COVID-19 in Sudbury & districts: Your weekly update February 11, 2021

Reporting period: Thursday, February 4, 2021, to Wednesday, February 10, 2021.

February 11, 2021 — The following is a summary of how the status of COVID-19 has changed in Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ service area over the last seven days up to end of day February 10, 2021: 24 new cases, 61 cases were resolved, and 1 death occurred. Ten (10) outbreaks were active, including 3 in schools, 3 in long-term care homes, 2 in retirement homes, 1 in a hospital and 1 in a community congregate living setting. Five (5) outbreaks were declared over in the past 7 days, 3 in schools, 1 in a retirement home and 1 in a community congregate living setting. At end of day February 10, 2021, there were 27 active cases in our service area, and 5 active outbreaks. Eleven (11) cases were hospitalized, while the rest were self-isolating.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a total of 546 local cases of which 519 are resolved, and 10 people have died in our service area.

Trends in the past seven days

• Of the 24 new cases in our service area, 10 were associated with an outbreak, while 5 were close contacts of confirmed cases. This means that Public Health identified how these people were exposed to COVID-19 and was able to take quick action to prevent further spread. The source of exposure was unknown for 6 cases, while 2 were travel-related. Two (2) cases remained under investigation. All 24 cases reside in Greater Sudbury.
• By end of day on February 10, contact tracing information was available for all 24 of the new cases. Through our investigation, we identified 71 people who had high-risk close contacts with these cases. That is an average of 3.0 high-risk close contacts per case, compared to 4.0 contacts per case last week. Public Health follows up directly and regularly with every high-risk close contact to monitor them for symptoms, ensure they are self-isolating, and make recommendations for testing according to provincial guidance.
• The 7-day incidence rate was 12.1 new cases per 100 000 population (compared to 20.1 for the previous 7 days).
• The percent positivity was 0.48% for the period of February 2 to February 8 (compared to 1.17% for the previous 7 days).
• For the period of February 3 to February 9, the effective reproductive number (Rt) was 0.84 for Northern Ontario, and 0.83 for Ontario overall.
• There are now confirmed three cases of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant (first identified in the United Kingdom) locally. In the future, Public Health will report on confirmation of variants of concern in our Weekly Update (Thursdays) and in our Detailed Epidemiology Summary (Monday and Thursday).

Stay COVID-safe

• Valentine’s Day is a special day celebrated by many. As we continue to follow public health measures keep your celebration to the people you live with. If you live alone, you can have close contact with one other household. Consider creative alternatives to traditional celebrations by connecting virtually with others.
• With Family Day weekend coming up you may want to head outdoors. Try going for a walk or skating with members of your household. Remember to follow facility rules and wear a face covering or a mask when distancing is difficult to maintain, even outdoors.
• A reminder that the stay-at-home order is still in effect until February 16. Remember to stay home unless essential, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for outdoor physical activity, or for essential work.
• Alongside key partners and local facilities, Public Health is leading the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. As we continue our planning, we are looking for motivated individuals to support this unprecedented task. If you or someone you know is interested in lending a hand check out our employment and volunteer opportunity pages. If you are a primary care provider keen on administering the vaccine with us, submit your application using the Primary Care Registry.

What’s new

• The Government of Ontario announced that the current Stay-at-Home order as well as the shutdown order will be in effect until February 16. At that time, the orders as well as our return into the revised Framework will be assessed.
• As of February 10, 2021, vaccinations were offered to every resident in all 12 long-term care homes and 6 Elders’ lodges in our service area. Residents of one high-risk retirement home (as defined by the Ministry) were offered vaccine. Direction around who receives the vaccine locally is provided by the Province. As we await details and timelines on further shipments, Public Health continues to actively work with all retirement homes staff, residents, and families to ensure we can quickly and efficiently offer them the vaccine when it arrives.
• Public Health remains dedicated and continues to adapt its plans to be ready to offer vaccinations to identified groups as efficiently as possible, following provincial direction.
• In order to meet the demands of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Public Health Sudbury & Districts has established a Primary Care Registry to identify local primary care practitioners, who are interested in providing vaccinations to community members across our service area.
• Our daily 4 p.m. COVID-19 update now includes data for active and resolved cases by area —Greater Sudbury, Sudbury District, and Manitoulin District.
• Between January 29 and February 3, Public Health Sudbury & Districts supported the Sudbury Catholic District School Board to test 274 asymptomatic students and staff from three open schools with declared COVID-19 outbreaks. None of those tested were found to be positive for COVID-19.

Message from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health

We reached an important milestone yesterday having completed the first round of COVID-19 vaccines for all residents of long-term care homes, high-risk retirement homes, and First Nations’ congregate living settings for seniors. Our goal is to get the vaccine into the arms of residents as quickly and efficiently as possible, and we look forward to more deliveries of the COVID-19 vaccine to our area. While we have seen a decrease in the number of active cases in our community we continue to see outbreaks and cases involving a COVID-19 variant of concern. We are monitoring these situations closely. With Family Day weekend coming up I understand the desire to gather with family and friends but please remember we must collectively continue to stay home unless essential and practice public health measures. These measures are still the best defense against COVID-19 until the vaccine becomes more widely available.

Regular updates

Visit phsd.ca/COVID-19/data for regular updates about COVID-19 testing, confirmed cases, as well as outbreaks and potential exposures in Greater Sudbury, the District of Sudbury, and the District of Manitoulin. In addition, a detailed epidemiology summary is posted Mondays and Thursdays that includes information about cases over time, case characteristics, probable exposures, case outcomes, testing, and outbreaks in facilities.

For more information or if you have questions, please visit phsd.ca/COVID-19 or call Public Health Sudbury & Districts at 705.522.9200 (toll-free 1.866.522.9200).