Video updates (COVID-19)
Medical Officer of Health provides COVID-19 Update: February 15, 2022
Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update as there has been a lot of talk about booster doses lately and some people may be wondering why, or if, they should receive one. While the COVID-19 vaccines—like all vaccines—are not 100% effective, they do prevent severe health outcomes. Although there is evidence of a gradual decrease in vaccine protection over time following the second dose, a booster dose “boosts” your body’s immune response, giving you much stronger and longer lasting protection. This additional dose will provide you, your loved ones, and your community with a vital layer of protection. In addition, as of Friday, February 18, children ages 12 to 17 will also be eligible for their booster doses.
Medical Officer of Health provides COVID-19 Update: November 15, 2021
This weekend was a very busy weekend for Public Health. As a result of COVID-19 cases reported over the weekend, 45 school cohorts have been dismissed, including 20 school bus routes—bringing it to a total of approximately 80 affected cohorts and 45 bus routes overall. What happens in our schools with COVID-19 is a direct reflection of what’s happening in our community. We must act to keep cases down to protect our schools and continue to have in-person learning in our area. We appreciate everyone’s ongoing patience, kindness, and cooperation. Public Health staff are busy following up with approximately 1 500 contacts. If you received a letter from your school as a result of a COVID-19 case, please follow the instruction described in the letter. Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update on this work, on the current COVID-19 situation for our area and for Greater Sudbury in particular.
Medical Officer of Health provides COVID-19 Update: October 28, 2021
Over the last several weeks, there has been an alarming increase in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Greater Sudbury. Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update on the current COVID-19 situation for our area, and in particular, Greater Sudbury.
Medical Officer of Health provides COVID-19 Update: July 16, 2021
Medical Officer of Health provides COVID-19 Update: April 14, 2021
Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update on the local COVID-19 situation, including variants of concern, the COVID-19 vaccine, and the need to continue following public health measures.
Medical Officer of Health provides update on recent surge in COVID-19 cases, March 2, 2021
Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update about the surge in COVID-19 cases we are experiencing. We all need to heed the alarm that this news is sounding. We do have evidence of community spread of the COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) so it’s critical that the public health measures we’ve been following are airtight. That means staying home if you’re ill, masking, keeping distancing, and only going out or traveling for essential reasons. The COVID-19 vaccine allows us to be hopeful and we’re very thankful for our partners that have helped us get vaccines into the arms of our most vulnerable and the highest priority health care workers. Let’s remain hopeful. We encourage you to continue to think about ways you can help to prevent the spread of the virus.
Medical Officer of Health provides update on COVID-19 vaccine roll out, February 21, 2021
Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update about the COVID-19 vaccine roll out. We’re very pleased to be able to report that we have provided the first dose of the vaccine to all the residents of long-term care homes, Elders’ lodges, and one high-risk retirement home in our service area. We’re expecting more vaccine this week and we will be offering immunization to all staff and essential caregivers of long-term care homes and to residents of retirement homes in our service area. Vaccines will also begin to be available for the highest priority healthcare workers. Planning continues behind the scenes and we will share more information as we confirm details. Thank you very much for your patience and please continue to follow public health measures as we work to get vaccine into arms.
Medical Officer of Health provides update on provincewide shutdown, December 23, 2020
Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update about the recently announced provincewide shutdown. This additional sacrifice is difficult, particularly at this time of year. Please continue to be patient and kind to one another and think about what actions you can take to protect your family, your neighbours, and your community. Best wishes for this holiday season as we look forward to a very healthy 2021.
A message from your Northern Ontario Medical Officers of Health, November 27, 2020
COVID-19 affects us all. Watch a special message from Medical Officers of Health across Northern Ontario. Thank you for your efforts so far. Together, we’ve got this.
Medical Officer of Health update on COVID-19 trends for Public Health Sudbury & Districts, November 19, 2020
Watch Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provide an update about recent COVID-19 trends in our community and moving into the yellow zone of the province’s COVID-19 response framework, important reminders for the holiday season, and the likelihood of a vaccine in 2021.
Medical Officer of Health update on COVID-19 and the flu season, October 21, 2020
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe shares her thoughts on COVID-19 and the flu season.
It is important to get the flu shot every year as our immunity decreases over time and the influenza strain changes year over year. This year, the flu shot is more important than ever in protecting our health and our health care system.
The flu season typically runs from November to April and it takes about two-weeks for us to develop immunity after receiving the flu shot. Please be patient as it is early in the season, so it takes some time for the vaccine to arrive. Be proactive and book an appointment now at your health care provider, Public Health, or your pharmacy.
Medical Officer of Health update on COVID-19 for the fall season and Thanksgiving, October 1, 2020
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, shares her thoughts on the fall season and COVID-19 including gathering for Thanksgiving.
We are now seeing the second wave of pandemic activity in the province and there’s no reason to think that we are not going to start following those trends in the Northeast. The actions we need to take are relatively simple when we think about the cost of not doing them, the cost to our schools, the cost to our economy, and the cost to our health.
As we go into the fall and times of celebration like Thanksgiving it’s really important to assess risk and think about how we can do things in a COVID safe way. This is not just theoretical, we have had cases in our area that have been associated with indoor dinner parties. Public Health can’t do this alone, we absolutely have to do this together and we must rely on our collective decisions.
Safe return to school, Medical Officer of Health update, September 3, 2020
We are going through something that we have never been through before.
The first modern-day school opening in the midst of a pandemic. Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health, shares her thoughts on how to prepare for a healthy and successful return to school. Public Health’s goal is to provide clear guidance as parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators, and students get ready for back to school.
Watch to learn what to do if your child has symptoms, what happens if a child develops symptoms at school, what happens if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a school, how do we define a COVID-19 outbreak in a school, and what happens if there is a COVID-19 outbreak in a school.
We are in this together and we need to keep up a dialogue, keep ourselves informed, and help each other to be successful. Best wishes to our school staff, students, and families, as we enter this new phase of the pandemic. Be kind, stay safe.
Community spread of COVID-19 (July 31, 2020)
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health, shares her concerns about recent community spread of COVID-19 and the critical questions we should ask ourselves and the actions we can take to help protect each other. Be kind, stay safe.
Our recent increase in cases is very concerning in our community. COVID-19 has not gone away and our past efforts—as good as they were—will not protect us unless we stay the course in the future. We have evidence of community spread and this is one of the measures used by the Province’s Command Table to assess how we are doing with reopening. Community spread is something that we are very concerned about because no one wants to go backwards.
Face coverings
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provides an update about the recent instruction to commercial establishments to ramp up face covering.
As we successfully re-open across the province, we also increase the risk of spreading the virus. Wearing a face covering is an added layer of protection against the spread of COVID-19 and one more action people can take to protect one another. Our goal is to prevent cases and keep people, our health system, and our economy safe. The instructions will establish common expectations about routine face covering to help reduce this risk now and will pave the way to successful Stage 3 re-opening. Everyone must do their part to keep our community healthy now and into the future.
Complying with Public Health Measures
Katy braved the heat and found some shade to share some thoughts about trust, choices, and our individual and collective responsibilities when it comes to COVID-19.
With school coming to an end, the weather warming-up, and restrictions starting to ease, your contact with others is likely to increase. Act with the knowledge that with more opportunities to interact with each other means the more opportunities COVID-19 has to spread. The risk has not changed. Limiting your contacts and in-person interactions as much as possible is critical in reducing transmission of COVID-19. You must accept the level of risk with which you are comfortable and trust others, as they will trust you, to keep your guard up to control the spread. With re-opening, it is like the speed limit has increased in our area and so now more than ever, we need to “wear our seatbelts”. For COVID-19, our seatbelts are washing our hands, keeping our distance, wearing non-medical masks, staying home when ill, and getting tested. These are small prices to pay for the benefits of businesses re-opening, social isolation ending, and mental health flourishing. It is literally in our own hands to make this successful.
Health Protection at Public Health Sudbury & Districts
Everyday public health heroes
Wearing a cloth mask can help put the brakes on COVID-19. Wearing a mask further protects against the spread of the virus when you can’t keep 2m or 6 ft away. A mask acts as a barrier. It reduces the chance of spreading respiratory droplets to others and prevents droplets from landing on surfaces when you cough or sneeze. Let’s take a look at some everyday heroes who are wearing masks to help keep others safe.
COVID-19 Contact Tracing
You’ve heard the term “contact tracing”, but what does it mean? Lisanne, a public health nurse with Public Health, explains this important public health activity and how it protects you and your family from the spread of COVID-19.
How to wear and remove a mask
Wearing a mask helps keep you and others safe from COVID-19. If it is difficult for you to stay 2m or 6ft away from others (such as when grocery shopping), you should wear a mask, even if you’re feeling well. Masks need to be worn correctly. Watch this video to learn how to properly put on, take off, and clean your mask to keep you and your loved ones safe.
June 8, 2020
Medical Officer of Health update on stage two of provincial re-opening in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health for Public Health Sudbury & Districts provides an update on stage two of the provincial re-opening in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts.
Your collective efforts have put our community in a good spot and the success of these next steps is in our hands.
Everyone has a role to play including continuing to stay home if you’re sick, frequent handwashing, maintaining physical distance of at least two meters and wearing a mask when you’re not able to.
Nobody wants to go backwards so it’s critical to work together and take precautions.
May 26, 2020
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe thanks everyone for their collective efforts as it has made a big impact in our service area. A reminder that testing is now available to everyone even if you do not have any symptoms. Managing COVID-19 successfully going forward is in our hands. Keep following public health measures so that we can continue to protect ourselves, our families, our communities, and the vulnerable people in our area.
COVID-19 Call Centre
Did you know that we have a COVID-19 call centre that runs seven days a week? Public health nurses and other Public Health professionals are here for you and your family. When you call-in, we are happy to answer questions, offer advice, and direct you to helpful resources. Learn more about our call centre with the help of Claudette, one of our many public health nurses working to respond to COVID-19.
April 27, 2020
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe extends her gratitude and acknowledges the sacrifices that everybody is making in our collective, community response to COVID-19. It’s important to keep doing what we’re doing—even though it’s been a long time—so that we can get through this and get through this together. We have to do all that we can to prevent the spread of disease to long-term care homes and protect older members in our community. Thank you for the amazing acts of kindness in our communities and be sure to continue to reach out to one another and connect with family and friends.
April 21, 2020
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe provides an update on provincial modelling and the newly reported cases in a long-term care home staff member and resident. These are signals to make sure that we keep up the Public Health measures and maintain our distance. In doing so, we will continue to protect ourselves, our families, and our loved ones. Thank you very much for all the efforts everyone is making. Keep it up. We’re all in this together.
April 7, 2020
It’s now more important than ever to remain vigilant in our efforts to flatten the curve. Stay home as much as possible, practise physical distancing, and wash your hands frequently. When you must go out for essentials, you may also use a non-medical (cloth) mask as an extra precaution, to protect others.
Dr. Sutcliffe also reminds us that with the holiday weekend coming up, it’s very important to maintain a social connection with friends and family virtually, while keeping a physical distance. Take the important step to look after yourselves, look after your families, and look after our communities.
April 2, 2020
We are reporting two new cases of COVID-19, one of whom is deceased. The deceased individual is from Greater Sudbury. The other individual is also from Greater Sudbury.
“I am deeply saddened by this loss of life, and as a supportive, compassionate, and connected community, we extend our most sincere condolences to the family and friends. More than ever, we need to be able to reach out and count on each other despite our critical need to keep physical distance from one another. This somber event stresses the seriousness of the situation we are facing. We must all take the necessary steps to stay safe. Each of us has an obligation to our loved ones, neighbours, and community to do our part to limit the spread of COVID-19. We know that COVID-19 is spreading in our community. We know that lives are at stake,” Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health.
This item was last modified on February 15, 2022