The province’s “emergency brake” has been pulled in the Public Health Sudbury and Districts region. Effective Friday, March 12 at 12:01 am, the Health Unit will moved into the Grey-Lockdown level of Ontario’s reopening framework.
That’s on the advice of David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health. The decision was made due to the concerning trends in public health indicators and in consultation with the local medical officer of health.
“Implementing an emergency brake to immediately interrupt transmission of COVID-19 is a key component of our government’s plan to safely and gradually return public health regions to the Framework,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “We have seen a rapid rise in the case rate in the Sudbury area, and swift action is needed to protect individuals, families and businesses and save lives.”
Based on the latest assessment of data, the “emergency brake” is being used to stop the spread, guard against variants and protect public health and health system capacity in the region. From March 3 to 9, 2021, the region’s case rate increased by 54.1 per cent to 75.9 cases per 100,000 people.
No indoor organized public events and social gatherings are allowed in lockdown, except for members of the same household (Individuals who live alone, including seniors, may consider having exclusive, close contact with another household to help reduce the negative impacts of social isolation)
Outdoor organized events and social gatherings can see a maximum of 10 people.
Indoor dining at restaurants is prohibited, but take out and drive through is still permitted.
Facilities for indoor or outdoor sports and recreational fitness activities are closed.
In person shopping permitted for all retail, subject to capacity limits of:
- 50% for supermarkets and other stores that primarily sell groceries, convenience stores and pharmacies
- 25% for all other retail, including discount and big box retailers, liquor stores, cannabis stores, hardware stores and garden centres
Personal care services, casinos,bingo halls are all closed.