Sudbury Is Putting More Public Health Measures In Place After 'Rapid Rise' Of COVID-19

The Greater Sudbury area is experiencing a "rapid rise" in COVID-19 cases, and health and city officials have decided to bring back recently removed public health measures.

Greater Sudbury, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, and Public Health Sudbury & Districts' medical officer of health have collectively decided to bring back public health measures "to limit the spread of the virus, protect community health, and protect the health system," according to a press release.

What will change?

Starting November 10 at 12:01 a.m., "time-limited measures" such as capacity limits and physical distancing will be brought back for establishments that currently require proof of vaccination, physical distancing of two metres at indoor and outdoor public events for people not in the same household will return, and individuals 12 years old and up involved in organized sports will need proof of vaccination to participate.

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health with Public Health Sudbury & Districts, says, "Greater Sudbury is experiencing a spike in people testing positive for COVID-19. The timing of the increases is aligned with the lifting of provincial protections, beginning October 9, 2021, and currently, we have the highest case rates in the province by far."

"The provincial Plan to Safely Reopen Ontario requires local public health to monitor trends and to put in place additional protections as warranted. Obviously, no one wants to hear this news, but we need to turn back the clock and protect people and the health system. We are implementing these protections as a 'circuit-breaker', in an effort to interrupt chains of transmission within the community and protect local businesses and workers by—we hope—avoiding any need for more drastic measures," said Sutcliffe.

Will this happen in other regions?

In a press conference on Tuesday, Christine Elliott, minister of health, acknowledged Sudbury's increased cases and said they are staying the course with a "local approach."

Elliott said the plan Ontario "put in place has been tested and considered many different ways." She added, "Dr. Moore, our chief medical officer of health, still feels very strongly that the system is ready to deal with some increases in cases. We knew that as the weather turns colder, as more and more people are indoors, and we are seeing some regional variations where we are seeing some increased cases.

"There has been one in Sudbury, for example, which I'm sure you're familiar with. They are taking a local approach there, as we intend to do with the rest of the province. So we are going to stay the course at this point, but of course, we are looking at the situation every day."