What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 18

Recent developments:

• Ottawa is in the COVID-19 pandemic's second wave, says Dr. Vera Etches.
• New rules limiting the size of private gatheringsin Ottawa are in place starting today.
• Pharmacies may start giving COVID-19 tests next week, says Premier Doug Ford.
• Quebec will check more than a thousand bars this weekend to see if they'reenforcing health rules.

What's the latest?

Ottawa's medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches, said Friday the city is in its second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) logged 63 more people with COVID-19 in Friday's report. This is the highest five-day average of newly confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

In a news conference Friday, Etches definedthe second wave as a rising percentage of people testing positive, along with an increasing number of people getting tested.

She said it wouldbe a challenge if the numbers keep going up, and hopes Ottawans will continue to physically distance and wear their masks to curb the spread.

WATCH: Rapid rise in cases triggering second wave:

Ottawa may be seeing second wave of COVID-19 cases

4 years ago

Duration 1:12

Vera Etches, Ottawas medical officer of health, says the city is seeing a rapid rise in cases that calls for a return to strict physical distancing measures.

Ottawa is one of three regions where Ontario's new limits on some gatherings are now in place:10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

Premier Doug Ford said Friday he hopes pharmacies can start administering COVID-19 tests by the end of next week.

Police across Quebec will check more than a thousand bars and restaurants this weekend to make sure health rules are being followed, particularly crowd limits and masks.

This week that province banned sales of food and drink after midnight.

WATCH LIVE | Ontario, Quebec premiers talk to media:

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Duration 11:34

The Canada emergency response benefit (CERB) will end on Sept. 27. Recipients who qualify will be transitioned to Employment Insurance, while the government is promising to support others through new recovery benefits.

How many cases are there?

Testing has confirmed 3,549people in Ottawa have had COVID-19.

Of those, 458are active cases, 2,718are considered resolved and 273haddied.

• Outbreak of COVID-19 at West End Villa home worsens

Overall, public health officials have reported more than 5,500 people with COVID-19 across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, with more than 4,300 of them considered resolved.

COVID-19 has killed 104 people in the region outside Ottawa: 52 people have died in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties, 34 in the Outaouais and 18 in other parts of eastern Ontario.

What's open and closed?

Ontario is inStage 3 of its reopening planand in most regions,gatherings can't be larger than 100 people outdoors and 50 people indoors. Ottawa is the only localexception because of its scope of COVID-19 spread.

Test sites in and around Ottawa have been very busy this week and wait times have been very long, with some reaching their daily capacitywell before their usual closing time.

Ottawa's test site on Moodie Drive was at capacity by its official opening time of 9 a.m., according to the Queensway Carleton Hospital.

The Heron Road location has more capacity today.

Kingston, Ont.,has tightened its distancing rules in city parksand increased fines.

Ottawa will resumeticketing drivers who park longer than allowed in unmarked areasonOct. 1, with warnings starting Monday.

Quebechas similar reopening rules to most of Ontario, with its cap on physically distanced gatherings in public venues now up to 250 people, allowing smaller festivals.

That provincehas warned some regions are close to having gathering sizes shrunk andlosing dine-in service at restaurants.

• Wakefield trick-or-treat tradition called off

Every local school board or service centre has now brought students back.

• Communication problems muddle start of OCDSB virtual school
• Student tests positive in COVID-19 outbreak at Pembroke school

More than 2,000 students in Ottawa's Englishschool boards don't have their usualschool busbecause of a shortage of bus drivers.

Distancing and isolating

The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, breathes or speaks onto someone or something.

People don't need to have symptoms to be contagious.

That means physical distancing measures such as working from home, meeting others outdoors as much as possible and keeping distance from anyone you don't live with or have in your socialcircle, including when you have a mask on.

WATCH | Prominent COVID-19 benefit ending soon:

Ottawa's medical officer of health ispleading with residents to reduce the number of people they're in close contact withas new cases of COVID-19 continue to surge.

Masks are nowmandatory in indoor public settings in all of eastern Ontarioand Quebec, includingtransit services and taxis in some areas.

Quebec has given police the power to fine people ignoring mandatory mask laws.

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

Anyone who has travelled recently outside Canadamust go straight home and stay there for 14 days.

In Ontario, that's the same period of self-isolation for anyone with symptoms. When self-isolating, only leave home or see other people if it's critically important, such as to go see a doctor.

Most people with a confirmed COVID-19 case in Quebeccan end their self-isolation after 10 days if they have not had a fever for at least 48 hours and has had no other symptom for at least 24 hours.

Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions and/or weakened immune systems stay home as much as possible.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

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

Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pinkeye. Children candevelop a rash.

Getting tested any sooner than five days after potential exposure may not be as usefulsince it takes about that long for the virus to grow to be detectable by a test, said Ottawa's medical officer of health Vera Etches in early September.

If you have severe symptoms, call 911.

Where to get tested

In eastern Ontario:

In Ottawaany resident can get tested, but record wait times have ledOttawa Public Health (OPH) to ask that testing be limited for now to people withsymptoms or who have been referred for a test because of contacttracing.

Testing for the general public happensat one of four sites, with health officials promising more capacity soon.

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.

There is a pop-up clinic at the Wabano Centre in VanierMonday and Tuesday.

The University of Ottawa has a test site open weekdays by appointment at its Lees campus for students and staff.

There's also a mobile testing van operated by Inner City Health that mostly serves people experiencing homelessness and some tests done in hospitals.

In the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, there is a drive-thru centre in Casselman and walk-up sitein Hawkesbury and Winchester that don't require people to call ahead.

Others in Alexandria, Rockland,Cornwall and nowWinchesterrequire an appointment.

In Kingston,the Leon's Centre is hosting the city's test site though Gate 2. There's anothertest site at Queen's University's Mitchell Hall open 5 to 8 p.m. on weekdays.

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

You canarrange a test in Bancroft, Belleville or Trenton by calling the centre and in Picton by texting or calling. Only Belleville and Trenton run seven days a week.

TheLeeds, 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 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.

People can also visit the health unit's website to find out where testing clinics will be taking place each week.

In western Quebec:

Outaouais residents can get a walk-in test in Gatineau seven days a week at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond.

There are recurring clinics by appointment in communities such as Gracefield, Val-des-Monts and Fort-Coulonge.

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

First Nations:

Akwesasne has had 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases, most linked to a gathering on an island in July.

It has a mobile COVID-19 test site available by appointment only. Anyone returning to the community on the Canadian side of the international border who's been farther than 160 kilometres away or visited Montreal for non-essential reasons is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

In early September, it expanded its gathering limit to 50 people, then ended its curfew. Its schools start bringing students back next week.

Anyone in Tyendinaga who's interested in a test can call 613-967-3603 to talk to a nurse.

People in Pikwakanagan can book an appointment for a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259.

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.