Sudbury medical officer of health 'very cautious' about easing measures, despite low infection numbers

Sudbury and districts Medical Officer of Health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe says Sudburians and northerners more broadly have "a lot to be proud of" for the measures taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but she says the move to ease restrictions need to be gradual — even in areas with few confirmed cases.

Some businesses in Ontario — including garden centres and car washes — are permitted to reopen Monday, while adhering to physical distancing measures. Last week Premier Doug Ford unveiled what he called the province's "roadmap" to the gradual reopening the economy and loosening restrictions.

The plan outlines several benchmarks that must be met in order to move through the phases of reopening, including a consistent drop in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases, over several weeks. 

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has been much lower in the north of the province than in the south, prompting questions about whether the timeline for reopening could be different, depending on region. Ford told reporters last week that was something under consideration, but that he was reluctant to take that route.

A number of politicians from northeastern Ontario say they agree, the province should reopen under one uniform timeline.

'A pretty tough call'

In his riding of Timmins, NDP MPP Gilles Bisson says he would not be keen to see things reopen sooner. That community has been hit harder by coronavirus than others in the region.

But Bisson says he could see how, in some other communities less affected by the virus, it might make sense to take geographical considerations into account. 

"But then it raises a whole bunch of other questions about people moving from point A to point B," Bisson said. 

"So that's a pretty tough call. And I think the answer is, I think in some areas we might be able to do that, but in others we're not going to have much of a choice in the sense of making sure there's a pan-provincial policy."

The issue of people travelling from one region to another once certain businesses reopen is a key concern for North Bay Mayor Al McDonald, as well. He said he would not support the idea of reopening businesses such as restaurants in northern Ontario before doing so in the south. 

"I think that just puts our citizens at risk," McDonald said. 

"But if for an example, they changed a regulation that allows someone to build a house and they're using all their local, you know suppliers and trades, you might be able to look at that. I mean obviously I'd want to run that by the medical officer of health, but I could see that as maybe being one of the examples."

Sudbury MPP Jamie West said he wants to see the province err on the side of caution.

"If we don't get this right, if we don't do it safely, you know it could lead to another outbreak and even longer closures," West said. 

Lower immunity levels a concern, says Sutcliffe 

Sutcliffe said northern Ontarians should be proud of the relatively low infection rates, but should not be "tempted to open up the gates too quickly."

Rather than seeing the low number of cases as a reason to speed up reopening, Sutcliffe said she sees it as an additional reason to exercise caution.

"We've had fewer cases here, which probably means we have had less virus circulating which probably means we have lower levels of immunity or protection in our population. So I am very, very cautious about reopening," Sutcliffe said.

Sutcliffe said different parts of the province have "different risks for different reasons" — such as potentially lower levels of immunity in the north, versus the risks associated with higher population density in Toronto. 

She said it will be important to keep those differences in mind going forward, and to adapt to local circumstances as needed, through the gradual process of reopening.