Another Crop Of Ottawa Elementary Schools Placed In COVID-19 Outbreak

COVID-19 outbreaks were declared at four more Ottawa elementary schools as of Thursday as some of the city’s most vulnerable residents prepare for a mass vaccination campaign starting Friday.

Ottawa Public Health’s latest COVID-19 update shows there are now 36 active outbreaks across the city, 21 of which are affecting local elementary schools.

Among the new schools facing an outbreak this week is Chapel Hill Catholic School in Orléans where 11 students have so far tested positive for the virus. OPH opted to close the school to in-person learning on Wednesday due to the outbreak, according to a notice on the Chapel Hill website.

2:21COVID-19 vaccinations begin for kids aged 5 to 11 in Toronto

COVID-19 vaccinations begin for kids aged 5 to 11 in Toronto Other schools with ongoing outbreaks of more than 10 COVID-19 cases are Holy Family and Sir Winston Churchill, according to OPH’s dashboard.

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Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, said Wednesday there’s been a “significant increase” in elementary school outbreaks as of late, with transmission between some siblings at home affecting their respective cohorts at school.

“This is the population most unimmunized and it’s where we’re seeing the greatest number of outbreaks,” she told reporters Wednesday.

Vaccinations for kids aged five to 11 starts on Friday in Ottawa, with more than 27,000 first-dose appointments booked for this cohort locally in the first 24 hours of eligibility.

Meanwhile, OPH reported 42 new cases of the virus on Thursday.

One additional person has also died in connection with COVID-19 — the third in as many days — raising the city’s death toll of the pandemic to 617.

There are currently 13 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Ottawa, none of whom are in the intensive care unit.

The number of active cases in the city held steady at 304 as of Thursday.

0:49Kids vaccine appointments to focus on comfort

Kids vaccine appointments to focus on comfort View link » © 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.