What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 2

Recent developments:

• Ottawa has 46 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths.
• Quebec is clarifying distancing rules for malls and stores.
• Scroll through our timeline of key local moments of the pandemic.

What's the latest?

Ottawa has 46 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, according toOttawa Public Health's (OPH).

Some key indicators suggestthe city is moving further away from a potential change to yellow on the pandemic scale next week.

Quebec is tighteninghealth guidelines instores and malls for the holiday shopping season, adding enforcement to rules many businesses already have in place.

We've made a timeline of key local moments of the pandemic, which we'll keep updating.

WATCH LIVE | Ontario's daily update at 1:30 p.m. ET:

A look inside Ottawa's wastewater facility where COVID-19 samples are collected

4 years ago

Duration 0:36

U of O researcher Robert Delatolla explains how people with COVID-19 shed the virus into the city's wastewater.

How many cases are there?

As of Wednesday, 8,567 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa. There are 362 known active cases,7,827cases now considered resolved and 378people who have died ofCOVID-19.

Public health officials have reported more than 14,000 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 12,600 resolved cases.

Ninety people have died ofCOVID-19elsewhere in eastern Ontario, along with 81 in western Quebec.

CBC Ottawa is profiling those who've died of COVID-19. If you'd like to share your loved one's story, please get in touch.

What can I do?

Both Ontario and Quebec are telling people tolimit close contact only to those they live with, or one other home if people live alone,to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Ontario says this will apply through December's holidays, with people who live away from home such as post-secondary studentsasked to reduce close contacts for 10 to 14 days before going back.

Quebec has sharedwhat it will take to have at most two small holiday gatherings this month, though that may change by the end of next week.

• Quebec doctors worry Christmas gatherings could pushhospitalsover the edge

Travel from one region to another is discouraged throughout the Outaouais.

Ontario says people shouldn't travel to a lower-level region from a higher oneand some lower-level health units want residents tostay put to curb the spread.

Ottawa iscurrently in the orange zone of Ontario'sfive-colour pandemic scale, which allows organized gatheringsand restaurants, gyms and theatres tobring people inside.

WATCH | Where researchers get wastewater for COVID-19 tests:

What doctors are learning about COVID 'long-haulers'

4 years ago

Duration 4:10

Researchers are learning more about why some people who get a mild case of COVID-19 end up experiencing other symptoms for months. Doctors say these so-called long-haulers often have symptoms that resemble a common blood circulation disorder known as POTS.

Three other eastern Ontario health units are under yellow zone restrictions:

• The Eastern Ontario Health Unit.
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington(KFL&A) Public Health.
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.

That means restaurant hours, table limits and rules around capacity fall somewhere between those in place in Ottawa and the rest of eastern Ontario, which is currently green, the lowest level.

In Gatineauand the surrounding area,which is one of Quebec's red zones, health officials are asking residents not to leave home unless it's essential.

There is no indoor dining atrestaurantsandgyms, cinemas and performing arts venues are all closed.

The rest of western Quebec is orange, which allows private gatherings of up to six people and organized ones up to 25more in seated venues.

Its rules won't be loosened until mid-January at the earliest.

What about schools?

There have been about 200 schools in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region with a confirmed case of COVID-19:

• Conseil des coles catholiques du Centre-Est
• Conseil des coles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario
• Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
• Ottawa Catholic School Board

Few have had outbreaks, which are declared by a health unit in Ontario when there's a reasonable chance someone who has tested positive caught COVID-19 during a school activity.

Distancing and isolating

The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, breathes or speaks onto someone or something. These droplets can hang in the air.

People can be contagious without symptoms.

This means people should take precautions such as staying home when sick, keeping hands and frequently touched surfaces clean, socializing outdoors as much as possible and maintaining distance from anyone they don't live with even with a mask on.

WATCH | More research on COVID-19 'long-haulers':

Ontario has abandoned its concept of social circles.

Masks aremandatory in indoor public settings in Ontarioand Quebec and should be wornoutdoors when people can't distance from others. Three-layer non-medical masks with a filterare recommended.

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate, as should those who've beenordered to do so by their local public health unit. The durationdepends on the circumstances in both Ontario and Quebec.

Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions and/or weakened immune systems stay home as much as possible.

Anyone who has travelled recently outside Canadamust go straight home and stay there for 14 days.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

COVID-19can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell.

Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pink eye. Children can develop a rash.

If you have severe symptoms, call 911.

Mental health can also be affected by the pandemic and resources are available to help.

Where to get tested

In eastern Ontario:

Anyone seeking a test shouldbook an appointment.

Ontario recommends only getting tested if you have symptoms, or if you've been told to by your health unit or the province.

People without symptoms, but who are part of the province's targeted testing strategy,can make an appointment at select pharmacies.

Ottawa hasnine permanent test sites, with mobile siteswherever demand is particularly high.

Kingston's test site is at the Beechgrove Complex. The area's other site is in Napanee.

People canarrange a test in Bancroft and Picton by calling the centre or Belleville and Trenton online.

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has sites in Alexandria, Cornwall, Hawkesbury, Limoges, Rockland and Winchester.

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit has permanent sites in Almonte, Brockville, Kemptville and Smiths Falls and a mobile test site visitingsmaller communities.

Renfrew County residents should call their family doctor or 1-844-727-6404 for a test or with questions, COVID-19-related or not. Test clinic locations are posted weekly.

In western Quebec:

Tests are strongly recommended for people with symptoms or who have been in contact with someone with symptoms.

Outaouais residents can make an appointment in Gatineau seven days a week at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond or 617 avenue Buckingham.

They can now check the approximate wait time for the Saint-Raymond site.

There are recurring clinics by appointment in communities such as Gracefield, Val-des-Monts and Fort-Coulonge.

Call 1-877-644-4545 with questions, including if walk-in testing is available nearby.

First Nations, Inuit and Mtis:

Akwesasnehad its most knownCOVID-19 cases of the pandemic in November.Its councilis asking residents to avoid unnecessary travel and its curfew from 11 p.m. to5 a.m. is back.

Akwesasneschools and itsTsi Snaihne Child Care Centreare temporarily closed to in-person learning. Ithas a COVID-19 test site available by appointment only.

Anyone returning to the community on the Canadian side of the international border who's been farther than 160 kilometres away or visited Montreal for non-essential reasons is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte had its first confirmed caselastmonth.

• COVID-19 in Indigenous communities: outbreaks continue on the Prairies

People in Pikwakanagan can book a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259.

Anyone in Tyendinaga who's interested in a test can call 613-967-3603.

Inuit in Ottawa can call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.

For more information

• Ottawa Public Health.
• Your local eastern Ontario health unit.
• The Ontario Ministry of Health (in several languages).
• The Centre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais.
• The Public Health Agency of Canada.