Etches in talks with province to impose stronger COVID-19 restrictions

Ottawa Public Health is currently working with the Ontario government to implement further COVID-19 restrictions, including capacity limits for businesses, as cases across the city and province surge with the presence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

During a media briefing Thursday, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches acknowledged vaccination alone is not enough to curb growing cases andrestricting close contacts, and capacity limits will be necessary.

She did not issue a Section 22 order, which allows a local public health unitto enforce its own COVID-19 restrictions.

She said doing so requires a discussionwith the office of OntarioChief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore

Etches said those "active" talksare currently ongoing and public health isseeking input from businesses to help givethem at least a few days notice.

"This is really tough. This is not what we wanted for businesses this time of year," said Etches.

• Ottawa reports 199 more COVID-19 cases, nearing 1,000 known active cases

Earlier Thursday,Ontario's COVID-19 science table called for immediate and stringent public health measures, such as a circuit breaker,to combat a growing surge of theOmicron variant.

Etches saidshe would support circuit breaker measures if the province chose to implement them. However, such direction from the province has yet to be made.

During its own briefing a day earlier, the Ontario governmentinstead announcedit will accelerateits COVID-19 booster doserolloutwith everyone 18 and older eligible to get their third vaccine dose Monday.

Etches said roughly 750,000 people in Ottawa will become eligible for a booster dose Monday. She said the city is working to bolster its capacity to administer those doses, announcingthe E.Y. Centre on Uplands Drivewould become a vaccine clinic.

The province is also tightening capacity limits for venues that would normally hold 1,000 people or more. Those venues will have to cut their capacityto 50 per cent.

The province also announced a holiday pop-up "blitz" offering free rapid tests, but Etches says Ottawa's first shipment won't arrive until Tuesday, Dec. 21.

Ottawa reported 199new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, the most in a daily update since April 30,and its first COVID-19deathof the month.

The city's 973 known active cases are its highest sinceMay 20.