Board of Health

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Chair of the Board of Health Verbal Report , the Medical Officer of Health Verbal Report , and the reports titled: Ottawa Public Health Submission to the Government of Ontario on the Potential for Cannabis Consumption Establishments and/or Cannabis Special Occasion Permits; Ottawa Public Health Submission to the Ontario Ministry of Health on Proposed Vaping Regulations; Ottawa Public Health’s Strategic Plan for 2019-2022 – Update from Quarter Four of 2019; Ontario Ministry of Health Accountability and Reporting Requirements - Q4 2019 Standard Activity Report; 2019 Operating Budget Year-End Results – Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit Status Report; and Delegation of Authority – Contracts Awarded for the Period of July 1 to December 31, 2019 ,, be received and considered.

WHEREAS throughout this past year’s discussions on public health modernization, Ottawa Public Health has looked for and explored opportunities for greater collaboration amongst local health units in order to increase public health program and service capacity and to leverage resources and expertise; and WHEREAS one of the key themes discussed in Ottawa Public Health’s written submission to the Ministry of Health in response to public health modernization consultations focused on the establishment of regional service and collaboration hubs to improve consistency and equity of public health program and service delivery across Ontario to ensure system sustainability; and WHEREAS in late February 2020, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Ottawa Board of Health, Councillor Keith Egli and Tammy DeGiovanni, met with representatives from the Board of Health of the Renfrew County and District Health Unit to discuss opportunities for collaboration between these two neighbouring health units; and WHEREAS on March 31, 2020, the Chair of the Board of Health for the Renfrew County and District Health Unit, Ms. Janice Visneskie Moore, wrote a letter to Chair Egli expressing her Board’s hope that, moving forward, the two organizations would be able to develop a collaborative approach in order to become stronger together in providing public health to residents of both jurisdictions, based on efficient use of resources and public health best practices; and WHEREAS Chair Visneskie Moore’s letter al

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Health approve that the meeting time be extended past 7:00 p.m. pursuant to Subsection 8(1)(c) of the Procedural By-law.

WHEREAS on March 30, 2020, the Government of Ontario issued an Emergency Order under Subsection 7.0.2(4) of the E mergency Management and Civil Protection Act with respect to the closure of outdoor recreational amenities; and WHEREAS the list of specific outdoor spaces that are subject to the closure, as found in Schedule 1 of the Order, includes “all outdoor allotment gardens and community gardens”; and WHEREAS Ottawa Public Health believes that outdoor allotment gardens and community gardens are not only recreational amenities given that, in addition to providing a source of outdoor physical activity, they are also an important measure for increasing food security for many residents; and WHEREAS outdoor allotment gardens and community gardens can be operated safely, with physical distancing and other public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19; and WHEREAS in Ottawa, there are local partners in place that are prepared to support the safe operation of these outdoor allotment gardens and community gardens, based on public health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19; BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit direct the Chair of the Board of Health to write a letter to the Premier of Ontario and to the Ontario Minister of Health asking for their consideration in amending the March 30, 2020 Emergency Order in advance of the 2020 gardening season to exempt outdoor allotment gardens and community gardens where food is grown fro

WHEREAS contact tracing has been identified as a critical means of containing the spread of COVID-19; and WHEREAS the process of contact tracing can be labour intensive given that the local public health unit is required to identify, notify, inform and monitor every person who is identified as a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19; and WHEREAS as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to increase so does the number of close contacts who require notification, information and monitoring; and WHEREAS leveraging technology has been identified as an option for facilitating the effective management of this public health emergency; BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit authorize the Medical Officer of Health to explore and adopt innovative digital technologies to automate some of the functions associated with the management of this pandemic provided that such technology adheres to legislative and other requirements to safeguard the protection of personal information of individuals, including personal health information.

WHEREAS we know that there is evidence of asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic transmission of COVID-19; and WHEREAS community use of non-medical masks is a non-pharmaceutical intervention that is proven to reduce the spread of a person’s own infectious respiratory droplets in situations where physical distancing is not always possible, thereby complementing other interventions such as properly washing hands, disinfecting surfaces and physical distancing; and WHEREAS Ottawa Public Health supports safeguarding the supply of medical grade face masks and shields for use by healthcare workers and increasing the availability of non-medical masks for all members of the public to use when needed; and WHEREAS, until such time as a vaccine may be developed and broadly available for the control of COVID-19 in our community, all non-pharmaceutical interventions should continue to be explored and promoted in order to slow the spread of infection and aid in recovery efforts; BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit request that the Medical Officer of Health and Ottawa Public Health staff work with partners to explore potential avenues for the large-scale production and availability of an adequate supply of non-medical face masks that would enable all Ottawa residents to have access to non-medical face masks should they wish to add this to their own non-pharmaceutical measures for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in our community.

WHEREAS the City of Ottawa—along with Ontario, Canada and the world—are currently experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic; and WHEREAS this pandemic has witnessed all orders of government put in place emergency measures and guidelines to slow the spread of the virus and “flatten the curve” in order to preserve the health and lives of as many residents as possible; and WHEREAS those measures include self-isolation, quarantine and physical distancing (also known as social distancing); and WHEREAS the city, the province and the country are seeking cooperation from residents to adjust their habits, activities and lifestyles to align with the guidelines relating to physical distancing; and WHEREAS Ottawa Public Health (OPH) defines physical distancing as taking steps to limit the number of people you come into close contact with; and WHEREAS residents need to access essential services, including, but not limited to, grocery stores, pharmacies, medical offices, pet hospitals, and hardware stores; and WHEREAS these essential services are often—by design—on our traditional main streets and arterials; and WHEREAS many residents do not own cars and rely on active transportation to access these services; and WHEREAS people continue to walk in the street to provide distance between themselves and others walking on the sidewalk, because of the perceived risk; and WHEREAS city traffic services reports that traffic volume has dramatically decreased while city police report that traffic speed inf

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Chair of the Board of Health Verbal Report, the Medical Officer of Health Verbal Report, and the reports titled: Ottawa Public Health Submission to the Government of Ontario on the Potential for Cannabis Consumption Establishments and/or Cannabis Special Occasion Permits; Ottawa Public Health Submission to the Ontario Ministry of Health on Proposed Vaping Regulations; Ottawa Public Health’s Strategic Plan for 2019-2022 – Update from Quarter Four of 2019; Ontario Ministry of Health Accountability and Reporting Requirements - Q4 2019 Standard Activity Report; 2019 Operating Budget Year-End Results – Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit Status Report; and Delegation of Authority – Contracts Awarded for the Period of July 1 to December 31, 2019 ,, be received and adopted.

BE IT RESOLVED THAT Confirmation By-law no. 2020-2, a by-law of the Board of Health for the City of Ottawa Health Unit to confirm the proceedings of the Ottawa Board of Health at its meeting of April 20, 2020, be read and passed.