COVID-19 isolation centre opens in Ottawa hotel
Posted Dec 17, 2020 06:53:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An isolation centre for COVID-19 patients who don't need medical attention, but don't have a safe place to isolate at home, will open in Ottawa next week.
The federal government is providing $4.6-million for the 107-room centre, which will be operated by Ottawa Public Health.
Contact-tracing staff from Ottawa Public Health will identify people who qualify to stay in the isolation centre, but the decision to go there will be voluntary.
“People choosing to stay at the centre will be offered a comfortable private room, meals, transportation to and from the site, before and after their self-isolation period,” said Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health. “There's no cost associated with their stay, for the people who are going to use the service.”
The isolation centre is in an Ottawa hotel, but its exact location is not being disclosed to protect the privacy of the people staying at the site.
“The idea is, this is an alternate home for people who do not need healthcare,” said Dr. Etches.
Qualifying individuals will include people who have contracted COVID-19 but don't have a home or can't safely isolate at home, but Dr. Etches said it could also include healthcare workers, international travellers who will have difficulty isolating from others in their home, or people who live in an institution that is experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19.
This is the third COVID-19 isolation centre opened in Ontario, and will be modelled after the other two in the Toronto area.
