COVID-19 is something that we are all going to have to face together. Our primary concern is the health and safety of Ontarians.
We hope you are staying safe and healthy.
Thank you to all the province’s essential services workers and those on the front-line. You step up everyday to ensure individuals, families and seniors have what they need to stay safe and healthy.
Thank you to everyone else who is staying home and practicing physical distancing.
It is important to listen to the advice of Public Health experts:
- Wash hands frequently
- Avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth
- Avoid contact with people who are sick
- Practice social-distancing
- Stay home if you’re not feeling well
- If you are concerned or suspect you have the virus, call
Telehealth Ontario: 1-866-797-0000 or
Ottawa Public Health: 613-580-6744
New as of April 29
More Frontline Workers Eligible for Emergency Child Care
The Ontario government is further expanding the list of essential workers eligible to receive free emergency child care during the COVID-19 outbreak. Those who will benefit include people who work in the food supply chain, retirement homes, grocery stores and pharmacies, and certain federal employees, including the military. Since emergency child care was introduced last month, almost 100 child care centres have reopened along with 40 Licensed Home Child Care Agencies in communities across the province.
The announcement was made today by Premier Doug Ford, Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
On March 22, 2020, the government announced an emergency order directing certain child care centres to reopen subject to physical distancing constraints as part of the province’s support for health care and other frontline workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. The list of essential workers eligible to access emergency childcare has now been further expanded. To accommodate more children, 37 additional centres have been approved and will be reopening in the coming days.
The additional frontline workers who can now access emergency childcare services include:
- Workers in grocery stores and pharmacies
- Truck drivers (driver’s licence Class A and Class D)
- Workers in the food supply chain, including food processing
- Workers in retirement homes
- Auxiliary workers in health care settings, including cooks and cleaning staff in hospitals and long-term care homes
- Interpreters and intervenors who support people who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) emergency personnel
- Provincial officers and onsite staff in Ontario courts
- Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence staff working in Ontario
- Additional workers supporting public safety and correctional services
The Ontario Ministry of Education is working with Consolidated Municipal Service Managers (CMSM) and District Social Services Administration Boards (DSSAB) in their role as service system managers for early years and child care, as well as First Nations, to implement emergency child care centres in communities across the province.
Ontario will continue to monitor local needs to ensure frontline staff can continue to work and will communicate more details as the situation evolves.
A list of emergency child care centres is available on Ontario.ca/coronavirus.
Canadian Forces Snowbirds launch cross-Canada tour
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will cross the country to salute Canadians doing their part to fight the spread of COVID-19. This unique mission is being aptly dubbed Operation INSPIRATION.
The team’s signature nine-jet formation, with trailing white smoke, will fly over cities across the country starting in Nova Scotia this weekend and working west throughout the week. The team will release anticipated locations, routes, and times on their social media platforms each day. Flyovers will occur at an elevation no lower than 500 feet above all obstacles.
The team will be practicing recommended hand-washing and wearing recommended personal protective equipment while travelling. Team members will also be minimizing any interactions with people outside of the team.
We encourage Canadians to observe the flyovers from the safety of their home and refrain from travelling to see the flyovers. Please maintain physical distancing practices that are keeping us all safe.
Kids Come First starts immunization clinic for children at CHEO
Kids Come First Health Team has opened a Children’s Immunization Clinic for infants and children under two (2) years of age in the Ottawa region who are unable to get their routine first series of immunizations due to COVID-19 closures.
CHEO, community pediatricians, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and CANImmunize, all partners in the Kids Come First Health Team, saw the need to provide another option and reduce barriers they might be facing in safely getting their children’s primary series of immunizations during this unprecedented time.
The purpose of the Children’s Immunization Clinic is for children under two (2) years of age to receive or continue their primary series of vaccinations, which includes:
· 5-in-1 vaccine (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus-polio-Haemophilus influenzae type B) (2, 4, 6, 18 months)
· pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (2, 4, 12 months)
· rotavirus vaccine (2, 4, 6 months)
· meningococcal conjugate type C (12 months)
· measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (12 months)
· chicken pox vaccine (15 months)
This immunization clinic does not replace the need for well-baby visits with primary care providers.
Coinciding with National Immunization Awareness Week, the first clinic will run at CHEO on Tuesday, April 28 and, going forward, will take place Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Families who are looking for the primary series of vaccines should first consult their primary care provider. If there is no option for accessing these immunizations through a primary care provider during COVID-19, families can call Ottawa Public Health (OPH) at 613-580-6744 to arrange an appointment at the Children’s Immunization Clinic.
The clinic is not offering preschool boosters (ages 4 – 6 years), adolescent boosters (ages 14 – 16 years) or the school-based series for Hepatitis B, HPV and meningococcal conjugate vaccines (normally given in grades 7 and 8). Children and adolescents who did not receive their primary series in infancy, such as newcomers to Canada, would be eligible to receive their vaccines at this clinic.
It is expected that more Kids Come First Health Team partners and other community partners will join in this effort to keep infant immunizations up to date.
For more information, please visit the OPH website: OttawaPublicHealth.ca/immunization
To keep track of vaccinations, please use CANImmunize, a digital vaccination record for Canadians.