Ottawa mix of sports games, social events that led to a series of COVID-19 cases, school disruptions – Ottawa | The Canadian News

The latest real-world contact tracing example from Ottawa Public Health shows the widespread impacts of delaying COVID-19 testing and vaccination after some seemingly innocuous meetings.

The local public health unit, which in the past has released flowcharts to show how COVID-19 has spread through gatherings such as weddings, workplaces and outdoor barbecues, released a new case study on Wednesday. showing the broadcast linked to a sports game and a social event. .

The end result of the two events was that 26 people tested positive for COVID-19 and 247 high-risk contacts, affecting nearly a dozen Ottawa schools over 23 days in September.

All of the broadcasting related to sports games and schools in the diagram is related to young people over the age of 12, the OPH said.

And while all the people with a positive case were eligible for vaccination, all the people who eventually contracted the virus did not receive a full course of vaccines, the health unit said.

The broadcast began with a young man with COVID-19 who attended a sports game, which was held outdoors, but included physical contact and no masking.

That initial person delayed testing and went to a social gathering and school, affecting a total of four class cohorts and a handful of other homes and businesses.

A second person with COVID-19 later attended a social gathering with individuals from the initial sports game, with inconsistent masking and distancing despite two of the people there exhibiting symptoms.

Several other schools, sports games, and even a long-term care home were at risk of outbreaks as a result of a visit from a person with COVID-19, the OPH said, though no high-risk contacts were ultimately traced to the facility. of care.

In total, 13 cohorts were fired in two schools as a result of high-risk contacts linked to sports games and subsequent social gatherings.

The broadcast continued beyond the OPH diagram, the health unit added in its tweet, with an additional 11 people testing positive for the virus and 217 more high-risk contacts. An elementary school also had to close as a result of the spread.

0:54How an outdoor gathering in Ottawa led to community broadcasting

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