Ottawa Hospital Takes Steps to Restrict Visitors as COVID-19 Test Positivity Reaches 8.7% – Ottawa | The Canadian News

Ottawa Hospital is restricting visitor access to its facilities starting Tuesday as COVID-19 levels in the city continue to rise.

The hospital said in a statement Monday that patients will be allowed to have only one fully vaccinated visitor, someone with a minimum of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, for up to an hour each day.


Click to Play Video: 'Omicron Variant Threatens US Holidays As Vaccination Rates Lag'



Omicron Variant Threatens US Holidays As Vaccination Rates Lag


Omicron Variant Threatens US Holidays As Vaccination Rates Lag

Each patient can have a maximum of two visitors allowed, but only one can visit per day.

The story continues below the ad.

Visitors will be allowed to be at the patient’s bedside, but a physical distance must be maintained.

Essential caregivers are still allowed under the policy.

The Ottawa Hospital said in a statement that the new rules are an attempt to strike a balance between the importance of having visitors and protecting immunosuppressed patients amid the local spread of the Omicron variant.

Omicron’s arrival in Ottawa has raised the weekly positivity rate for COVID-19 tests to 8.7 percent in the past week, with some recent individual days reporting rates above 10 percent.

High positivity rates in the community come as testing capacity expands in Ottawa and other parts of the province.

Read more:

Ontario Health Units Facing High Demand for COVID Testing Due to Omicron

Ottawa Public Health said over the weekend that timely testing is not available given the high demand, and that anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should assume they have contracted the virus and been isolated for 10 days, regardless of the status of vaccination.

Meanwhile, OPH reported 312 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, as the number of active cases reached 1,941.

No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported on Monday.

The story continues below the ad.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 locally is four at the start of the week with none in the intensive care unit.

Ottawa health medical officer Dr. Vera Etches warned that deaths and hospitalizations are lagging indicators in the COVID-19 pandemic that will increase as the case count continues to rise in the city.

There are currently 48 ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in the city, 30 of which affect local schools.


Click to Play Video: 'COVID-19: Ottawa Mayor Advises Holding Holiday Gatherings for Immediate Family Amid Omicron Spread'



COVID-19: Ottawa Mayor Advises Holding Holiday Gatherings For Immediate Family Amid Omicron Spread


COVID-19: Ottawa Mayor Advises Holding Holiday Gatherings For Immediate Family Amid Omicron Spread

See link »


© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.



Reference-globalnews.ca

Leave a Comment