Coronavirus: Ottawa moving back to orange on Ontario’s COVID-19 framework Tuesday

Ottawa will move back to the orange-restrict zone of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening framework on Tuesday, the province announced Friday.

Non-essential retailers will be able to welcome customers back into their stores and limited indoor dining can resume in the city under the orange designation.

Among the changes in the upcoming restrictions are new rules for retailers, including a need for signage advising patrons not to enter the store if they’re exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and having a pandemic safety plan prepared and available on demand.

The full suite of regulations set to come into effect on Feb. 16 in Ottawa are listed below.

Other areas of eastern Ontario, including Kingston and Renfrew County, re-entered the province’s framework on Wednesday in the least-restrictive green category. Toronto, York and Peel Region will re-enter in the grey-lockdown zone on Feb. 22.

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit will join Ottawa in orange on Feb. 16.

Ottawa was in the orange tier of the province’s framework ever since the colour-coded system was introduced, but the city has been under provincewide COVID-19 lockdown since Dec. 26, 2020.

While Ottawa’s COVID-19 levels had been generally under control heading into the holiday season, the city’s numbers spiked like much of the rest of Ontario’s in the early days of 2021.

Since then, the city’s coronavirus rates and hospitalizations have generally declined.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) reported 42 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and one new death related to the novel coronavirus.

2:47 Coronavirus: Ontario could see 3rd wave due to increase in variants

There are currently 417 active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa.

Nineteen people in Ottawa are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, four of whom are in the intensive care unit.

Two new coronavirus outbreaks were added to OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard on Friday, one at a local support living facility and the other at the Maison Acceuil Sagesse retirement facility, raising the number of ongoing outbreaks in Ottawa to 32.

Ottawa’s weekly coronavirus positivity rate ticked up slightly to 1.6 per cent as of Friday, compared with 1.5 per cent in the previous period.

Ottawa has now administered 38,100 doses of COVID-19 vaccine locally, according to OPH’s dashboard. The city’s total vaccine inventory now stands at 39,100 doses after receiving a shipment of 4,875 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday.

0:37 Coronavirus: March Break postponed in Ontario amid pandemic

Here are a list of the restrictions in place when the stay-home orders are lifted in Ottawa on Tuesday:

Gatherings and events

• 10 people indoors, 25 people outdoors for most private events and social gatherings.
• 50 people indoors, 100 people outdoors for organized public events at staffed businesses where physical distance can be maintained
• 100 people outdoors or 30 per cent capacity indoors for weddings, funerals and other religious ceremonies

Restaurants and bars

• 50 people seated inside, where physical distancing allows two metres between tables
• Outdoor dining permitted
• No buffets
• Lineups outdoors with physical distancing and masks
• Patrons must be screened and provide contact info
• Limit of four people seated together
• Face coverings needed except when eating and drinking
• Establishments must close between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.; liquor hours between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Dancing, singing, performing music allowed with restrictions
• Music volume must allow for low conversation
• Strip clubs can operate only as a restaurant/bar
• Safety plan must be available on demand

Sports and recreational facilities

• Spacing of at least three metres between weight and cardio machines and in fitness classes
• Maximum 50 people in a gym, but each class can have a max of 10 people
• Maximum of 100 people in outdoor activities, each class can have up to 25 people
• No spectators but each participant under 18 years of age can have one parent or guardian
• Patrons must be screened before entering
• Sports must be modified to avoid physical contact, maximum of 50 people per league
• High-performance athletes and parasports are subject to exemptions
• Maximum of 90 minutes per session unless engage in sport
• Masks required when not engaged in physical activity
• Music volume must allow for low conversation
• Reservations required
• Safety plan must be available on demand

Meeting and event spaces

• 50 people indoors, 100 people outdoors
• Same limits as above on weddings, funerals
• Not allowed to book multiple rooms for the same event
• Patrons must be screened before entering
• Same opening/liquor/seating rules as restaurants
• Music volume must allow for low conversation
• Safety plan must be available on demand
• Exemptions for court and government services

Retail

• Passive screening, such as signage, advising patrons not to enter if exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms
• Fitting rooms limited to non-adjacent stalls
• Lineups outdoors with physical distancing and masks
• Music volume must allow for low conversation
• Safety plan must be available on demand

Personal care services

• Oxygen bars, steam rooms, saunas, bath houses and other adult venues remain closed
• No sensory deprivation pods allowed
• Any service that requires removing a mask is prohibited
• All patrons must be screened before entering, provide contact info
• Safety plan must be available on demand

Casinos and other gaming establishments

• Maximum of 50 people per facility
• Table games prohibited
• Same liquor rules as restaurants
• All patrons must be screened before entering, provide contact info
• Safety plan must be available on demand

Cinemas

• 50 people indoors, 100 people outdoors
• Drive-in cinemas permitted to operate, with restrictions
• Face coverings required except when eating or drinking
• Same liquor rules as restaurants
• All patrons must be screened before entering, provide contact info
• Safety plan must be available on demand

Performing arts facilities

• 50 people indoors, 100 people outdoors
• Singers, players of woodwind/brass instruments must be separate from spectators by barrier
• Physical distance required except for purposes of performance
• Same liquor rules as restaurants
• Rehearsals, recording/broadcasting event permitted
• Drive-in performances permitted
• All patrons must be screened before entering, provide contact info
• Safety plan must be available on demand