promenade– three residents, including two deaths

Maplewood Retirement Community – one resident and one health care worker

Park Place – one health care worker

Garden Terrace – one health care worker

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, and every resident must continue doing their part to keep themselves, their family members, their neighbours, co-workers and community members healthy and safe, and reduce the spread of this virus.

Thank you again for your ongoing patience and cooperation in keeping residents informed. Please continue to visit OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for the latest information.

2nd Death in Ottawa 

Before I begin, I would like to offer my most sincere condolences to the family of the resident who has passed away this past weekend.

As Dr. Etches mentioned, this is the second death related to COVID-19, it serves as a sad and important reminder that we all need to do our part in making efforts to flatten the curve.

This means washing your hands regularly, respecting physical (social) distancing guidelines, limiting trips outside the house to essential ones only, and to check in virtually on family, friends and neighbours.

New Enforcement Measures 

We need to keep residents safe and do everything we can to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community.

That is why Ottawa By-law Officers have been given the ability to enforce new rules under the Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act related to physical distancing.

This means that, effective immediately, a dedicated team of officers at By-law and Regulatory Services will be proactively monitoring and enforcing calls related to:

• Gatherings of more than 5 people in public or private residences;
• People congregating in parks/using park facilities or equipment;
• Restaurants that continue to offer dine-in services; and,
• Non-essential retail businesses continuing to operate.

Residents who witness these issues should report them by calling 3-1-1.

By-law Officers will be taking a progressive enforcement approach; with the initial goal to educate residents and businesses about these laws and their importance to public health.

As time goes on, failure to comply could result in fines under the provincial Act of up to $100,000 for individuals, $500,000 for a director of a corporation or $10-million for a corporation itself.

By-law and Regulatory Services continues to collaborate with the Ottawa Police Service, which will continue to enforce calls related to Quarantine Orders issued to individuals who have been travelling or are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19.

Complaints related to the Quarantine Act should be reported to the non-urgent Ottawa Police phone line at 613-236-1222.

2020 Spring Freshet 

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now facing the 2020 Spring Freshet.

Many of Ottawa residents awoke today with renewed concerns for potential flooding given the heavy weekend rains.

Staff has advised me that water levels are not currently at threatening levels.

Later today, I will be issuing a memo to Council saying that I have asked Councillor Eli El-Chantiry to play a leadership role as Council Liaison on the 2020 Spring Freshet.

Councillor El-Chantiry has been front and centre in helping our local communities rebuild after the devastating floods that hit our City in 2017 and 2019.

Some of you may recall that Councillor El-Chantiry was helping his friends and neighbours sandbag their properties while his family was losing a property to the flooding.

Councillor El-Chantiry will work closely with members of Councillor whose wards have been most severely impacted in the past, including Councillor Theresa Kavanagh (Bay) and Councillor George Darouze (Osgoode) - who is temporarily managing Cumberland Ward issues for Cumberland Village and other parts of the ward.

I want to thank Councillor El-Chantiry for liaising with the City’s senior leadership team, my office, members of Council and key community agencies over the course of the coming days and until such time as the 2020 spring flood threat is behind us.

This is an exceptionally challenging time for our City and our residents, and I want to thank Councillor El-Chantiry and all members of Council for working together as we focus on mobilizing the spirit and resources our communities need to overcome these challenges.

I appreciate the opportunity to address the public during these very trying times and I thank the media for assisting OPH in getting important messages delivered .

I want to take this opportunity to recognize all the hard work that OPH staff and all healthcare providers are putting in as our first line of Defense against COVID-19.

The challenge is a significant one but there are simple things we can all do to assist in the fight.

First and foremost stay informed so you can stay on top of your personal health situation. The best way to do this is to check the OPH website regularly. 

Secondly, practice physical distancing. This means no unnecessary trips out of the home and no public gatherings.

Thirdly, during these difficult times treat your friends and neighbours with kindness and compassion. Reach out virtually to check up on one another . Look after one another .

Let’s stick together by staying apart.

Thank you.

As of this morning, there are 130 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa. That’s eight new reported cases since yesterday. You may have noticed that the Ministry of Health has changed the way it is reporting case data. We also understand that going forward, the Ministry of Health is going to provide more information on cases across Ontario at 10:30 daily, based on results available as of 4 pm the day before. As the number of cases grows, the Ottawa Public Health (OPH) team is adjusting how we collect and track data and we are also working to update our reporting strategy to align with Ministry reporting.

We now have outbreaks in two retirement homes in Ottawa. There are currently five confirmed cases at Orleans Promenade and counts pending for another outbreak at Maplewood Retirement Community.

Sadly, we have also had our second COVID-related death in Ottawa. The second death is a resident from Orleans Promenade. 

OPH continues to investigate and support both homes with their outbreak management measures. We are connecting with close contacts, as we do in all cases.  

The number of people hospitalized has increased. There are now 21 people in hospital, six of them are in ICU. 

Fortunately, we can now report 10 resolved cases.  

Yesterday the provincial government announced new restrictions on group gatherings which are now limited to a maximum of five people, with exceptions for: 

• private households of five people or more 
• childcare centres supporting frontline healthcare workers and first responders
• funerals, which are permitted to proceed with up to 10 people at one time  

Earlier today, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, issued a statement calling on Ontarians to do more to combat the spread of COVID-19, noting that opting out is NOT an option. 

He strongly recommended that all residents stay home except for essential reasons, such as to: 

• Access health care services
• Shop for groceries 
• Pick-up medication at the pharmacy
• Walk pets when required
• Support vulnerable community members with meeting the above needs

Given the greater risk of severe outcomes to Ontarians who are elderly, he also strongly recommended that individuals over 70 years of age self-isolate.  

This also applies to individuals who have compromised immune systems and/or underlying medical conditions. 

We recognize that physical (social) distancing and self-isolation is hard. People may be feeling disconnected and experience difficulties in managing stress or anxiety. We also know that for some, home is not a safe place. We were pleased to see yesterday’s announcements by the federal government for funding for Kids Help Phone and New Horizons for Seniors through United Way. If you are struggling, please reach out. Our website has a list of mental health resources available in our community. The Ottawa Distress Centre is also available for people needing more support. 

I also want to reinforce that anyone who is not experiencing signs of illness and who is not subject to self-isolation under the Quarantine Act should try to get outside for fresh air and exercise in order to maintain their health during these difficult times. When doing so, please remember to practice physical (social) distancing. That means staying about two meters away from anyone you encounter during your walk.  Passing someone on a sidewalk is not considered a high-risk activity for infection with COVID-19. 

Thank you again for your ongoing patience and cooperation in keeping residents informed. Please continue to visit: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus       

If you’re waiting at home for your results after being tested for COVID-19 and begin to experience shortness of breath or chest pain, please go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 911. 

And please continue to go to the nearest emergency department for any non-COVID related medical emergencies. We are ready and able to help anyone in need.

Nos services d’urgence sont prêts à vous accueillir s’il vous faut des soins urgents. La mise en place du Centre d’évaluation pour la COVID-19 a permis de soulager la pression sur les Urgences. Alors si vous avez besoin de soins médicaux urgents, n’hésitez pas à aller à la salle d’Urgence la plus proche. 

Si vous attendez vos résultats de dépistage de la COVID-19 et que vos symptômes s’aggravent (p. ex. essoufflement, douleur à la poitrine), allez à l’Urgence la plus proche ou appelez le 911.

We are aware that there is a backlog in processing tests in Ontario. All swab analysis was sent to a centralized lab for processing prior to March 23. A dedicated team is working to get those results back from the central lab for residents of Eastern Ontario. 

Last week, The Eastern Ontario Regional Lab Association (EORLA), began COVID-19 testing locally and has made significant progress to increase our regional test capacity. I want to thank everyone still waiting, for their patience. In the meantime, please do not seek retesting or call the centralized Public Health Lab in Toronto for results, as they are unable to release results to individuals. Patients who were seen at the Assessment Centre at Brewer arena, will be contacted by telephone by clinical staff from The Ottawa Hospital or CHEO.

Our community has stepped forward, like many others across the province.  We are receiving donations of supplies from people in health care, education, technology and the construction industry.  We are grateful for the community support. In response to the donation offers, we created COVIDDonations@toh.ca – which is where the community can send their offers. Gowns, masks, gloves, face shields, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer are all welcome. It is important to note that this is a regional supply.

I can also provide an update on the care clinics in the community. These care clinics will be ready to open quickly when needed to support our health-care system. This is a collaboration between Queensway Carleton Hospital and Hopital Montfort, supported by our regional partners.

These care clinics are specifically designed to absorb an increased volume of patients with febrile respiratory illness, offloading local emergency departments and family doctors' offices. They will be able to provide diagnostics as well as care, and we hope to deflect these patients from emergency departments while at the same time providing a high standard of care.

Finally, at the request from the province, and along with other Ontario hospitals, we are now reporting our PPE inventory to the province.  

It’s a challenging and even frustrating time for everyone – parents, children, teenagers, seniors, employers and employees and essential services workers. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and every citizen must continue doing their part to keep themselves, their family members, their neighbours, co-workers and community members healthy and safe, and reduce the spread of this virus.

As of this morning, there are 122 confirmed cases in Ottawa and a second outbreak at a retirement home in Ottawa, at Maplewood Retirement Community. OPH continues to investigate the outbreak. The retirement home has implemented outbreak management and OPH is connecting with close contacts, as we do in all cases. All residents have been notified and are in self-isolation. Staff at the retirement home continue to be screened and have been instructed to wear personal protective equipment in the building, specifically wearing a mask when entering the building and following droplet/contact procedures in all resident rooms.

With more cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Ottawa, including confirmation of community spread, we continue to urge everyone to practice physical (social) distancing or self-isolate if you develop symptoms.  Some key things to remember:

For individuals with respiratory symptoms (such as fever, cough), please follow these directives:

• You must self-isolate for 14 days from when your symptoms started, or until 24 hours after symptoms have FULLY resolved, whichever is longer.
• You must not leave your home if you have respiratory symptoms. Call your doctor or TeleHealth at 1-866-797-0000 if you have questions.
• If your symptoms are worsening to a point where you cannot manage at home, please visit your nearest emergency department. 
• If you think you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has it, a self assessment tool is available to help determine how to seek further care.

For individuals who are returning from travel, by federal law, you must immediately self-isolate for 14 days.  

• The federal Minister of Health announced an Emergency Order requiring any person entering Canada by air, sea or land to self-isolate for 14 days whether or not they have symptoms of COVID-19. By federal law, if you have just returned to Canada from abroad, leaving your property, even to go for a walk or to the grocery store, is not permitted under the Quarantine Order issued March 25, 2020. This also means not stopping at the grocery store or the pharmacy on the way home from the airport or the border.
• If you need groceries or other essential items, have a family member, friend or neighbour do the shopping for you and leave items at the door.
• If you have respiratory symptoms, follow the guidance in the section above.

For ALL Ottawa residents (except those listed above)

• Practice physical (social) distancing – avoid all non-essential trips in the community.
• Household contacts (people you live with) do not need to distance from each other unless they are sick, or have returned from travel within the past 14 days.
• Cancel ALL group gatherings, including group/team play on sports fields.
• Connect via phone, video chat, or social media instead of in-person.
• Talk to your employer about working from home (if possible).
• Avoid visiting elderly friends or relatives unless the visit is essential.
• Keep windows down for essential community trips via taxi or rideshares.

And some special reminders for parents with children, as well as all of us as we practice physical (social) distancing:  

You can go outside.  It’s healthy. You can still take a walk, play with your dog outside, or kick a ball with members of your household who are already close contacts.

When outside, maintain a two-metre distance. Avoid crowds and maintain a distance of two metres (six feet) from those around you. Make an effort to step-aside, or pass others quickly and courteously on sidewalks.  Passing someone on the sidewalk is not considered close contact or a significant risk for exposure to COVID-19.

Remember to check in with others by phone or other technology. Support your neighbours if you can. Check in with yourself too. It’s ok not to be ok, and I encourage you to reach out to the Distress Centre of Ottawa to connect with someone at 613-238-3311 if you need help or are having trouble coping.

Each of our efforts are needed as a community. The actions you take will affect not only you, but your loved ones and the most vulnerable people in our community. By acting now, you may be saving lives – the life of a family member, a neighbour, a friend, or a coworker.

This is a difficult and challenging time for everyone, but we can do it. I’d like to thank you for your cooperation with physical (social) distancing from others and thank people who are helping each other. Supporting our neighbours is essential for us to make it through this pandemic. Please go to OttawaPublicHealth.ca and follow and share our updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Sincerely,

Dr. Vera Etches

For more information on testing and care for COVID-19, and how to practice physical (social) distancing, visit our website: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus. Information on financial and social supports is available on Ottawa.ca. 

March 27, 2020 - Special statement from Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health

Since Ottawa Public Health confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 11, our day-to-day lives have changed drastically. We know that staying home and practicing physical (social) distancing and being in self-isolation is not easy and we thank you for all you are doing to help flatten the curve.

It is important to remember that this is a global issue and the response around the world has been immense to influence the impact of COVID-19. There are now more than 86,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 being reported in the United States; this number is greater than the total number of cases in China and Italy. Confirmed cases are just the tip of the iceberg of the actual infections out there.

Around this time of year, many travellers are returning from travel around the world, including many snowbirds returning to Canada from the US. Returning travelers from all destinations outside of Canada MUST self-isolate and self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days. Do not go shopping for groceries or supplies; these must be picked up by a family member or friend or through online ordering options.  

Please visit our self-isolation page for more instructions on how to self-isolate, including for specific scenarios.

As of this morning, there are 75 confirmed cases in Ottawa. Included in these numbers is the first confirmed case in a retirement home in Ottawa. This case was confirmed at Promenade Seniors’ Suites & Retirement Residence in Orleans. The individual as well as their spouse, who is also a resident of the retirement home, have been hospitalized. The retirement home has implemented outbreak management and OPH is connecting with close contacts, as we do in all cases. All residents have been notified and are in self-solation. Staff at the home continue to be screened and have been instructed to wear personal protective equipment in the building, specifically wearing a mask when entering the building and following droplet/contact procedures in all resident rooms.

The number of people hospitalized and in intensive care has increased. There are 17 people in hospital (including the two from the retirement home), seven of which are in intensive care. Of the people in intensive care, most are in their 50s and 60s, with only one individual older than 70. This is important for the public to appreciate as it demonstrates that the illness does not discriminate age – anyone is susceptible. Furthermore, 16 per cent of all the cases to date have no travel and no known contact with a confirmed case, demonstrating clear community spread.

Ottawa Public Health continues to communicate and work closely with local hospitals, health care partners, businesses, the City and all levels of government to implement our community response to COVID-19. 

Thank you again for your ongoing patience and cooperation in keeping residents informed. Please continue to visit: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus

March 26, 2020 at 2:30pm - Special statement from Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health

The situation around COVID-19 continues to evolve quickly, with new developments and new announcements daily from all levels of government.

We continue to be grateful for media’s help in getting reliable, timely information out to our residents.  

As of this morning, OPH is investigating 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

We also shared the sad news late yesterday afternoon about Ottawa’s first COVID-19 related death.

The individual was a man in his 90s who was living at home. He developed a fever on March 15th. He was seen in the emergency department of The Ottawa Hospital and admitted on March 20 and died on March 25, 2020. As with other people diagnosed with COVID-19, OPH will not be discussing any further details in order to protect personal health information.

We continue to get questions about self-isolation. I want to reinforce that the information on our website provides clear guidelines.

Returning travelers MUST self-isolate and self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days. DO NOT go shopping for groceries or supplies. Have those purchased for you by a friend, family or neighbour or use a delivery service.

If you are self-isolating and develop symptoms or if you are awaiting test results for COVID-19, you must stay home. Do not leave your home except to seek medical treatment for escalating symptoms.

If you are self-isolating and do not have symptoms, we want you to do everything you can to remain healthy and part of that involves, getting fresh air and exercise. Therefore, if you don’t have symptoms, it’s okay to go for a walk outside, but at all times, you must maintain a distance of at least 2 meters from anyone you may encounter on your walk.

I was happy to see this message reinforced by Health Minister Hajdu yesterday during a press conference and by Dr. Theresa Tam on Twitter last night. We want you to stay healthy and be able to go outside to get some fresh air, while practicing physical distancing.

Also, please remember to wash your hands thoroughly before and after any outdoor excursion or activity.

It’s important to remember that while those most at risk of severe complications from COVID-19 are older adults and those with underlying health conditions, I want to reiterate that COVID19 does not discriminate. We can expect serious illness across all age categories, and everyone has a role when it comes to physical/social distancing.

We know this situation is causing stress and anxiety in our community. I’m happy to share with you that OPH has added a new section on our coronavirus webpage to make it easier for residents to find mental health resources in our community.

We also recognize that the volume of new information can be overwhelming. Please note that the team at Ottawa Public Health is continuously updating our website and messaging to provide residents with the latest and most reliable information on how to protect themselves and their loved ones and maintain their health.

Thank you again for your ongoing patience and cooperation in keeping residents informed. Please continue to visit: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus 

March 24, 2020 at 2:15pm - Special statement from Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health

Firstly, I want to ensure that everyone heard the news that The Ontario Ministry of Health has a new enhanced self-assessment tool online.  If you think you have coronavirus symptoms, or have been in close contact with someone who has it, use this online self-assessment to help determine how to seek further care and receive recommendations to either continue physical (social) distancing or self-isolate.

Moving forward, you will also begin to hear the use of the term “physical distancing” instead of “social distancing.”  This language is beginning to be used around the world and is clearer about what we are recommending to reduce the spread of COVID-19.  We want residents to keep a physical distance of at least 2 metres from others, but not to disconnect socially.  It is very important during this time, that we maintain social connections to support our mental health; however, these social connections with people outside your household should be done through phone calls and other technology as much as possible.   

Regarding gathering more information on whether people are adhering to social distancing.  In the short term, we are using more traditional means: we are planning a population survey, through a phone survey that will be implemented in the next few days.  We are exploring all options to use technology to assist with the response, but have no plans to implement cell phone proximity tracking or social media mining. Exploring some of these options would need to be done in a transparent way to be sure that privacy is protected and there is evidence the tools work the way we’d want them to.

As of this morning, OPH is investigating 25 confirmed cases and 13 indeterminate cases.  We anticipate this number will continue to increase as more people are exposed to the virus in our community and are getting tested. 

Regarding testing, we are actively working with our laboratory and health care partners to improve their wait times to receiving results.  Currently we are hearing that the average wait time for results is 7 days. We are working with our healthcare partners to ramp up their efforts to process samples locally as part of a more sustainable model.   We appreciate your patience and request that you not call Ottawa Public Health for test results. If you are tested at the Assessment Centre, please follow their guidance on how to receive your results through their on-line mechanisms.

For those individuals that have received testing and need clarity while they are waiting for results, the guidance is consistent with what we are recommending for self-isolation.  For example:

• If you got tested because you had symptoms, regardless of travel history, you need to stay in isolation for 14 days or until 24 hours after your symptoms clear up (whichever is longer); or
• If your symptoms escalate beyond what you can manage at home, go to the emergency department - regardless of if you have been tested. Testing is not treatment. We want to ensure people that need care, get care. 

Thank you for continuing to share this information and please visit our website regularly for the latest updates: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus.  

It has been another busy start to our week as the information, and measures at all levels of government in response to this pandemic, are changing rapidly. We are working around the clock to provide information to the public as soon as possible. 

As of this morning, OPH is investigating 22 confirmed cases and 11 indeterminate cases. I know there is always a lot of interest in how many confirmed cases are in our community, but we know that these cases are really only one small part of the COVID-19 response.  As I mentioned yesterday, we now have laboratory confirmation of community spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ottawa and that there could be up to 4,000 cases in Ottawa. I want to take the time to help people understand how we determine these estimates.

Researchers at the University of Toronto developed a model that describes COVID-19 transmission based on a model that was used in 2009 for H1N1 pandemic planning in Canada. This model tries to take into account that:

• In addition to diagnosed cases, there are/will be cases that go undetected because they have no symptoms, or only mild symptoms;
• Symptomatic and asymptomatic cases contribute to spread; and
• Coronavirus infection spreads at different rates depending on several factors (i.e. age, number of contacts, asymptomatic vs. symptomatic, etc.).

The model is used as a planning tool, to help predict healthcare resources needed, and potential positive impacts of strategies, such as physical (social) distancing and school closures. It helps us make comparisons between types of interventions versus no interventions. It is approximate, and daily numbers will fluctuate. For example, the model shouldn’t be used to say we will have X number of cases on March 23 or June 10; it should be used to see how interventions may impact estimated number of cases over time.

The model estimates, based on having 27 diagnosed cases on Sunday, that there are between 200 and 4,000 total diagnosed and undiagnosed cases in Ottawa now. We released the number publicly to help raise awareness that COVID-19 is in our community, and to communicate that we all need to do our part to slow down transmission of infection by limiting our contact with others.  We just received an updated model, so we are still working to understand how to apply that to the current situation in Ottawa.

The model isn’t going to give us perfect numbers that I can provide into the future, because interventions are changing.  Instead, we are continuing to work on data sources that will give us a better picture of what is happening in our community.  For example, we are looking at emergency room visits for fever and cough, we are looking at ways to ask people to report to us if they have fever and cough in the community.  We also want more information on whether people are adhering to physical (social) distancing guidance in our community.  All of the additional information sources we are building will help build a better picture and more precise projections of where we are at on the “curve” of infections in our community.

We will continue to share more information about the number of estimated infections in the community as our surveillance systems evolve. We are working toward adding this information on our website so it is available to the public and the media, and importantly to our health system partners as this information helps them with health system planning over the next several months.  

Given this information about community spread, we all need to be vigilant to continue physical (social) distancing.  Now is not the time for non-essential excursions outside the home or for having friends and family over to visit. Overall, physical (social) distancing means to limit the total number of people you come in close contact with; ideally you are able to limit your contact to only people within your household. Limit contact with everyone outside your household unless you have essential work, or if you need important support from one other person. 

So this means, that you should only be connecting with friends and family virtually and to limit how often you go to the grocery store.  When you do go outside of your homes, to go for a walk or to get groceries, keep at least 2 metres distance apart from others.  Parks remain open, but we ask that you do not congregate in parks, on sports fields, courts and playgrounds – again all to limit your close contacts with anyone outside your household.  Essentially, physical (social) distancing and keeping two meters distance from others applies to all setting when other people are around.

The additional measures announced earlier today by the province of Ontario, that there will be a mandatory closure of all non-essential work places, will help limit these non-essential outings.  We will be working with our City colleagues to determine local implications, but please be reassured that we will have access to food, utilities and essential products.  In my statement yesterday, I encouraged that people should not visit non-essential businesses including but not limited to clothing retail stores, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlours, gym and fitness facilities, banquet halls and conference centres; we will share the list of businesses permitted to stay open once released tomorrow by the province. 

Many people are returning home from travel and will need groceries and essential items. It is imperative that all returning travellers self-isolate for 14 days.  If you are self-isolating it means that; groceries and essential items should be picked up by a family member or friend, or acquired through on-line ordering options.

We are working with the airport to ensure all travellers are aware of this information about self-isolation.  Having a COVID-19 test result or not does not change the actions that individuals in the community need to take now. If you have travelled or are ill with a respiratory illness, stay home – and for all of us, now is the time to limit our interactions with others outside of our household as much as possible. 

We continue to have many questions about what self-isolation actually means. Self-isolation means you need to stay home and avoid contact with others.

• Do not use public transportation;
• Do not go to work or school or the grocery store;
• Stay in a separate room away from other people in your home as much as possible and use a separate bathroom if you have one; and
• If you are in a room with other people, keep a distance of at least two meters from others and wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth.

People who are self-isolating, and who do not have symptoms, can continue to go outside for a walk or to a local greenspace; however, I can’t say this enough - they should not gather with others and it is essential they keep 2 metres away from others.  It is important that individuals who are self-isolating have no contact with anyone other than household members. Guidance for residents who are self-isolating is available on our website, as well as information about cleaning your home, personal hygiene, laundry and waste disposal. 

Thank you for continuing to share this information and please visit our website regularly for the latest updates: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus. 

Because most cases are mild and undetected, Ottawa Public Health is urging everyone to practice social distancing. More information on social distancing for you and your family can be found on our website.

Our efforts are needed as a community. The actions you take will affect not only you but your loved ones and our most vulnerable. While we appreciate that people are thinking of their loved ones, now is not the time to visit them in person. Luckily, we have technology on our side which enables us to communicate in other creative ways like video chats and group phone calls.

Now is also not the time for non-essential excursions. We are working with the City of Ottawa to provide greater clarity on what we consider non-essential vs essential businesses here in Ottawa. People should not visit non-essential businesses including but not limited to clothing retail stores, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlours, gym and fitness facilities, banquet halls and conference centres.

Many people are returning home from March Break travel and will need groceries and essential items. It is imperative that all returning travellers self-isolate for 14 days, so groceries and essential items should be picked up by a family member or friend, or through on-line ordering options. Visit our website for further guidance on self-isolation. We have been working with the Ottawa International Airport to ensure this is being communicated clearly to returning travellers.

Social distancing is important for everyone at this time, but especially important for members of our older adult community and our most vulnerable. Here are some ways that you and your family can practise social distancing: 

• Talk to your supervisor, manager, or employer about the possibility of working from home where possible 
• Avoid visiting elderly friends or relatives. Use the telephone, video chats or social media to stay connected unless the visit is absolutely essential. 
• Avoid all non-essential trips in the community 
• Keep the windows down if you have to go into the community for an essential trip via taxi or rideshare 
• Cancel group gatherings and limit your contact to as few people as possible Hold virtual meetings or get-togethers  
• Spend time outside and in settings where people can maintain a two-metre (six feet) distance from each other 

Our community partners are working together through the City’s Human Needs Task Force for those requiring assistance. The Good Companions are offering Seniors Centre Without Walls, where seniors can dial in and partake in a virtual centre with activities. The Ottawa Food Bank and community food banks are all working hard to ensure food is still available to those that need it. For more information on how to connect to these wonderful services, residents can call 2-1-1.

Information is changing rapidly and we are working around the clock to provide information to the public as soon as possible. Please continue to share this information and visit our website regularly for the latest updates: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus

The past week has seen a very quick escalation from all levels of government in response to the COVID-19 situation. I want to publicly respond to a few common questions and concerns to help provide clarity on our approach at the local level.

As a reminder, please visit our website OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus for local information about COVID-19, including assessment and testing in Ottawa, self-isolation and social distancing. Due to high call volumes please try to not call unless you have read the website first.

Testing and Assessment

The present goals of testing for COVID-19 are to detect the virus in our community and also limit the spread of the virus. Lab testing helps us estimate cases in the community. For each laboratory-confirmed case related to travel, there is a likelihood that at least an equal number of travel-related cases are undetected. Based on current confirmed cases, whose onset of illness is in the past, there could potentially be anywhere between 200 to 1000 undetected cases in the community now. We do not yet have laboratory-confirmed community spread, though we do see cases giving rise to cases in close contacts. 

With this information, I am communicating to all people in Ottawa that we need to act as if the virus is here, circulating in our community.

The testing isn’t able to track down each case in our community because the mild illness the majority of people experience is not distinguishable from common colds and we cannot test large numbers. Having a COVID-19 test result or not does not change the actions that individuals in the community need to take – if ill with a respiratory illness, stay home – and for all of us, now is the time to limit our interactions with others as much as possible.

The current COVID-19 testing provides a pulse check and helps us make decisions about our next steps to control the spread of COVID-19. It also helps limit spread COVID-19 by the highest risk cases. Self-isolation and social distancing are effective strategies for slowing the spread at the community level.

Check our website to learn more about when to self-isolate and when to go for testing: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus. You do not need a referral from Ottawa Public Health to get tested for COVID-19. At a high level:

If you are a return traveler (including travel to the United States of America) OR have MILD symptoms – you MUST self-isolate. Most people with MILD symptoms will recover at home with no issues. You are helping limit the spread of the virus by staying at home.

For now (this may change), our priority is to test people with escalating symptoms AND travel history within 14 days OR close contact with someone with COVID-19.

We are also prioritizing ruling out COVID-19 in workers, such as health-care workers or Long-Term Care Homes.

In the future, the goals of COVID-19 testing are likely to shift towards being used to limit outbreaks in settings of high risk. The focus of testing would turn to health care and essential workers, hospitalized patients, long-term care homes, correctional facilities and other situations where the result is helpful to direct public health actions.

Social Distancing

Social distancing refers to creating physical distance between ourselves so that we can limit the spread of the virus. Social distancing by all is IMPERATIVE to limit transmission in the community, to protect vulnerable populations and outbreaks in institutions. We must “flatten the curve” so we don’t see spikes in cases. By this, I mean that we want to slow down transmission of the virus and lessen the number of cases in the community that happen at the same time, so that our health system continues to work properly. Having a sharp increase of cases in a small timeframe will overload our healthcare resources and have more severe impacts on our community. Social distancing is important for everyone at this time, but especially important for our older adult community (55+). Do NOT gather in groups of 10 or more. Practice social distancing.

Social distancing does not mean emotional distancing. Check in with others by phone or other technology. Check in with yourself. It’s ok not to be ok. Please know that help is available, and we encourage you to reach out to Distress Centre of Ottawa to connect with someone at 613-238-3311 if needed.

Case Management and Privacy

We have received many questions from people who feel they are at risk, including many people expressing concern about being in the same location as someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who may have symptoms of COVID-19.

I would like to clarify a few points:

• Given the transmission of COVID-19, we are all at risk. Social distancing, proper hand hygiene, not touching your face and self-isolation (when directed) are the best ways to reduce your personal risk at this time.
• A close contact of a case of COVID-19, is someone who has lived with, provided care for, or spent longer periods of time with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Case and contact management is a role of public health to help identify who may have been in close contact with a confirmed case. Ottawa Public Health will contact you directly if you have been identified as a close contact.
• OPH works closely with each confirmed case of COVID-19 to create a list of close contacts that require follow-up. If you have been contacted by Ottawa Public Health, follow the advice provided to you by the nurse.
• If you have not been contacted by Ottawa Public Health, please do not assume that you are a close contact. Continue to take social distancing and other precautions and, if needed based on the guidance on OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus, follow self-isolation or testing directions.

Regarding privacy, Ottawa Public Health will not comment about any specifics around an individual case of COVID-19. We encourage others to not pursue this information unless an individual issues their own statement to this effect. Ottawa Public Health will contact you directly if you are a close contact.

The reportable information that we are required to share with the Ministry of Health, and which is on their website:

• Patient age and gender
• Transmission (community, travel or close contact)
• Status (self-isolating, hospitalized, etc.)
• Fraud concerns

I have been made aware that certain residents have received a phone call asking for credit card information from Ottawa Public Health (OPH). OPH (or any health unit) will not ask you for credit card information. Do not give your credit card information out if you receive a call or message similar to this. Fraudulent activity during a situation like this is deplorable. I encourage you to report it to Ottawa Police Services. 

Gratitude

Thank you to all residents of the City of Ottawa for your ongoing patience and cooperation. We are all in this together, and we need everyone to do their part- whether providing an essential service or staying inside – to be able to slow the transmission of the COVID-19 virus in our community and protect our health system and loved ones who depend on it.

Dr. Vera Etches

Medical Officer of Health

Ottawa Public Health  

He also advised the following establishments should close temporarily (until further notice):

• Recreation programs
• Libraries
• Churches and other faith settings
• In person dine-in restaurants and bars - NOTE: except for food establishments that offer take out and/or delivery services
• All childcare centres, licensed home childcare and Early ON Child and Family centres

Other establishments also strongly recommended by Ottawa Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches, include:

• Nightclubs and after-hours bars
• Movie Theatres
• Concert and indoor live-entertainment venues

Therefore, I am asking all people in Ottawa to increase their practices of social distancing. This means limiting non-essential trips out of the home and making efforts to maintain a distance of 1 to 2 metres from other people as much as possible. We are asking people to, if possible, keep their children home from daycare and to check with their employers about options for working from home or implementing social distancing at work.

These guidelines are not meant to say “you must stay in your home!”

You can still go outside to take a walk, go to the park, or walk your dog. If you need groceries, go to the store. We simply recommend that while outside you make sure to avoid crowds and maintain a distance of 1 to 2 metres (3-6 feet) from those around you.

I know there will be many questions and significant hardship associated with implementation of these measures. They are necessary to limit COVID-19 transmission in our community.  We each need to do our part to ensure that our healthcare providers have the capacity to provide life saving measures for all, and to care for the most vulnerable people. Social distancing measures can make a huge difference to slow the rapid spread of illness.

While you may not feel sick, please be mindful of the members of our community who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than others. We are all in this together.

The Ottawa Public Health website has been updated with information about social distancing to provide further guidance to the public. Information is changing rapidly and we are working to provide this information to the public as soon as possible. Please continue to share this information. We will share what is happening in our community on our website.