“Almost one-third of all of our local cases have been reported in the last week alone,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, chief medical officer of health, Public Health Sudbury and Districts. “So we are very suddenly thrust into the second wave of COVID-19 locally.”
Statistics presented by Sutcliffe showed a sharp spike in test positivity, with a rate of 1.3 per cent and a case rate of 26 per 100,000 people.
“In the previous seven days we were seeing a rate of about one per 100,000,” said Sutcliffe. “The tip of the iceberg is the cases and underneath the iceberg is all the additional work around contacts and careful followup and investigation. We are seeing about 12 contacts per case, some are more some are less but on an average (of 12).”
Highlighted by Sutcliffe on Tuesday was the age groups where cases seem to be becoming more frequent, as the health unit has seen more frequent cases among people in their 20s.
“We’re seeing more younger people, people in their 20s, and this is maybe not unexpected or unusual, this has been seen in other parts of the province that hit this part of the wave sooner than we did,” said Sutcliffe. “It really speaks to, I think, the need for young people to be social and to have connections, but also to make sure that they’re aware of how to do that in a way that is safe.”
The city’s top doctor stressed the importance of following public health direction in order to limit community spread of the virus, and while she didn’t recommend more strict enforcement at the municipal level, Sutcliffe cautioned that a lockdown could be necessary if the case numbers continue to climb.
“Really there’s no one incident or smoking gun, but multiple incidents that arguably are preventable,” said Sutcliffe. “Not preventable by high tech or really restrictive measures, but really preventable by very simple precautions that we’ve been talking about for the last eight months and that we’ve been practicing. Not a big lockdown, but of course that could be necessary if we don’t get this better under control.”
Ward 7 coun. Mike Jakubo raised the question of what level of enforcement does the health unit hold, should it be found that people who have been told to self-isolate due to a possible contact with COVID-19 choose not to do so.
“Is the health unit issuing an order to self-isolate and if so, how enforceable is that and how is that being followed up on?” asked Jakubo.
Sutcliffe said that there has been a tremendous level of cooperation when speaking with contacts and those who come in for COVID tests.
“People who we contact are forthcoming, they comply if we ask them to self-isolate, to get tested, share with us their contact information. We have not had a need to resort to what would be an order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, but make no mistake I would not hesitate to do that if necessary to protect the health of our community,” said Sutcliffe.
Jakubo questioned if enough was being done to get the messaging out to Greater Sudbury youth and educating them on how to prevent and protect themselves from the spread of COVID-19.
Sutcliffe was blunt in stating that not enough was being done at this time and that the health unit is currently working to improve their communication with Greater Sudbury youth.
“Are we doing everything we can? We are not and we need to do more; having said that we have done a lot through our social media, a lot through our work with schools, we have additional provincal and federally-funded public health nurses in schools and they’re working closely on messaging,” said Sutcliffe.
“We are in the midst and nearing the end of development of a program aimed at post-secondary and secondary aged youth and although there will be an aspect of it that is fear-based, it’s factual-based in terms of relaying what the risks and the fears are because this is not only seriously impacting the health of older populations but can also have a very serious and sometimes deadly impact on younger populations.”
One of the key messages from the program being developed by PHSD however, is strength-based and informing youth of what is in their control when it comes to the fight against COVID-19.
“Don’t just tell them what not to do, but tell them how to do things in a way that will reduce their risk,” said Sutcliffe. “It’s not telling them not to do stuff, but if they are going to do something, here are key strategies that they can use.”
Those strategies and more are among the myriad of talking points that are circulating the table at the Community Control Group (CCG) that was established in January and has been meeting regularly throughout the course of the pandemic.
The CCG, which includes Mayor Brian Bigger and leaders from the city, Health Sciences North, Public Health Sudbury & Districts, and the Greater Sudbury Police Service, reviews the local status of the virus, assesses response and takes action. Their role is to establish coordinated emergency action plans in Greater Sudbury.
For the past several months, the CCG has used scenario planning to develop a pandemic response strategy for the fall/winter. To develop the plan, the team used each of the three scenarios established by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization:
Peaks and valleys: continuous waves throughout 2020 and 2021, with clusters of COVID cases in places like schools and workplaces.
Fall peak: a large wave in the fall or winter followed by successive waves.
Slow burn: ongoing spread of the virus through periodic cases, with no specific pattern.
The CCG determined objectives and key areas of focus for the four agencies, which will be used to monitor and act on these potential virus scenarios throughout the fall and winter. The objectives for fall/winter include:
Hospital and long-term care capacity
Community strategies for health, wellness and equity
Human resources support
Critical services at City, hospital, Public Health and police
Supply chains and PPE
Economy preservation and recovery
Public order and safety
Governance and finance
Communications
“Close cooperation and awareness continue to be needed as winter approaches and the risk of COVID remains in our community,” said Ed Archer, Chief Administrative Officer, City of Greater Sudbury
“We are in an emergency situation that continues to evolve. I thank city staff and our community partners for their ongoing commitment to responding thoughtfully, and keeping the health and safety of our community top of mind.”
The areas of focus for fall/winter include:
Testing, resources to perform effective contact tracing and clearing people to return to work and school
Keep people healthy and at work
Provide community supports
Increase uptake of flu vaccine
Provide protection in long-term care
Monitor supply chains
Plan for other potential emergencies
“Early in this pandemic, we recognized the importance of having a coordinated, city-wide response guided by the experts at Public Health. That collaboration, paired with our community’s commitment to following public health advice, helped us make it through the first wave with relatively low case numbers and manageable hospitalization rates,” said Joseph Nicholls, General Manager of Community Safety, City of Greater Sudbury.
“As the case numbers hit record highs, we need to go back to following those simple rules. They will keep us going for the long haul.”
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
