SPOOKED BY COVID-19

Skip trick-or-treat: Etches, Watson

Dr. Vera Etches couldn't be more clear Wednesday: there should be no trick-or-treating this Halloween in Ottawa.

Etches, the city's medical officer of health, told city council that she doesn't recommend kids go doorto-door on Oct. 31 since Ottawa has the highest rate of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Ontario.

The city, she emphasized, is in the red zone when it comes to the spread of the novel coronavirus and the city can't let down its guard on physical distancing.

What to do about Halloween emerged as a popular topic for council members as Etches fielded questions for a large portion of a council meeting.

Etches said Halloween should only be celebrated within households and she suggested it should be more like Easter, perhaps involving costumed hunts for candy at home.

“Halloween needs to be different this year,” Etches said.

Don't expect the city to send out the candy cops, though.

Mayor Jim Watson said bylaw officers and police won't be cracking down on trick-or-treaters. It's just a strong recommendation from city officials.

Watson said he won't be handing out candy at his house.

Councillors were also trying to reconcile the messages from Etches with those from federal

chief public health officer Theresa Tam, who suggested this week that trick-or-treating could be done safely.

But, as Etches pointed out, Tam also said people should listen to their local medical officers of health for advice.

Etches spent nearly three hours answering questions from councillors about the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa, with politicians probing her thoughts on Halloween, sources of virus transmission and the recent economic restrictions forced on the city by the provincial government.

Council pressed Etches on the province's decision to ban indoor dining and the operation of fitness centres for at least 28 days, starting last Saturday. It was a decision she said she supported in light of the increase in virus transmissions.

The province implemented the same restrictions in Toronto and Peel Region.

Etches said the health unit has found cases related to local restaurant settings.

In a news conference after the council meeting, Etches said eight per cent of people have reported being in those places in the time when they could have picked up the virus or were infectious to others, and there are examples of the virus being passed on.

While there have been situations where the virus has been passed among restaurant workers, there has been no evidence that the virus has been transmitted between restaurant staff and customers.

All of council backed a motion from Eli El-Chantiry and Jan Harder asking for the provincial government to provide the data rationale for implementing the economic restrictions in Ottawa, amplifying a request from the Ottawa Coalition of BIAs.

El-Chantiry said the province's announcement last Friday about the new restrictions in Ottawa was “hard to swallow.”

Bylaw officers were called into action to enforce the new provincial order in business activity over the long weekend.

Officers wrote four tickets for employees not wearing masks, one ticket for a restaurant allowing indoor dining and one ticket for a fitness centre that remained open.

OC Transpo special constables also ramped up enforcement of mandatory mask-wearing on Tuesday, writing one ticket and not allowing six passengers on transit. Another 51 customers were told to adjust their masks.

Health officials are paying closer attention to Ottawa's wastewater.

Etches said higher traces of COVID-19 detected in the sewage and daily data — since it's more immediate than waiting for COVID-19 tests to be processed by labs — can help the health unit prepare contact-tracing staff.