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

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

March 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 March 24, 2021: 224 new cases, and 150 cases were resolved. There were no COVID-related deaths. Ninety-three (93) new cases screened positive for a COVID-19 variant of concern, which is 42% of the cases reported in this period. Twenty-three (23) outbreaks were active in the past week, including 7 in local schools, 5 in local workplaces, 3 in a hospital, 2 in  long-term care homes, 2 in large multi-unit dwellings, and 1 in each of the following settings: a retirement home, a shelter, a personal services setting and a restaurant. Three (3) outbreaks were declared over in the past 7 days, 2 in schools and 1 in a hospital.  At end of day March 24, 2021, there were 316 active cases in our service area, and 20 active outbreaks. Twenty (20) cases were hospitalized, while the rest were self-isolating.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a total of 1,283 local cases of which 967 are resolved, and 15 people have died in our service area. Three hundred and twenty-one (321) have screened positive for a COVID-19 variant of concern (VOC).

Trends in the past seven days

• Of the 218 new cases in our service area, 49 were associated with an outbreak, while 103 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. Two (2) of the cases were travel-related, while the source of exposure was unknown for 26 cases. Forty-four (44) cases remained under investigation.
• Two hundred and twelve (212) cases reside in Greater Sudbury, while 9 reside in the Sudbury District and 3 in Manitoulin District.
• By end of day on March 24, contact tracing information was available for all 224 of the new cases. Through our investigation, we identified 1189 people who had high-risk close contacts with these cases. That is an average of 5 high-risk close contacts per case, compared to 6 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 112.6 new cases per 100 000 population (compared to 109.6 for the previous 7 days).
• The percent positivity was 2.92% for the period of March 16 to March 22 (compared to 2.48% for the previous 7 days).
• For the period of March 17 to March 23, the effective reproductive number (Rt) was 0.85 for Northern Ontario, and 1.15 for Ontario overall.

Stay COVID-safe

• Wondering if you and your children should still screen for symptoms of COVID-19 while learning virtually? The answer is yes. Everyone should self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and practice COVID-safe behaviours.
• How you cope with COVID-19 may have an impact on your eating habits. Healthy eating is more than the foods you eat. It is also about where, when, why, and how you eat.
• If someone in your household has been told to stay home and self-isolate because they are a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19, remember you need to stay home except for essential reasons until the person is released from self-isolation. Essential reasons include attending work, school, or childcare, medical appointments, and picking up groceries or prescriptions.
• After receiving your vaccine for COVID-19, it takes about two weeks for the body to develop a good immune response. Everyone must continue to follow all public health measures until most of our community has been vaccinated.
• Wondering what happens at a mass immunization clinic for COVID-19 vaccinations? Click hereto find out more about the vaccination clinics and how public health measures are kept up.

What’s new

• Those who are 78 years of age or older in this calendar year can call as of Friday, March 26, to book their COVID-19 vaccination appointment. Booking will be open for those 75 years of age or older in this calendar year as of Saturday, March 27, 2021. Do not call for this age group until Saturday, March 27. Additional age groups are expected to be announced next week.
• To help with call volumes for booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments, an additional call centre has been set up. Main line: call 705.674.2299 (toll-free: 1.800.708.2505), between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., seven days a week. Alternate line: call 1.844.782.2273, between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
• Currently, pharmacies and primary care practices across Public Health’s service area are not offering the COVID-19 vaccine. Details about vaccination opportunities in local pharmacies are expected to be shared as we move into Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout plan.
• Currently across Greater Sudbury and the districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin, Public Health is continuing to offer COVID-19 vaccine to the province’s Phase One groups. For a complete list of eligible groups and clinic dates, please visit the vaccination clinics for COVID-19 page on phsd.ca.
• The Ontario Ministry of Health recently published the Guidance for Prioritization of Phase 2 Populations for COVID-19 Vaccination, (PDF, Ontario Government) which outlines the prioritization of groups to receive the vaccine under Phase 2 of the provincial rollout.

Message from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health

It has been another very busy week for Public Health, but I’m pleased to report that our COVID-19 vaccination rollout efforts are on track as we move into Phase 2 of the provincial rollout. It is great news that beginning next week we will be offering vaccine to even more of our community, including adults under 80 years of age. We are on track based on the provincial plan timelines. Public Health has immunized approximately 13% of its population, which is comparable to the provincial number of 13%. As of Wednesday, March 24, a total of 23 786 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered locally: 21 887 people received their first dose, and 1 899 people have been fully vaccinated.  I thank everyone for their patience. I know it can be difficult to wait but know we are working hard to book appointments and get vaccine in arms. Please continue to follow public health measures as that remains critically important as we continue with the vaccination program.

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).