New restrictions will not be lifted early

Restrictions on restaurants and gyms in Ottawa, Toronto and Peel announced by the province last Friday won't be lifted until at least the end of the 28-day period they were initially announced for, despite local pushback and demands to see the data underlying the decision, Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod, the minister of sport, heritage, tourism and culture industries, said Wednesday.

The Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas published a letter to the province on Monday, asking to see the data that prompted the provincial closures, arguing that the closures ordered do not appear to coincide with how COVID-19 transmission is known to have been happening, and will just do further economic harm to the hardest-hit businesses.

“I am completely sympathetic, my heart is sick over it,” MacLeod said in a news conference.

However, she released the evidence the province used to decide on enhanced restrictions, and pointed out that Ottawa has more cases per 100,000 people than any other city in the province, a “high” positivity rate (the percentage of positive tests), and a high rate of hospitalizations.

The evidence MacLeod provided from the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table did not include any specific data about business-related outbreaks or transmission.

Asked about evidence showing the need to close bars, restaurants, and gyms in Ottawa, MacLeod said: “We know, for example, that indoors, there is a high likelihood of spread, and we do recognize that it's become more difficult to contain the spread of COVID-19.

“This wasn't a decision that we, obviously, have taken lightly. It's not a decision I really wanted to make, but it was a decision that our government had to take based on the evidence.”

The province, meanwhile, is working to build a nearly 4,000-strong workforce of COVID-19 case managers and contact tracers to try to ensure that “there is nowhere this virus can hide,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday.

To the more than 2,750 staff doing this work already, the province is looking to add 600 new recruits and 600 Statistics Canada employees.

Ontario is providing 150 additional staff to Ottawa, Ford said Wednesday.

A centralized IT system for case and contact management has been implemented in nearly all of the province's public health units, a tool that “significantly reduces duplication, streamlines processes, and allows for more efficient case and contact management work to be completed,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said.

Elliott also tried to dispel fears Wednesday about shortages of the flu vaccine in Ontario, saying that the province is receiving its scheduled shipments.

While the first delivery went to hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes, shipments are also going out to primary-care providers and pharmacies, Elliott said.

She advised Ontarians to call ahead to book a flu shot appointment with their doctor or pharmacy, when possible, and make sure a dose is available. If it's not, it should be in the next few days, she said.

Locally, one new outbreak in a health/congregate-living institution was reported in Ottawa on Wednesday, currently involving one staff case at the Royal Garden retirement home, and bringing the number of ongoing outbreaks in the sector to 45. Two new outbreaks in school or childcare facilities were also reported.