April 8 Newsletter 2021

April 8, 2021 newsletter from Rawlson King, City Councillor for Rideau-Rockcliffe.

Join me on Thursday , April 15, at 6 pm for a virtual Town Hall meeting to discuss City of Ottawa's New Official Plan. Visit rideau-rockcliffe.ca/newop to register for the meeting.

Province Issues Stay-at-Home Order

The Province of Ontario announced additional restrictions to slow the third wave of COVID-19, declaring a province-wide state of emergency and issuing a stay-at-home order effective Thursday, April 8 at 12:01 am. 

The stay-at-home order, which will be in effect for four weeks, requires everyone to stay home except for essential trips for groceries, medical appointments, exercise or work that cannot be done remotely. By-law and Regulatory Services will be responsible for ensuring the new restrictions are enforced.

The Province has also announced that all non-essential businesses will move back to curbside pick-up.

In response to last week’s province-wide shut down, the City temporarily closed City-managed recreation and cultural facilities for most indoor activities, limited the capacity at outdoor recreation and suspended in-person City counter services.

City and OPH staff play a crucial role in responding to this pandemic, and our work providing essential, front-line and emergency services will continue. This includes the critical work taking place to vaccinate the people of Ottawa.

Please continue to follow the public health advice to stay home except for essential purposes, maintain physical distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands and stay home when you are sick. We need to stay vigilant against the spread of COVID-19 in our community. 

COVID-19 Testing for Students

Ottawa Public Health (OPH), in collaboration with CHEO and local health care partners, is running a COVID-19 rapid testing clinic for students and staff from schools listed below, as well as their families, this weekend.

Where? Rideau Hub, 815 St Laurent Boulevard in the Gym

When?

Saturday, April 10, 2021, 8:30 am to 3:30pm

Sunday, April 11, 2021, 8:30 am to 2:30 pm

Who can go?

All students, staff and their families from the schools listed below

Bring these items with you for testing:

• The health cards of all family members who will be tested, if you have them.
  • Your contact information (i.e., name, phone number).
  • Name and address of your family doctor, if you have one.
  NOTE: You can still get tested even if you do not have a health card or a family
  doctor.

When you get there:

• Please wear a mask before entering the school.
  • Upon entering the school, use the hand sanitizer available at the door.
  • Families must stay together. Please stay at least 2 metres away from
  anyone who does not live in your home.
  • You will not have access to any other part of the school.

When you leave:

You will be given information about:
• Symptoms of COVID-19 and what to do if you develop symptoms.
• Instructions about when you will be able to return to school or work in person.

Before attending, please see the following resources in the language of your choice:

English flyer

French flyer 

Arabic flyer  

COVID-19 Drive-Thru Assessment Centre on Coventry Road

NEW: The capital's drive-thru COVID-19 testing centre that moved downtown for the winter is heading back to its original location at 300 Coventry Road on Wednesday, April 7.

Ages:  10+ years old

Hours:  Seven days a week: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Services provided: By appointment only, drive-thru testing only with a valid Canadian health card

Location: 300 Coventry Road, Ottawa

Download factsheet: Important information about the COVID-19 Drive-thru Assessment Centre on Coventry Road

Click here to book an appointment or call 613-737-8193

Please note telephone booking is reserved for those who do not have internet access. It is not an information line.

COVID-19 pharmacy vaccine locations

Find your closest pharmacy to get the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine if you are age 55 or older.

Starting April 1, 2021, select pharmacies across the province are booking appointments for AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for eligible people ages 55 or older in 2021.

You must have an appointment to get vaccinated at a participating pharmacy. Contact a participating pharmacy near you to book an appointment.

Before you book you must:

• be 55 years old or older in 2021
• have a valid Ontario health (OHIP) card, or other form of valid government-issued identification

Learn more at: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/vaccine-locations

In-person April Break Day Camps cancelled

Due to the province-wide emergency shutdown regulations, all in-person April Break Day Camps that were originally scheduled from April 12 to 16 have been cancelled.

The virtual camp sessions will continue as scheduled and can be viewed at http://ottawa.ca/virtualprograms.

Registrants for the in-person day camps will be contacted directly to be advised of the cancellation and refund process. 

For up-to-date information on recreation programming, visit http://ottawa.ca/recreation.

Phase Two opens vaccination to age 60 and above

Ontario is moving into Phase Two of the COVID-19 vaccination plan.
As the first step in the Phase Two plan, all Ottawa residents age 60 and over (born in or before 1961) can begin booking appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at community clinics today.
Visit Ontario.ca/bookvaccine to access the provincial booking system or call the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900 between 8 am and 8 pm, seven days a week. Only book or call if you are eligible.
The City will be adding additional bookings up until April 30, 2021. More vaccination appointments will be available after this date once vaccine deliveries are confirmed.
Appointments will be available at four community vaccination clinics:

• Nepean Sportsplex
• Ruddy Family YMCA-YWCA
• Eva James Memorial Community Centre
• Ottawa City Hall

When you book your appointments through the provincial booking system, you will receive a confirmation code. Please bring this code with you when you go to your appointments. If you do not have a confirmation code, your appointments were not successfully completed. Please revisit the provincial booking system or call 1-833-943-3900 to book your appointments and receive your confirmation code.
Plans are also underway for the sequencing of the other priority groups identified under Phase Two of the vaccine roll-out, which runs from April to July 2021. Please do not call the OPH booking line at this time as bookings for these priority groups are not yet available. More details on booking these appointments will follow.
Please sign up for the City of Ottawa’s COVID-19 vaccination updates e-subscription to get the latest updates on when the vaccine becomes available to these groups. You can also share this information with friends and family to ensure they get the latest information straight from the source.
If you are a member of an Indigenous community or receive chronic health home care services, you may also be eligible. For information on who is currently eligible, please visit the OPH eligibility tool and Frequently Asked Questions web page.

Transportation services are available for those who require transportation supports.

Major Changes to Montreal Road & McArthur Avenue Starting April 18

Continued preparations for the eastbound Montreal Road detour: As outlined on the Montreal Road Revitalization project webpage, starting April 18, eastbound Montreal Road between the Vanier Parkway and St. Laurent Boulevard will close, along with numerous side streets. All eastbound traffic will be detoured to McArthur Avenue, while westbound traffic will be reduced to one lane between the Vanier Parkway and St. Laurent Boulevard. The closure will require alternative OC Transpo bus routes, which are posted on the OC Transpo website. City crews and the project Contractor are continuing with road modifications, additional signage and traffic signals adjustment on the Vanier Parkway, McArthur Avenue and St. Laurent Boulevard. Bus pad and sidewalk modifications are also being undertaken on Lafontaine Street and Deschamps Street, which are the designated bus detour routes.

Watermain work: Underground watermain work started at the Montreal Road/St. Laurent Boulevard intersection and work is proceeding west. The layout of temporary water services has begun along Montreal Road between St. Laurent Boulevard and Lajoie Street. The overland hose will supply drinking water to buildings adjacent to Montreal Road once the existing watermain is decommissioned along Montreal Road.