COVID-19 in Sudbury & districts: Your weekly update April 15, 2021

Reporting period: Thursday, April 8, 2021, to Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

April 15, 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 April 14, 2021: 173 new cases, and 228 cases were resolved. There were 2 COVID-related deaths. One-hundred (100) new cases screened positive for a COVID-19 variant of concern (VOC), which is 60% of the cases reported in this period. Seventeen (17) outbreaks were active in the past week, including 6 in local workplaces, 2 in long-term care homes, 2 in daycares, 2 in community congregate settings, and 1 in each of the following settings: a hospital, a shelter, a multi-unit dwelling, a post-secondary school and a private outdoor social setting. Seven (7) outbreaks were declared over in the past 7 days, 1 each in a workplace, a daycare, a post-secondary school, a shelter, a community congregate setting, a multi-unit dwelling and a private outdoor social setting. At end of day April 14, 2021, there were 215 active cases in our service area, and 10 active outbreaks. Seventeen (17) cases were hospitalized, while the rest were self-isolating.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a total of 1 773 local cases of which 1 558 are resolved, and 25 people have died in our service area. Five-hundred and ninety-five (595) have screened positive for a COVID-19 variant of concern (VOC).

Trends in the past seven days

• Of the 173 new cases in our service area, 27 were associated with an outbreak, while 122 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. One (1) case was travel-related, while the source of exposure was unknown for 11 cases. Twelve (12) cases remained under investigation.
• One hundred and sixty-four (164) cases reside in Greater Sudbury, while 6 reside in the Sudbury District, and 3 in Manitoulin District.
• Contact tracing information was available for all cases reported from April 4 to April 10. Through our investigation, we identified 407 people who had high-risk close contacts with these cases. That is an average of 2 high-risk close contacts per case, which is similar to the previous 7 days. 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 seven-day incidence rate was 87. new cases per 100 000 population (compared to 82.5 for the previous 7 days).
• The percent positivity was 3.59% for the period of April 6 to April 12 (compared to 3.69% for the previous 7 days).
• For the period of April 7 to April 13, the effective reproductive number (Rt) was 1.12 for Northern Ontario, and 1.20 for Ontario overall.

Vaccination Program Update

• To date, the COVID-19 Vaccination Program has administered a total of 56 018 doses to residents in Sudbury and districts. Thus far, 49 728 people have received their first dose of vaccine, and 6 698 people have been fully vaccinated (current as of 4:00 p.m. April 14, 2021).
• Over the last seven days up to end of day April 14, 2021, a total of 10 919 vaccine doses have been administered.
• The overall dose per capita ratio is 28.1% for Sudbury and districts, compared to 23.6% for Ontario.
• The following is a depiction of vaccinations received by age for adults 60+ in Sudbury and districts.

Stay COVID-safe

• The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. The COVID-19 vaccine cannot cause a COVID-19 infection because it does not use live components of the virus.
• Remember, indoor gatherings are prohibited during the stay at home order. Spend time outdoors with members of your household and continue to practise physical distancing with those you do not live with.
• Working from home comes with its own stresses. The Mental Health Commission of Canada shares these mental wellness tips while working from home to help you cope.
• After a well-deserved spring break, remote learning will resume for all four local school boards next week.  Remember to complete daily screening and get tested if you are sick. Please continue to follow all public health safety measures.
• Self-care is about taking an active role in protecting your own well-being, pursuing happiness, and having the ability, tools, and resources to respond to periods of stress. These daily self-care check-in cards (Canadian Mental Health Association)  may help you to get started.

What’s new

• This past week, the Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, made the decision to move elementary and secondary schools to remote learning following the April break. Read the full news release here (Government of Ontario).
• In case you missed it, watch a COVID-19 video update (YouTube) from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health.

Message from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health

Like last week’s province-wide Stay-at-Home order, the Ontario government’s decision to move elementary and secondary schools to remote learning following the April break signals the severity of circumstances across the province. In most of our service area, schools already moved to virtual learning as of March 15. Our goal is to resume face-to-face learning as quickly as possible, but we will only do so when it is safe to do so. The COVID-19 situation in schools reflects the situation in the community. We must collectively make COVID-safe choices every day to reverse the trend of high daily case counts we are seeing locally. Over 50 000 people in our service area have already received their first dose of the vaccine, and this is certainly encouraging news. While we work to get vaccine into arms, please continue to follow public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

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).