Lockdown could be coming, Sudbury health unit head warns

Sudbury and districts' medical officer of health says the area has been "suddenly thrust" into the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe spoke to Sudbury city council yesterday evening, andgave an update on the local situation, as well as the work being done by public health.

The health unit has reported 186 COVID-19 cases since March noting that almost a third of those cases were reported in the last week. Sutcliffesays the health unit is seeing more younger people, those in their 20s, testing positive for COVID-19.

"This is not unexpected or unusual.This has been seen in other parts of the province. And it really speaks to, I think, the need for young people to be social, to have connections, but also to make sure that they are aware of how to do that in a waythat is safe," she said.

The health unit is working to develop additional education and messaging targeted and high school and post secondary students, she noted.

While the number of cases has spiked, Sutcliffe says the health unit is still very much in containment mode. Public healthstaff members are doing extensive contact tracing.

"We really rely on people's trust in us and their honesty and forthrightness and let us know what they've been doing," Sutcliffe said.

"So [the health unit] keeps that as confidential as it possibly can because people need to trust us and know that what they share with public health will be kept with public health, unless it's necessary to do otherwise to protect people."

Sutcliffe says the health unit has "dedicated and redeployed all available and appropriate staff to work on all that", putting other public health work aside.

"This is important so that we can prevent widespread community transmission."

Moving out of the green zone?

She pointed out to council that, in the last week, the district isseeing a test positivity rate of 1.3 per cent, and acase rate of over 26 cases per 100,000 people.

According to the province's COVID-19 response framework, in areas with case rates between 10 and39.9 per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate between one and 2.5 per cent, the region should be moving into a "yellow zone" response mode. Several communities in the GTA currently fall in this zone, which stipulates enhanced targeted enforcement, fines and enhanced education to limit further transmission, along with public health measures for high-risk settings.

Public Health Sudbury and District is currently listed in the "green zone"

As health unit contact tracers investigate each case of COVID-19, they're seeing roughly 12 other people affected," Sutcliffe said.

"Some are more and some are less than an average of that ... our public health staff, our nurses and inspectors professionals are very intensely following up on cases and contacts and on any inspections of any settings where there may be a risk so that we can understand what's going on and stamp it out. If it gets wider spread in our community, then we'll tend to see more outbreaks in our vulnerable populations and settings (long term care homes,retirement homes, schools)."

Sutcliffe pointed out two recentoutbreaks stemming from aHalloween party in New Sudbury, andanother in a long term care home, Pioneer Manor, where a staff member tested positive.

"I can certainly reassure the council and mayor that this is well in hand and is being well managed, but it is an indicator of spread spilling over into our vulnerable populations," she said, noting the incidents were arguably preventable.

"Preventable by very simple precautions that we've been talking about for the last eight months and that we've been practising," Sutcliffe said, adding that a lockdown"could be necessary if we don't get this better under control."

"I just really want to emphasize thathow this wave itself evolves, and the measures and the restrictions that will be necessary to control it, are really in our hands."