What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Friday, July 31

Recent developments:

• Ottawa has 26 new cases Friday, according to the provincial health minister. There are 134 new cases in Ontario.
• Ontario has issued stricter rules for bars and restaurants that will require them to keep client logs for 30 days to support contact tracing.
• DriveTest centres to reopen starting Aug. 4.
• As demand for COVID-19 tests grows, Ottawa is lookingto create more testing sites.
• Ontario will soon be ending the pandemic-related ban on residential evictions.
• Elementary school students in Ontario will return to class full time in September. High school students will do hybrid learning.

What's the latest?

Ottawa has 26 new cases of COVID-19, according to Health Minister Christine Elliott. That follows two days of increases in the teens. The city has now seen daily double-digit increases for two weeks, after having flattened the total number of cases.

Ottawa is gearing up to provide more tests ahead of the upcoming school year.The plan includes creating more COVID-19 assessment centres, hiring dedicated staff and allowing people to book testing appointments ahead of time.

Ottawa Public Health'sweekly reportindicated a teen was admitted to theICU with COVID-19. CHEO confirmed the patient is in stable condition at the children's hospital.

Ontario is ending aban instituted during the pandemicon residential evictions. Starting on Saturday, the Landlord and Tenant Board can begin to issue eviction orders that are pending.

Ontario is tightening the rules for bars and restaurants operating during the pandemic.Business owners are being asked to keep a records of their clients for 30 days to facilitate contact tracing. Patrons are required to stay seated at all times, whether indoors or outdoors, with limited exceptions.

Ontario's Ministry of Transport says DriveTest Centres will reopen onAug. 4. Starting Tuesday, road tests will resume for G2 licences and all classes of motorcycle licences. The ministry said commercial licence road tests will expand to 42 additional locations.

People taking their road tests are required to wear a mask in the test centre and in the vehicle during the test. To reduce volumes, the ministry said people will book appointments on alternating weeks based on their birthday.

How many cases are there?

There have been2,522 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began. The number of deaths is at 264, with the first in more than a month announced Tuesday. The person who died was in their 40s.

The majority of cases in the city 1,984 are classified as resolved.

In all, public health officials have reported nearly 3,900 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, and nearly 3,200are resolved.

COVID-19 has killed 102 people in the region outside Ottawa: 52 in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties, 17 in other parts of eastern Ontario and 33 in the Outaouais.

What's open and closed?

Ottawais now in Stage 3 of Ontario's reopening plan, which means many more businesses are allowed to reopen, including dine-in restaurants and movie theatres.

Quebec has similar rules, with its distanced gathering cap going up to 250 peoplein public venues next week.

More national museums open to the public next month, starting with theCanada Agriculture and Food Museum on Saturday.

Elementary students in Ontario will be heading back to school full time come September, while most high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning.

Quebec's back-to-school planswill bring students to classrooms again this fall.

Distancing and isolating

The coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. People don't need to have symptoms to be contagious.

That meansphysical distancing measures such as working from home, meeting others outdoors as much as possible andkeeping distance from anyone they don't live with or have in their circle, including when you have a mask on.

Indoor gatherings of up to 50 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 100 are now allowed in Ontario. People should still keep their distance from people not in their circle.

• COVID-19 spread at private parties a growing concern, OPH says

Masks are nowmandatory in indoor public settings in all of eastern Ontarioand Quebec, wheretransit officials and taxi drivers are now required to bar access to users over age 12 who refuse to wear a mask.

Masks are recommended outdoors when you can't stay the proper distance from others.

Ottawa's medical officer of health said in mid-July people should be ready for COVID-19 social restrictions well into 2021 or 2022.

Anyone who has symptoms or travelled recently outside Canada must self-isolate for at least 14 days.

Specifically in Ottawa, anyone waiting for a COVID-19 test result must self-isolate at least until they know the result.

The same goes for anyone in Ontario who's been in contact with someone who's tested positive or is presumed to have COVID-19.

Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health strongly urges self-isolation for people with weakened immune systems and Ottawa Public Health (OPH) recommends people over 70 stay home as much as possible.

Ontario elementary students will go back to class full time

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Elementary students in Ontario will be heading back to school full time in September, the provincial government announced. Meanwhile, most high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

COVID-19 can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a dry cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell.

Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pinkeye. The Ontario government says in rare cases, children can develop a rash.

If you have severe symptoms, call 911.

Where to get tested

In eastern Ontario:

In Ottawa any resident who feels they need a test, even if they are not showing symptoms, can now be tested at one of three sites.

Inuit in Ottawa can call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.

Testing has also expanded for local residents and employees who work in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit area.

There is a drive-thrucentre in Casselmanthat can handle 200 tests a dayand assessment centres in Hawkesbury and Winchester that don't require people to call ahead.

Others in Alexandria, Rockland and Cornwall require an appointment.

• Getting a COVID-19 test to see family or friends? Good intentions come with risks, experts warn

In Kingston, the Leon's Centre is now hosting the city's test site. Find it at Gate 2.

Napanee's test centre is open daily for people who call for an appointment.

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Several COVID-19 outbreaks at day camps in Quebec have some concerned that current precautions, including staff wearing masks, arent enough and are a sign of what could happen when school resumes.

The public health unit in the Belleville area is asking people to call it, their family doctor or Telehealth if they have symptoms or questions.

You can arrange a test in Bancroft, Belleville or Trenton by calling the centre and in Picton by texting or calling.

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark unit asks you to get tested if you have a symptom or concerns about exposure.

It has a walk-in site in Brockville at the Memorial Centre and testing sites in Smiths Falls and Almonte which require an appointment.

Renfrew County isproviding pop-up testing in five communities this weekand home testing under some circumstances.

Residents should call their family doctor and those without access to a family doctor can call 1-844-727-6404 to register for a test or if they have health questions, COVID-19-related or not.

In western Quebec:

Outaouais residentsnow can get a walk-in test inGatineaufive days a week at135blvd.Saint-Raymond and at recurring clinics in communities such asManiwaki, Val-des-Montsand Fort-Coulonge.

They can call 1-877-644-4545 if they have other questions or to make an appointment.

First Nations:

Local communities have declared states of emergency, put in a curfew or both.

Akwesasne has had 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases.Ten of them are active as of Monday, mostlinked back to a gathering on an island with a non-resident who wasn't showing symptoms at the time.

It hasa mobile COVID-19 test site available by appointment only. Anyone returning tothe community on the Canadian side of the international border who's been farther than 80 kilometres away is asked to self-isolate for 14 days. It's 100 miles or 160 kilometres away on the American side.

Anyone in Tyendinaga who's interested in a test can call 613-967-3603 to talk to a nurse. Face coverings are now mandatory in its public buildings.

People in Pikwakanagan can book an appointment for a COVID-19 test by calling613-625-2259.

Kitigan Zibi is planning for an Aug. 29 election with changes depending on the status of the pandemic at that time. It plans on starting to open schools and daycares next month.

For more information

• Ottawa Public Health.
• Your local eastern Ontario health unit.
• The Ontario Ministry of Health (in several languages).
• The Centre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais.
• The Public Health Agency of Canada.