Feb. 21 COVID-19 update: 80 new cases, no new patients and being SMART

OTTAWA – Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is reporting 80 new cases of COVID-19 today (Feb. 21), but says there are no new patients dealing with the virus in local hospitals.

There are still 22 people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 as of today – four in intensive care. Those numbers are unchanged from Saturday (Feb. 20).

According to OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard, the number of active cases of the novel coronavirus in the city is up slightly to 476.

The health unit is reporting a couple new COVID-19 outbreaks at local healthcare institutions, including two staff cases at The Ottawa Hospital’s General Campus and two patients at the Civic Campus. A new outbreak has also been declared at Governor’s Walk Retirement Residence after one staff member tested positive for the virus.

Overall, there are 22 outbreaks in healthcare institutions, two in Ottawa schools, four in childcare centres and four stemming from workplaces. OPH says three community outbreaks linked to workplaces have been resolved.

The health unit says 1.8 per cent of residents being tested for COVID-19 are seeing positive results. No new deaths being reported on Sunday leaves Ottawa’s pandemic toll at 436.

There have been 14,349 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since March of 2020, of which 13,437 have been resolved.

The City of Ottawa has received 48,460 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, to date, and has administered 41,695. OPH updates local vaccination numbers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Ontario is reporting 1,087 cases of COVID-19 today, after it says nearly 48,200 tests were completed on Saturday. 

Be SportSMART

OTTAWA – OPH is asking residents to be extra conscious when participating in activities, now that the region is back in the ‘orange-restrict’ tier of the province’s COVID-19 response framework and restrictions have eased on sports like outdoor hockey.

Before taking part in a sport, OPH say residents should assess the COVID-19 risks – part of being SportSMART.

For example, a very low-risk activity would be doing some skill-building drills alone, while a high-risk activity would be getting on a bus to participate in competitions involving teams across different areas of the province.

S

Screen all athletes, coaches, trainers and parents. Perform a COVID-19 Self-Assessment before attending or participating in any activity. Stay home if feeling unwell or you do not pass the self-assessment.

M

Wear masks at all times even during physical activity if possible and safe.

A

Adapt to reduce contact and maintain physical distance.

• Arrive dressed for the activity to limit the use of lockers and change rooms.
• Change drills and play to allow for physical distancing.
• Avoid group celebrations and other customs (e.g. handshakes, high fives, fist bumps, chest bumps) to limit contact with others.
• Arrive no more than five to 10 minutes before the activity and do not linger in the facility or parking lot after the activity.

R

Reduce contact.

• Arrange for transportation to and from activities so that only members from the same household are sharing rides.
• Bring your own equipment and do not share your personal items (e.g. water bottle, towels, etc.).
• Limit yourself to one sport, team or league as a player, coach, or trainer.
• Physical distancing of two metres at all times.
• Consider increasing distance when available including on sidelines and the bench.Limit travel to other regions in the province and out of province.

T

Think about the risks and ways to be safer and Track your activities.

• Be informed about the risks of participating in any activity.
• Know your personal risk based on your age or chronic health conditions and decide if participation is right for you.
• Follow all health and safety protocols and strategies available.
• Make choices to reduce risks for yourself and your team.
• Track all your activities on a family calendar. This will help with contact tracing (if needed).