COVID-19 in Sudbury & districts: Your weekly update February 25, 2021

Reporting period: Thursday, February 18, 2021, to Wednesday, February 24, 2021.

February 25, 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 24, 2021: 25 new cases, 34 cases were resolved, and no deaths occurred. Six (6) outbreaks were active, including 3 in long-term care homes, 1 in a retirement home, 1 in a hospital and 1 in a community congregate living setting. There were no active outbreaks in local schools. Two (2) outbreaks were declared over in the past 7 days, 1 in a long-term care home and 1 in a hospital. At end of day February 24, 2021, there were 28 active cases in our service area, and 4 active outbreaks. Five (5) cases were hospitalized, while the rest were self-isolating.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a total of 600 local cases of which 572 are resolved, and 12 people have died in our service area. Three (3) cases in total have been confirmed as a COVID-19 variant of concern (VOC).

Trends in the past seven days

• Of the 25 new cases in our service area, 1 was associated with an outbreak, while 10 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 2 cases. Eleven (11) cases remained under investigation.
• Twenty-four (24) cases reside in Greater Sudbury, while 1 resides in the Sudbury District.
• By end of day on February 24, contact tracing information was available for all 25 of the new cases. Through our investigation, we identified 182 people who had high-risk close contacts with these cases. That is an average of 7.0 high-risk close contacts per case, compared to 3.0 contacts per cases 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 12.6 new cases per 100 000 population (compared to 14.6 for the previous 7 days).
• The percent positivity was 0.35% for the period of February 16 to February 22 (compared to 0.46% for the previous 7 days).
• For the period of February 17 to February 23, the effective reproductive number (Rt) was 1.19 for Northern Ontario, and 0.099 for Ontario overall.
• There were no new local cases that were confirmed to be a COVID-19 variant of concern (VOC) in the past 7 days. There were, however, 8 cases for which preliminary tests indicate the potential to be one of these variants. Further laboratory testing is underway to confirm if these cases are, in fact, a VOC.

Stay COVID-safe

• Not feeling well? Stay home and get tested even if your symptoms are mild. Remember to screen for symptoms every morning before going to school, daycare, or work.
• Enhanced self-isolation requirements are in place for all household contacts of individuals who have even one symptom of COVID-19. Under the new guidance, all household members of an individual with at least one symptom of COVID-19 are required to stay home and self-isolate until the individual with symptoms receives a negative COVID-19 test result or receives an alternate diagnosis by a health care professional.
• Children with any new or worsening symptom of COVID-19, even those with only one symptom, are required to stay home from school or daycare.
• Workplaces must also take steps to stay COVID-safe. Employers and employees must follow the sector-specific guidance provided by the Government of Ontario.
• Both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are approved by Health Canada and are safe and effective. If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, check out our vaccine web page or contact your primary care provider.

What’s new

• This week, first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be offered to long-term care home staff and essential caregivers, retirement home residents, and the highest priority health care workers in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidance.
• Second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will also be offered to residents of long-term care homes.
• Planning with First Nation communities and urban Indigenous partners is underway to offer vaccine to Indigenous adults aged 55+ starting the week of March 1st.
• In response to the threat of COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC), the Ministry of Health has introduced stricter self-isolation and school screening requirements. Under the new guidance, all household members of an individual with even one symptom of COVID-19 are required stay home and self-isolate until the individual with symptoms receives a negative COVID-19 test result or receives an alternate diagnosis by a health care professional. If the individual with symptoms does not seek COVID-19 testing, all household contacts must isolate for 14 days from their last contact with that symptomatic individual.

Message from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health

More COVID-19 vaccine has arrived locally, and we are working diligently to get vaccine in the arms of those who are eligible at this time. We have been working with partners across our service area to plan special immunization clinics and this week those plans are put into action. This is truly a team effort. I thank everyone for their patience as we rollout this unprecedented COVID-19 immunization program. In addition, we have recently seen school dismissals in our area along with positive screenings for COVID-19 variants of concern. This is certainly alarming and something we are monitoring very closely. I encourage everyone to continue to carefully follow public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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).