Ottawa-Gatineau officials urge vigilance amid record case counts

Officials on both sides of the Ottawa River are imploring residents to follow public health guidance as the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 reaches record levels.

Theepidemichas worsened dramatically since public health officials warned two weeks ago that the National Capital Region had become a COVID-19 "hot spot."

On Monday, the Outaouaisreported 31 new infections and Ottawa reported 93 on Tuesday, both surpassing previous single-day highs set during the first half of the year.

"We have to get back to the basics," said Coun. Keith Egli, who chairs the Ottawa board of health.

"Have that physical distance. Wear a mask when you can't. Wash your hands.Stay home when you're not feeling well ... that's how we dealt with the curve earlier on."

Egli said a number of factorshave converged to create a "perfect storm," including schools reopening, increased interactions during the summer and people attending private gatherings with others.

Tightening restrictions

Egli's comments come on the same day that Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, invoked a mandatory self-isolation order for anyone with grounds to believe theyhaveCOVID-19.

Etches said people who test positive,show symptoms, come into close contact with someone who testspositive and people waiting for test results now have to self-isolate for 14 days or until they receive a negative result from a COVID-19 test.

The rising case count also led the Quebec governmentto impose tighter restrictions on the Outaouais.

The region was moved from yellow to orange on the provincial alert system, or from "early warning" to "moderate alert."

• OPH invokes self-isolation order as cases climb
• Laval, Outaouais move to orange alert

"The tendency is not going in the right direction," Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin told reporters Tuesday.

"I'm a lot more concerned than I was in the spring where we were relatively unaffected in that ... we had a very low number of cases."

The new restrictionsmean private gatherings must be limitedto six people, both indoors and outdoors, unless attended solely by members of two different families. The limit is 25 forgatherings in public places, such as places of worship, weddings and rented rooms.

Bars and restaurants will have to stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m., and will have to keep a maximum of six people per table.

Pedneaud-Jobinsaid people must be"more disciplined, more careful" in order to reverse the rise in cases.