Rising cases mean additional COVID-19 protections are required across Greater Sudbury and the districts of Manitoulin and Sudbury – Public Health Sudbury & Districts
-
- 72
Issued: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Persistently high and growing COVID-19 case rates have prompted Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ Medical Officer of Health to expand the legally enforceable Instructions currently in place locally under the provincial Reopening Ontario Act. New protective measures are being implemented throughout the agency’s service area and those currently in force in Greater Sudbury are being expanded to reach across the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts.
“We are at a point where we need to double down on the basics like masking, physical distancing, and vaccination. But local circumstances also mean that we also need some new rules, rolling back some relaxed measures, to further protect people who are unvaccinated, especially kids,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health with Public Health Sudbury & Districts. “Today I am announcing new protective measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and do our best to ensure we are as prepared as we can be for the highly transmissible Omicron variant,” added Dr. Sutcliffe.
Following a review of trends and data—and considering concerns about the Omicron variant and the socializing that occurs with the holiday season—Dr. Sutcliffe, with the support of the provincial Chief Medical Officer of Health, is requiring that the following measures be in place across Greater Sudbury, Manitoulin District, and Sudbury District, effective Saturday, December 11, 2021, at 12:01 a.m. The new Instructions expand the measures currently in place for the City of Greater Sudbury to apply across the agency’s services area, including:
- Reinstated capacity limits and physical distancing requirements relaxed by the province in early fall.
- Strengthened masking requirements at organized public events.
- Strengthened proof of vaccination requirements for those participating in organized sports at indoor facilities.
- Reinstated the former requirement that people work remotely (for example from home) unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site at the workplace.
These new Instructions also add new protections as follows:
- Businesses and organizations that are open must limit the size of social gatherings and organized public events in their premises and venues to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
- Proof of vaccination requirements (for those 12 years of age and over) for all non-essential businesses and organizations for which it is currently voluntary (opt-in) under the Step 3 Rules, while maintaining capacity limits. This will apply, for example, to personal care services, indoor recreational amenities, and museums, galleries, and science centres, among others. A full list of settings is available in the detailed technical brief (PDF). This measure will not be in effect until Wednesday, December 15, 2021, at 12:01 a.m.
- Strengthened requirements for basic public health measures across sectors including masking, physical distancing, active screening, and contact tracing. For example, masks will be required outdoors in places where people cannot maintain physical distance of at least 2 metres from those not part of their households (subject to exemptions for mask use).
- Strengthened requirements for safety plans for all businesses and organizations, including detail for what these must contain. This includes for example, conducting and documenting regular reviews of the plan with workers.
- Food and drink establishments will be required to reimplement some protections from Step 2, including no buffets and ensuring that patrons generally remain seated (except when dancing in establishments where that is permitted).
- In facilities used for indoor sports and recreational fitness activities, and for personal physical fitness trainers:
- Returning to a physical distancing requirement of 3 metres (instead of 2 metres) …….
Issued: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Persistently high and growing COVID-19 case rates have prompted Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ Medical Officer of Health to expand the legally enforceable Instructions currently in place locally under the provincial Reopening Ontario Act. New protective measures are being implemented throughout the agency’s service area and those currently in force in Greater Sudbury are being expanded to reach across the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts.
“We are at a point where we need to double down on the basics like masking, physical distancing, and vaccination. But local circumstances also mean that we also need some new rules, …….
Issued: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Persistently high and growing COVID-19 case rates have prompted Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ Medical Officer of Health to expand the legally enforceable Instructions currently in place locally under the provincial Reopening Ontario Act. New protective measures are being implemented throughout the agency’s service area and those currently in force in Greater Sudbury are being expanded to reach across the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts.
“We are at a point where we need to double down on the basics like masking, physical distancing, and vaccination. But local circumstances also mean that we also need some new rules, …….
- Returning to a physical distancing requirement of 3 metres (instead of 2 metres) …….