A resident of a retirement home in Orléans, in Ottawa’s east end, is among the 75 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus that Ottawa Public Health is investigating as of Friday, the city’s chief medical officer says.
The resident who contracted the virus has been hospitalized and their spouse, who has not tested positive for COVID-19, is also in hospital, Dr. Vera Etches announced during a daily teleconference with reporters.
Seventeen people are being treated for the virus in hospital in Ottawa right now, the city’s top doctor said. Seven of those people, mostly individuals in their 50s and 60s, are in the intensive-care unit.
Etches said she thinks there’s a “misperception” in the community that only people over 70 years old are at risk of getting seriously ill from the new coronavirus. She urged residents who may not be following health officials’ orders amid the pandemic to understand the consequences.
“All of our actions across every age group can expose other people who are at risk to more serious illness,” Etches said.
“It is important for younger people to understand their actions contribute to the spread of illness in our community. And they’re not immune either. We are seeing some cases in younger age groups, too.
“Everyone needs to do their part to stay home, to only see people within their household and, when you’re out, to keep two metres away from people.”
According to Etches, 16 per cent of the 75 confirmed cases in the national capital are community spread, meaning they are not linked to travel or to close contact with a confirmed case.
The number of confirmed cases in Ottawa is doubling every four to four and a half days, Etches confirmed. While it’s still unclear when the outbreak will peak in the city, she said she expects cases to increase at the same rate “for some time,” until officials can “can see the impact of social distancing or physical distancing.”
The update on local COVID-19 cases came shortly after Ontario’s health ministry reported 132 new confirmed cases of the virus in the province, for a total of 967 active cases.
Orléans retirement home implements outbreak measures
The retirement home resident who tested positive for the new coronavirus lives at Alavida Lifestyles’ Promenade residence on Rossignol Drive, where outbreak measures have been implemented, according to Etches and Alavida’s vice-president of operations.
In a phone interview Friday afternoon, Amy Richer said her company acted on the public health unit’s recommendations “within the hour” of learning of the resident’s COVID-19 diagnosis and is taking “every precaution” in its response.
All residents are in self-isolation and are getting their meals delivered to their units, Richer said, and no visitors are allowed at Promenade. Residents’ temperatures are also being checked “multiple times a day”, Etches told reporters.
As for the retirement home staff, they’re not allowed through the building’s doors without washing their hands and are being screened for symptoms, travel history and contact with other people, Richer said.
“If they answer yes to any of those questions, then obviously we’re turning them away and sending them home to self-isolate and getting public health involved with them,” she said.
Employees have been told they must wear a mask for the duration of their shift and, if they have to interact with someone with coronavirus-like symptoms, wear “full protective gear,” Richer added.
Etches said families of the home’s residents have been notified. Families are “concerned” but Richer underscored the residence is focused on “getting through this with little or no transmission of the disease.”
“We are focused on nothing else but keeping our residents and our staff safe.”
The public health unit is following up with all close contacts of the resident with coronavirus, Etches said.
Ottawa’s public health unit reported the city’s first death linked to the virus on Wednesday.
Earlier that day, Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Etches said Friday that the local health agency, the city’s bylaw department and police are working together to figure out how to address situations where people aren’t complying with health officials’ orders — specifically situations that cannot be enforced by police.
Ottawa Hospital director reports progress in speeding up local testing
Wait times to receive COVID-19 test results in Ottawa have ballooned as the provincial public health labs processing the swabs for COVID-19 experienced a backlog.
There’s been “significant progress” to speed up the testing timeline since the Eastern Ontario Regional Lab Association (EORLA) jumped on Monday to help process tests, according to Dr. Andrew Willmore, the Ottawa Hospital’s medical director of emergency management.
EORLA is aiming to process new tests within 24 hours and it reached that target on Thursday, according to Willmore — although he confirmed there’s still a backlog for results that were sent to the centralized lab before EORLA came online.
“They’ll continue to build capacity to process more tests and we’re working diligently to get the results for those who have been tested,” Willmore said.
“An Ottawa working group is tracking those outstanding swabs and working to get results back as soon as possible.”
As of Friday, just over 10,000 COVID-19 test results were pending in all of Ontario, according to the provincial health ministry’s daily update on coronavirus testing.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
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