COVID-19 in Sudbury & districts: Your weekly update January 28, 2021

Reporting period: Thursday, January 21, 2021, to Wednesday, January 27, 2021.

January 28, 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 January 27, 2021: 72 new cases, 63 cases were resolved, and 1 death occurred. Ten (10) outbreaks were active, including 5 in schools, 3 in long-term care homes, 1 in a retirement home, and 1 in a community congregate living setting. At end of day January 27, 2021, there were 82 active cases in our service area, and 10 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 482 local cases of which 400 are resolved, and 7 people have died in our service area.

Trends in the past seven days

• Of the 72 new cases in our service area, 30 were associated with an outbreak, while 32 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 4 cases, while 2 were travel-related.  The source of infection remained under investigation for 4 cases.
• Seventy-one (71) cases reside in Greater Sudbury. One (1) resides in the Manitoulin district.
• By end of day on January 27, contact tracing information was available for all 72 of the new cases. Through our investigation, we identified 260 people who had high-risk close contacts with these cases. That is an average of 4.0 high-risk close contacts per case, compared to 5.3 contacts per case on average 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 36.2 new cases per 100 000 population (compared to 15.1 for the previous 7 days).
• The percent positivity was 1.39% for the period of January 19 to January 25 (compared to 0.65% for the previous 7 days).
• For the period of January 20 to 26, the effective reproductive number (Rt) was 1.36 for Northern Ontario, and 0.84 for Ontario overall.

Stay COVID-safe

• Wondering when you will be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine? Check out our COVID-19 Vaccination Program At-A-Glance (PDF) for a visual of the three phases of vaccine rollout we are planning in our service area. Have more questions? Check out our COVID-19 vaccine webpage or call us at 705.522.9200 (1.866.522.9200 toll free).
• Ontario’s stay-at-home (Government of Ontario) order continues. Everyone should 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. Remember to follow public health measures when you are out for essential reasons and continue to self-screen on a daily basis.
• Did you complete the COVID-19 School and Child Care screening tool this morning? Answering the questions in the tool will help you decide if you should go to school or not. Look for symptoms as part of your morning routine. Think about when you can incorporate the screening; at breakfast, before teeth brushing, before the drive to school? For more about self-screening and illness visit the Schools and COVID-19 page of our website.
• On January 12, the Province announced enhanced health and safety measures for schools. As part of these measures, effective January 25, all elementary and secondary school staff must confirm that they screened for symptoms prior to their arrival at school. Effective February 10, all secondary school students must also confirm self-screening prior to or upon their arrival to school. If you are a school staff and or student, don’t forget to use the COVID-19 School and Child Care screening tool (Government of Ontario). Small actions every day, like screening for symptoms, can make a difference in keeping COVID-19 under control.
• As we hear about the increase of cases in our community and the enhanced public health measures we all need to follow, this reminds us of the importance of staying connected virtually with others. We are all in this together, and together our joint efforts will make a difference. A number of mental health resources are available that can support all of us during these difficult times.

What’s new

• After the arrival of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Greater Sudbury, residents of three long-term care homes were offered the vaccine on Wednesday, January 27.
• The Ontario Government announced that public health units will receive sufficient shipments of COVID-19 vaccine over the next two weeks to immunize all residents of the long-term care homes, high-risk retirement homes, and congregate living settings for seniors in First Nations communities (for example, Elder’s Lodges) in its service area. As Public Health continues to work closely with community partners, vaccinations will be offered at all of these settings.
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts was notified that laboratory testing by Public Health Ontario has revealed a possible case of a more highly transmissible strain of COVID-19. Further sequencing of the sample is underway by the laboratory to confirm the finding and identify the variant. The results are expected in the next few days.

Message from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health

This week, the much-anticipated arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine in Greater Sudbury brought excitement and hope. An important feat in protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. The COVID-19 vaccine brings us a step closer to getting through the pandemic. The vaccine’s arrival was truly the good news story of this week. We also had some sobering news related to outbreaks. We have seen outbreaks in a number of schools recently, and we continue to manage and closely monitor the situation. Currently, the benefits to having children and youth attend school in person outweigh the risks.  In addition to public health measures, another type of support is also vital for the health of our community: kindness. Please, take time to be kind with to one another. COVID-19 does not discriminate, and neither should we. We need to treat people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 with kindness, respect, and compassion.

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).