Don't go trick-or-treating this year, Etches advises

Ottawa's medical officer of health is urging trick-or-treaters to stay home this Halloween.

Vera Etches told Ottawa city council Wednesday she's recommending against children going from house to house for candy on Oct. 31, in keeping with existing public health advice meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Etches said trick-or-treaters might come into close contact with one another and might have difficulty keeping their hands clean, and said coronavirus could be transmitted by handing out candy.

Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Tuesday trick-or-treating could be adapted to make it safer, but addedthat she was speaking generally, and not necessarily about hot spots like Ottawa a point echoed by Etches.

WATCH | The risks of trick-or-treating:

Trick-or-treating not a great idea this year in Ottawa, OPH says

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Vera Etches, medical officer of health, says the citys high rate of infection means that going door-to-door for Halloween isnt recommended this year.

Last week, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) also recommended againstHalloween parties, suggesting people plan scary movie nights or scavenger hunts at home instead.

Ottawa is currently considered a COVID-19 hot spot, with OPH reporting more than 100 new cases most days in recent weeks. Per capita, the city currently hasthe highest rate of transmissionin the province.

Hospitals and health-care staff are under strain,and the city is one of three regions in Ontario ordered back to a modified version of Stage 2 pandemic restrictions on the weekend, forcing some businesses to close.

New cases drop

OPH reported just 45 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a sharp decline from recent numbers. Another 115 cases are now considered resolved, lowering the number of active cases in the city to 769. There are no new hospitalizations or deaths.

Just over half of the new cases reported Wednesday are people under 40.

A total of 5,707 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began, including 4,641 resolved cases and 297 deaths.

Meanwhile, the testing backlog appears to be improvingslightlyunder theprovince's appointment-based testing model, coupled with more stringent guidelines about who should get tested.

Ottawa still has a long way to go: currently, just 20 per cent of those tested are learning of a positiveresult within24 hours. Ontario said Wednesday that 30 of the province's 34 health units are returning results within one day at least90 per cent of the time.

In a bid to improve on those local results, the province has announcedit's hiring 150 more contact tracersin the Ottawa area over the next month.

There are two new outbreaks at Ottawa schools:cole lmentaire catholique Saint-Joseph d'Orlansand St. Joseph High School. The outbreak atcole secondaire catholique Garneauis over, leaving 12 current school outbreaks in Ottawa.

Elsewhere, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit is pointing to outbreaks inAlexandria and Hawkesbury long-term care homes as the main reason its case count is rising, up 23 since Tuesday.