Ottawa’s medical officer joins Peel, Toronto in call for provincial stay-at-home order

Ottawa's medical officer of health, along with her counterparts in Toronto and Peel, are urging the Government of Ontario to implement a province-wide stay-at-home order, as COVID-19 variants of concern run rampant in their respective regions.

Dr. Vera Etches signed a letter to the province, Monday, April 5, that asks for the “emergency brake” to be pulled, as “we are not dealing with the same virus that we started out with a year ago.” 

“The risk of ICU admission is 2 times higher and the risk of death is 1.5 times higher for the B.1.1.7 variant (UK),” the doctor writes on Twitter.

The letter says evidence and experiences from Europe, in dealing with COVID-19 variants, demonstrate public health measures implemented must be “swift and intense” to minimize spread. In certain jurisdictions, the closure of non-essential retail settings and moving school online was essential.

The three doctors are asking the province to, among other things:

• Review all businesses and services defined as essential;
• Put capacity limits of no more than 50 per cent in place for those businesses allowed to remain open;
• Implement travel restrictions between regions of Ontario;
• Legislate the emergency provision of paid sick days to supplement federal income supports;
• And move school online or to a hybrid model.

The letter to the government also requests that every effort be made to secure more COVID-19 vaccine for heavily affected areas, and that more supports be put into place for that vaccine to be rolled out quickly.

“The COVID situation in Ottawa is concerning and we need further restrictions to bend the curve,” says Dr. Etches. “Younger people are being hospitalized in Ontario. ICU admissions are increasing. Cases are too high in our city. The virus has changed, and so must our behaviours.”

In the meantime, the medical officer of health says her team is in the process of reviewing the COVID data in schools, to advise on an approach to take for schools in Ottawa.