Ottawa Public Health officials say infections of novel coronavirus appear to have peaked in the wider Ottawa community, even though long-term care homes continue to face an uphill battle in protecting their vulnerable residents from infection.
Ottawa Public Health reported Friday there are now 1,372 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, 75 more than the last report.
The local public health unit reported no new deaths in the past two days, leaving the pandemic death toll standing at 76 in Ottawa.
Increased lab capacity has also allowed Ottawa Public Health to expand its testing criteria to include adults aged 60 and over who might be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
Anyone experiencing possible symptoms who also falls into the expanded list of categories here can visit the assessment centre at Brewer Arena to get tested.
Dr. Vera Etches, the city’s medical officer of health, said during a call with media Friday afternoon that the rate of infections in the wider Ottawa community appears to have peaked, though the trends in long-term care homes — where more than 500 staff and residents have tested positive for the virus — remain worrisome.
“If there’s a lot of infection in long-term care homes, that’s a problem for the community too. So we’ll move carefully,” Etches said.
Friday also marked the first confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to residents in city-run long-term care facilities, with two residents of the Peter D. Clark home testing positive for the virus.
City staff sparked a furor of response Thursday by announcing a ban on family members visiting loved ones at the windows of Ottawa’s four city-run long-term care homes, a policy enacted in response to some residents touching and kissing visitors through their screens and other violations of physical distancing guidelines.
Mayor Jim Watson stepped in to ask staff to find a way to allow supervised visits to take place.
Dean Lett, the city’s director of long-term care, said on Friday’s call that the homes have already been onboarding extra staff from the city’s recreation and parks department to help engage residents with activities in the warmer weather.
Lett said these extra hands could be helpful in setting up and scheduling supervised visits without overwhelming the homes’ existing staff, and Watson noted they are already being paid by the city and therefore aren’t an additional drain on municipal resources.
As the province turns towards lifting some pandemic restrictions, including a plan announced Friday for some Ontario businesses to reopen on May 4, Ottawa Public Health has launched a new platform to solicit residents’ ideas for navigating post-pandemic life.
Officials are asking Ottawa residents to provide feedback on existing physical distancing restrictions, to offer their strategies for coping in the pandemic and to share good news stories about neighbours or local heroes making a difference in the community.