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HELLO, OTTAWA

It’s official – Ottawa is moving to the red zone tomorrow. But it's a different experience from the orange zone or the total shut-downs we have gone though before.

▪️ Ottawa Public Health says not to leave our houses except for essential reasons, like food, work, excercise, or medical issues.

▪️ No inside visitors but if they occur, it's five people inside and 25 people outside. 

▪️ Restaurants are limited to 10 people inside and only four people from the same household at a table.

▪️ Gyms are reduced to 10 people.

▪️ Theatres are closed once again.

▪️ Stores can remain open but are limited to 50 per cent capacity. 

▪️ Library services are unchanged from what they are now (most branches offer in-library browsing, others are drop-off/pick-up only.) 

▪️ City Hall in-person services remain by-appointment-only as they are now

We'll see you tomorrow – Martha and Darren


#STATS

Weather: ?️ Mainly sunny High of 5°, low of -13° 

Number: 5,000. The number of times smaller that the the working scale replica is of the Britannia Water Purification Plant. The mini plant lets Ottawa water engineers do cutting-edge work on water quality that many other municipalities can’t. [City of Ottawa]

Ottawan of the Day: George Reynolds. The NFL Academy-trained quarterback from England has joined the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees for fall 2021.  [TSN]

Quote: ““It’s not that we’re being obstinate or burying our heads in the sand. It’s just the information to justify such huge change … hasn’t really been laid out for us yet” – Garrett Lecoq, a PhD student in legal studies at Carleton University and representative of the Save Mike’s Place campaign. The Graduate Students’ Association is planning to replace the Mike’s Place pub with a hub for graduate students to research and organize campus groups. [The Charlatan]

Sports: Vancouver Canucks 3 – Ottawa 2 last night. The Sens meet Calgary next Monday.


CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Vaccination tracker by Andrew Lam (@socialvizcanada)

1,301,334 doses have been administered in Ontario

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines delivery tracker
Federal Goverment database listing predicted future deliveries


? Public Health Reports

OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health Dashboard

Ottawa Wastewater Dashboard

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

Ottawa Catholic School Board

Conseil des ecoles catholiques du Centre-Est

Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario
 

There have been 15,757 confirmed cases of COVID‌-19, an increase of 81 since yesterday, and 450 deaths, one new report.

? 79,659 doses of vaccine have been administered in Ottawa.
 

OUTAOUAIS

Outaouais Public Health dashboard

There have been 6,692 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 22 since yesterday, and 167 deaths, no new reports.

? 20,540 doses of vaccine have been administered in the Outaouais
 

EASTERN ONTARIO

Eastern Ontario Health Unit dashboard

There have been 3019 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 22 since yesterday, and 69 deaths, no new reports.

? 16,335 doses of vaccine have been administered in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

Sometimes the number of cases or deaths are lower from one day to the next. This is usually because the powers-that-be have reassigned a case to a different health authority.


⭕ Restaurant workers will not be prioritzed in phase two of the vaccine roll-out despite the industry regularly being cut back or shut down. [CTV]

⭕ The United States plans to send 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada and Mexico. The United States has not yet approved the vaccine and their supply will soon go bad. In exchange for sending 1.5 million doses to Canada and 2.5 million doses to Mexico, the United States expects to be reimbursed with vaccine in the future. [The Guardian]

⭕ More than half of new cases in Ontario are of the variant discovered in the UK.  [CTV]

⭕ The Federal COVID-19 app is not well used says report. Even people who have it and test positive for the virus only enter the code 80 per cent of the time.  [CBC]

⭕ The entire region from Toronto to Niagara needs a strict three-week lockdown says Ontario’s COVID-19 scientific advisory table. [CTV]


 ? The Canada COVID Alert App

Be alerted if you have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

How It Works       [Apple App Store]      [Google Play Store]

Historic Logo T-shirts

We’ve made t-shirts of iconic Ottawa logos. 

Printed in Canada.

BUY

 

And don’t forget: you can also buy official ottawan t-shirts

#WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️ Ottawa Police would like you to call them if you see damage to the driver’s side door handle of your car, or someone taking photos of your car's vehicle identification number. It's because over 100 newer Lexus and Toyoto SUVs have been stolen from the city in the past year. Yesterday, three men were arrested in Montréal for Ottawa theft related reasons. [CBC]

▪️ Since the pandemic began, rents have dropped in Ottawa but risen in Gatineau. The average one-bedroom rent in Ottawa is $1,527, down 5.3 per cent. In Gatineau, a one-bedroom avaerages $1,159, up 1.9 per cent. [CTV

▪️ The City has inked a deal to put ads in the O Train stations. While other OC Transpo areas already had advertising, the stations had thus far been advertising free. The current deal with Pattison Advertising, which excludes the stations, nets $2.2 million a year for the system, or about 0.3 per cent of the budget. [Global]

▪️ Developer proposes seven storey building in Westboro. The building, at Winston Avenue and Richmond Road would have 40 apartments and retail on the ground floor. The proposed building would replace two single family homes. [Ottawa Business Journal]

▪️ Mayor Jim Watson wants patio applications fast-tracked. Any restaurant that was approved last year, can open their patio as of next Thursday. Unfortunately, they are currently limited to 10 patrons per patio under the red zone. Dancing, singing, and horns or woodwind instruments are also banned. [Ottawa Citizen

#WEEKEND PLANS: SUGAR SEASON

We’re headed back into the red zone tonight, but with careful planning and observing the usual pandemic-related safety measures, we can still enjoy the maple syrup season. Our region’s sugar bushes are open with limited activities this year. Prepare for your visit by bringing cash and cards, and plan to pay for parking.

▪️ Located near Pakenham, the 8km of groomed forest trails at Fultons sugar farm are open daily from 10:00am to 5:00pm, and you can visit the Maple Farm Store for takeout maple sausages, baked beans, quiche, coffee, and of course, maple syrup from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Taffy runs on the snow only on weekends. It costs $10 to park, or you can buy a March pass for $40. The restaurant is closed this year, so no hot meals will be available. As this is a working farm with resident animals, pets are not allowed on site.

▪️ During its Maple Festival, Ferme Proulx Farm in Cumberland is offering timed weekend visits of two hours, for $10.99 per person. The admission ticket includes your timed visit, one dessert and one hot or cold drink. Kids two years and younger may visit for free. The pancake house is also open for takeout at home or at the outdoor tables from 9:00am to 2:00pm, and offers a selection of hot dogs, soups, and snacks for purchase. Some walking trails are still open but have lost a lot of snow lately: prepare for mud. 

▪️ Temple’s Sugarbush in Lanark County is open to visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00am to 2:00pm. The natural trail is a 15-20 minute walk through the forest on the property. While there is no indoor dining this season, the Breakfast Bundle menu is available for takeout. Order online.

▪️ Fortune Farms just west of Almonte in Lanark County is open daily from 9:00am to 4:00pm for shopping at the store and wandering the three interactive trails. The trails offer information about tapping maples and syrup making, forest management, and forest regeneration. They’re not plowed, so bring appropriate footwear. Dogs on leash are permitted. 

▪️ At Stanley’s Old Maple Lane Farm in Edwards Ontario, the sugar bush is open every weekend from 9:00am to 3:00pm. Wander the 2km of walking trails, visit the Heritage Barn and say hi to the animals (physical distancing in effect), enjoy taffy on the snow, view the sugar shack, and shop for maple treats, books, candles, and pantry staples. It costs $10 per vehicle to park, and cash payments are preferred.

▪️ At Ferme Drouin Farm in Casselman the licensed sugar bush is open to 50 people per hour, $12.50 for kids 4-12 and $25 for ages 13 and up. Family activities include tubing, maple taffy, a self serve buffet and animal visits. The menu is a study in classic sugar bush cuisine, with pancakes, sausages, maple ham, fresh bread, and omelettes taking centre stage. Make an early evening of it over the next two Saturdays, when live music will be available starting at 5:00pm. Reservations are limited and can be booked by calling 613-764-2181. 

▪️ Les Moulins La Fayette patisserie has rolled out a limited-time range of Maple flavoured pastries and cakes, including the Maple Sweetness cake (maple mousse, maple jelly, pecans, and almond biscuit), Napoleons, chocolates, popcorn, bread, macarons, and cookies, all flavoured with maple.

▪️ Orléans Brewing Co Maple Cabin Ale uses MCM Family Farm maple syrup to create its mildly sweet and smoky flavours. Available for a limited time only.

#SHOPPING

▪️ The Vintage PopUp 613 planned for Saturday March 20 has unfortunately been postponed, and will be rescheduled for the first Saturday after Ottawa returns to Orange status. Ticket holders should check their emails for information.

▪️ Shop the Tangente Spring Markdowns sale and add some Ottawa-made spring tops and dresses to your wardrobe. Dresses from $65, tops from $47.50. 

THE OTTAWAN

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