What’s the latest?

Quebec has cancelled plans to allow some Christmas gatherings in red zones across the province, including Gatineau. Provincial officials say COVID-19 restrictions in those regions make such exceptions unfeasible.

Federal officials working on Canada’s vaccine rollout say Health Canada could approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine within 10 days and deliveries could start at the end of December.

Ontario’s daily COVID-19 update says Ottawa has 41 of the province’s 1,824 newly confirmed cases.

How many cases are there?

As of Thursday, 8,608 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa. There are 371 known active cases, 7,859 cases now considered resolved and 378 people who have died of COVID-19.

Public health officials have reported more than 14,100 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 12,700 resolved cases.

Ninety people have died of COVID-19 elsewhere in eastern Ontario, along with 83 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 to limit 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 students asked to reduce close contacts for 10 to 14 days before going back.

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 one and some lower-level health units want residents to stay put to curb the spread.

Ottawa is currently in the orange zone of Ontario’s five-colour pandemic scale, which allows organized gatherings and restaurants, gyms and theatres to bring people inside.

The city’s medical officer of health said on CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning Thursday the COVID-19 decline has stabilized and Ottawa won’t be moving to yellow on Ontario’s pandemic scale next week.