Families relocated after 3 COVID-19 cases confirmed at shelter
Three people in three separate households at a west Ottawa shelter facility have tested positive for COVID-19, the city says.
In a memo to council Wednesday, city staff said the three affected families at the Carling Family Shelter have all been moved to a "family isolation centre" and are receiving case management services from shelter staff and Ottawa Public Health (OPH).
There are still 16 families at the shelter. The city says they've been instructed to self-isolate in their rooms until Aug. 18 and provided cloth masks.
"Now everybody is wearing a mask if they're outside of their room in any common area. The families are meant to be self-isolating in their rooms, but if they're leaving their rooms they're meant to be wearing a cloth mask," said Shelley VanBuskirk, the city's director of housing services.
Families at the shelter are assigned rooms with their own washrooms, and there are shared kitchens on each the three floors, which each have capacity for 44 families.
VanBuskirk said the city's mask bylaw doesn't apply to the building's interior because it's not a public space like a hotel lobby.
Families have been educated on the importance, she said, of wearing a mask when keeping two metres apart is not possible.
The city said it had also moved some families out of the shelter into hotels and motels at the beginning of the pandemic to allow for more distancing.
"Anytime you're sharing spaces in a congregate setting, you have to be very cautious and very proactive," VanBuskirk said.
VanBuskirk said the city has also created a kitchen schedule to reduce crowding, while the playroom on the first floor has been closed. OPH is planning on-site testing for staff and families this Saturday, Aug. 8.
The city is arranging food, medication and essentials to be delivered to the families in isolation.
VanBuskirk said the families that have been relocated may move on to a different shelter once they're declared free of COVID-19. She said one of the larger families may be able to get a suite with its own cooking facilities.
Kaite Burkholder-Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelesness, said COVID-19 has underlined the importance of people having their own space — even with the best efforts from service providers.
Burkholder-Harris said she's also concerned that, with Ontario's residential eviction ban lifted this month, more people could find themselves in a situation where they require shelter support.
"Home is the first defence against this virus," Burkholder-Harris said.
"If we continue to have a system and structure where people are reliant on congregate settings, we know that we're going to be in real danger of the virus continuing to spread."
