Pandemic: Ciena, Shopify tell employees to stay home
Tech giants take swift action as first Ottawa case of COVID-19 is confirmed
High-tech giant Ciena Corporation shut down its Ottawa campus Wednesday after one of its employees tested positive for novel coronavirus, becoming Ottawa’s patient zero.
News of the city’s first case came on the same day the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.
Public health and city officials, meanwhile, ramped up their response to the pandemic and reassured the public.
“I understand that today’s developments will be worrisome to all residents,” Mayor Jim Watson told a media briefing called to announce news of the first case. “I would urge people to remain calm and follow the sound advice of Ottawa Public Health.”
Ottawa’s patient zero, a man in his 40s, began experiencing mild symptoms after returning from a trip to Austria. He had been travelling with two other Ottawa-based Ciena employees, according to an internal company memo obtained by this newspaper.
“Because one or more of these employees was present and working in our Ottawa facility after their trip but before exhibiting any symptoms, effective immediately we have decided to temporarily close the entire Ottawa campus until March 17, 2020.” That is approximately 14 days after the man who tested positive was in the office, on March 2, according to the memo. Ciena employs approximately 1,500 people at its Kanata campus.
The man, who has been in self-isolation at home over the past week, “is progressing well in his recovery,” said the memo.
During the media briefing, Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches, said public health staff were tracing the patient’s close contacts at home to see whether they require testing. She said Ottawa Public Health was still investigating whether it needed to go into his workplace and follow up there, adding that he had been very conscientious and did not go in to work. She did not mention that he had travelled to Austria with two work colleagues but said he was not a risk to anyone else on the flight.
In a statement, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board said the city’s first case does not affect schools.
Ottawa Public Health, the city, and The Ottawa Hospital have all increased their emergency response levels as a result of the expanding pandemic. The city officially opened its emergency operations centre on Wednesday to respond to the pandemic.
All city departments will be engaged in the task, Watson said.
“I would like to assure residents that we are prepared to respond to this case and to continue to support our community in monitoring, containing and detecting this virus,” Etches said.
Ottawa will set up its first remote assessment centre for COVID-19 within a week, to take the burden off hospital emergency departments, which are currently doing the testing, according to Dr. Andrew Willmore, medical director of emergency management at The Ottawa Hospital.
Willmore said a second assessment centre will soon follow and then more will open across the city. He did not rule out opening a drive-thru screening centre, as other cities around the world have done. And he said health officials are talking to paramedics about the possibility of community paramedics doing home testing.
“We want to leverage every opportunity we have to find ways to test people that doesn’t involve the emergency department.”
In recent days, the city has seen a spike in the number of people seeking advice and testing for COVID-19, Etches said. Ottawa Public Health received 200 calls about COVID-19 on Wednesday alone. It has reassigned at least 70 nurses to the task of taking calls from residents concerned they may have contracted COVID-19. Etches acknowledge the spike in calls has led to a backlog.
In the past 24 hours, alone, said Willmore, The Ottawa Hospital has tested approximately 25 patients. There have been more than 150 negative tests in Ottawa so far, with about 20 patients still waiting for results.
Among those awaiting test results is an Ottawa firefighter who has recently returned from Asia, according to an internal memo obtained by the Citizen.
In the memo Chief Kim Ayotte told staff that the firefighter is showing possible symptoms related to COVID-19.
Ottawa Public Health advised the firefighter to self-isolate while he waits for results.
“The station where he worked has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected,” said the email. “All measures taken to this point are precautionary, as there is no confirmed contact with the virus.”
In recent days, Ottawa Public Health has expanded its advice to include asking anyone who has travelled internationally to monitor themselves for symptoms for two weeks after returning. Those who have travelled to regions with major outbreaks — including Hubei province in China, Iran and Italy — are advised to isolate themselves for two weeks and to contact public health if they experience symptoms.
Ontario currently has 36 confirmed positive cases of the COVID-19 infection. Five cases have been resolved, meaning the patients had two negative test results 24 hours apart and were no
All measures taken to this point are precautionary, as there is no confirmed contact with the virus.
longer considered infected.
Although testing and assessments are increasing in the city, health and municipal officials said they are well supplied with personal protective equipment.
The Ottawa case was one of six confirmed by the province on Wednesday.
A man in his 50s in Sudbury tested positive after a major mining conference in Toronto, a woman in her 30s in Toronto had travelled to Egypt, and three people who had travelled to the U.S. — a Toronto woman in her 40s, a man in his 30s in Toronto and a woman in her 30s in Halton. All are in self-isolation.
The news comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government will spend $1 billion to help the country’s healthcare system cope with the rising number of coronavirus cases.
Premier Doug Ford also announced a $100 million contingency fund for the COVID-19 battle.
The money is likely to go toward buying more equipment, such as testing kits and personal protective gear.
In declaring a global pandemic, WHO noted the number of cases outside of China has increased 13 fold in the past two weeks and the number of affected countries has tripled. There are no more than 121,000 confirmed cases worldwide and 4,373 deaths have been reported, according to a tracking website at Johns Hopkins University. Canada has 93 confirmed cases and one death.
The website, which was updated Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., says 3,394 people have been tested for the virus. Of those, 2,888 have been negative and 465 remain under investigation.
With files from Shaamini Yogaretnam