COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa

The COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa is part of the global ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Ottawa is the fourth most populous city in Canada, the second largest city in Ontario, and the capital city of Canada.^[1]

On March 11, 2020, the first identified case of COVID-19 in Ottawa was a man in his 40s who travelled to Austria, stated Ottawa's medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches. It was found to be a travel-related case, showing that there was no evidence of community spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Ottawa.^[2][3] On March 25, 2020, Mayor Jim Watson declared a local state of emergency, eight days after Premier Doug Ford declared a provincial state of emergency.^[4][5][6] Initial restrictions preventing essential businesses from operating (such as the closure of indoor dining and personal care services) continued through until June 12, 2020, when the government of Ontario allowed Ottawa to enter Stage 2 of reopening.^[7] Ottawa Public Health announced that masks are mandatory in all public indoor settings on July 15, 2020.^[8] On July 17, 2020, Ottawa was allowed into Stage 3 of reopening.^[9]

Starting in the early summer of 2020, Ottawa saw a significant decline of new cases.^[10] Along with other areas of Canada, cases began to steadily rise in late summer and early autumn.^[11] Ottawa, Peel Region, York Region and Toronto began to face restrictions based on rising viral spread and were initially knocked back into a modified Stage 2 tier until the province introduced a new colour-coded Response Framework for the province involving five tiers based on regional COVID-19 numbers.^[12] Ottawa had its modified Stage 2 status lifted for parts of November, until the province declared a province-wide shutdown beginning December 26, 2020.^[13] This included the declaration of a second state of emergency in January 2021 and stay-at-home orders for the entire province. Ottawa's stay-at-home orders were lifted on February 16, 2021, and Ottawa was moved into the "Orange-Restrict" category of prevention measures.^[14]