Biggest surge in cases in weeks includes another OC Transpo driver

Ottawa Public Health reported another death and a spike of 36 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday — the highest daily jump in weeks — while OC Transpo and a cityrun long-term care home reported more infected employees.

The health unit said there were now 147 active cases of COVID -19, with six patients in hospital, but no one in intensive care. Of the more than 2,700 cases that have been found in the city since the onset of the pandemic in February, 85.2 per cent have been resolved.

A memo to city councillors Friday evening from transportation general manager John Manconi said another OC driver had tested positive, bringing the total since Aug. 10 to at least seven. The operator in question last worked on Aug. 17 and drove both the No. 85 and 55 routes, while also taking the O -train to work.

Ottawa public health and OC Transpo are working to reach his circle of contacts — on and off the job — from Aug. 15 to 17. Details about the operator’s precise route schedules are available on OC’s website.

Councillors were also told that an employee had tested positive for the virus at the Garry J. Armstrong home, scene of a previous outbreak that ended July 26.

The home on Island Lodge Road, midstream in the Rideau River, is now in outbreak mode. While the worker is self-isolating at home, the memo to councillors said, residents have also been placed in isolation, and indoor and outdoor visits have been cancelled. The worker’s contacts are being traced.

Friday’s news means there are now four active outbreaks in institutions across the city, while an outbreak at Mothercraft Ottawa Home Child Care has been cleared. Elsewhere, Via Rail is boosting service between Ottawa and Montreal and Ottawa-Kingston-Toronto. The railway said it would increase daily frequency between the rail corridors as of Sept. 1 because of increased demand “due to the progressive deconfinement” of towns along the corridor.

Via said the additions would bring rail frequency up to about half of pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, Ontario reported 131 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, although the figure was inexact because of data “glitches” from Thursday.

Across Canada, expect to see a ramp-up in the use of social media to reinforce the importance of prevention with young people.

The country’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Theresa Tam, said she was ready to do almost anything in the continuing battle against COVID-19, but a dance video on TikTok, the popular video messaging platform, was “probably not” in the cards.

“I’m pretty game,” to take part, Tam said, with the federal government preparing to launch a social media blitz to inform “younger cohorts” of the importance of various measures to combat the virus that has infected 123,873 people and claimed 9,054 lives across Canada.

“But a dance video is probably not something I would engage in. Other types of exercise would be fine.”