Dr. Vera Etches says it seems Ottawa's 3rd COVID-19 wave is coming

Ottawa's medical officer of health said Friday it seems the city's third wave is coming, and is asking people to maintain physical distancing to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases.

"It looks like [a third wave] is coming. It's apparent in the wastewater and that's been a pretty reliable predictor," said Dr. Vera Etchesin an interviewon CBCRadio's Ottawa Morning.

Etchessaid the spread is being driven in social settings and people can't get complacent with behaviour such as distancing and wearing masksbecause of positive news about vaccines.

It will still be a few months untilvaccination hasan impact on the general population, she said.

Wastewater concerns

On Wednesday, Ottawa Public Health (OPH)warnedit's seeinga rise in the number of people believed to have one of the more contagious variants.

So far, 10 people have tested positive forvariants of concernfirst identified in the United Kingdom andSouth Africa.

But according to Etches,73 more people have agenetic indicator after initial screening that could signal they've contracted one of the variants.

Wastewater testing now suggests there could be more of thevariant first identified in the U.K.

"We would expect to see [traces ofvariants] in our wastewater when it crosses a threshold of detection that may be as high as 50 to 100 active infections and what we have in our numbers of people testing is about 25 active infections," she said.

"It points to what we know happens. There is COVID in the community that is undetected. People don't realize that mild infection could be COVID and it could be passed on."

WATCH | Dr. Vera Etches on Ottawa Morning:

The health authority also saidsome of the city's key indicators, used to track the spread of the virus,are also trendingcloser to the red zone on the province's pandemic scale.

Such a move would mean stricter restrictions such as smaller gatherings and sports being limited to practices.

Vaccinations starting

At the same time, vaccine appointments were made available to more Ottawans this week. The first clinic openedFriday morning at theAlbion-Heatherington Recreation Centre.

Appointments are open for those who are 80 years or olderand individuals whoare recipients of chronic home carein one of seven neighbourhoods:

• Emerald Woods.
• Heatherington.
• Ledbury.
• Heron Gate.
• Ridgemont.
• Riverview.
• Sawmill Creek.

Eligible people mustcall 613-691-5505 to make an appointment.

The Albion-Heatherington Recreation Centre clinic will run until Sunday, and then three other clinics will open in other high-risk neighbourhoods on a staggered basis.

Mayor Jim Watson said about 1,600 people have already booked appointments and the cityexpects to vaccinate about 150 people per day in the high-risk neighbourhoods.