PHSD medical officer of health urges people to 'recommit' to pandemic safety measures

Sudbury's medical officer of health says the movement into the yellow zone of the province's COVID-19 reponse framework is a good reminder to review COVID-19 protocols and follow them.

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe says the new rules in place are an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in this area.

In the yellow zone, people have to recommit to the green measures staying home when ill, getting tested, masking, physical distancing and limitingthe number of people at gatherings. But there are now further restrictions on certain events and settings.

Hours of operations in bars and restaurants must be closed by midnight, and the times at which alcohol can be served runs until11 p.m., andmust be consumedby midnight.

"Really important is a safety plan that is required for many settings," Sutcluffe said.

"Businesses haveto write down and document their safety plan, how they're going to comply with both yellow and green restrictions, [acquiring] contact information for everybody at many settingsand limiting the number of people who can be at one table in a bar or restaurant."

Sutcliffeemphasizes that the yellow zone measures are notabout closure, or taking the kind of lockdown measures that we saw earlier on in the pandemic.

"But theyreally are additional measures to put in place to remain vigilant, to stop the further spread. We've had quite a significant uptick, a surge in cases in our area in the last while, and not just in Sudbury and districts," she said.

"We're seeing numbers gradually increasing throughout the north. And soreally the focus is keeping us from going in the wrong direction not having to go to orange, [but]going back to green in the next couple of weeks, depending on when the next assessment is done by the province."

While many of therecent cases of COVID-19have been in Sudbury, the new restrictionsapply to every community covered by Public Health Sudbury and Districts, such as Manitoulin, Espanola, French River, Markstay-Warren, and other smaller communities, where the populations are lower and more spread out.

The increased safety measures are fair, even in these communities, Sutcliffe said.

"What is looked at as part of the provincial framework is the numbers of cases per 100,000, that per cent positivity rate for our testing,but also the capacity of the public health system and the health care system. And so our health care systems and our public health system serve all of these communities. And we are starting to see cases in other communities outside of Greater Sudbury."

Sutcliffe said the health unit is currently keeping a really close eye on what's happening locally to determine whether anything additional is required at this point in time.

"I certainly wouldn't hesitate if I thought there were other restrictions or other preventive measures that our community needs to consider,"she said.

"But at this point in time, it really is paying attention to the important requirements that already exist in the provincial framework under green and yellow."

With the holiday season on many peoples' minds, Sutcliffe says it's key for people to be aware of the restrictions on the number of people at gatherings, the requirements around masking anddistancing, andstaying home when you're ill.

"Those are the fundamental basic measures that everybody needs to be following right now. And if we follow them very, very carefully, we would reduce the number of cases that we're seeing," she said.

"We are seeing cases in our area, in household settings, in social settings, and these are largely preventable."

She says the pandemic safety guidelines are now the backbone of theway people go about our lives.

"These are the rules that we need to live by now. And until we have a vaccine and until we can really see decreasing in numbers, these are the rules that are in place right now. We all need to be ramping up, recommitting to [them] for the long haul."

On Saturday, Public Health Sudbury and Districts warned of a possible, high-risk exposure to COVID-19 at a farm equipment garage in Massey. They are asking anyonewho visited Foothill Farm Service between Nov. 4-6is asked to immediately self-isolate and contact public health.