COVID-19 Update: Greater Sudbury to join the rest of Ontario in lockdown beginning December 26

Following Monday’s announcement of a province-wide lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the City of Greater Sudbury is making temporary changes to a number of services and programs.

The following changes will be in effect beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, December 26 until Saturday, January 9. Unless indicated below, other municipal services will continue to operate as normal. Please visit www.greatersudbury.ca/covid for specific service information.

“While it’s certainly disappointing to learn that we’re going into lockdown after we’ve all worked so hard to limit the local spread of COVID-19, we need to look at the bigger picture,” said Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger. “As we head into the heart of the holiday season, when many people historically travel between cities to visit loved ones, it’s more critical than ever that we all do our part. We still have the ability to successfully work through this pandemic, but it means taking it seriously and making some temporary sacrifices for the greater good – not just for our own community, but for our loved ones across Ontario.”

“The threat of COVID-19 does not take a break over the holiday season. As we prepare to make the sacrifices necessary for a province-wide lockdown, please remember to be patient and kind with one another,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health for Public Health Sudbury & Districts. “Even with our community working hard to keep our local case count low, Greater Sudbury remains at risk as provincial numbers rise and the health care system is threatened. This across-the-board approach is temporary but necessary if we are to protect everyone in our community, including those most vulnerable. Like many, Public Health looks forward to a healthier 2021 and arrival of effective vaccines.”

Arenas
Arenas will be closed and all ice bookings and public skating programs will be cancelled during the provincial lockdown. New January dates are not being booked at this time.
• User groups – staff are reviewing and adjusting ice booking contracts to reflect these cancellations and details will be emailed once changes are complete. If you paid for ice within this timeframe, a credit will be applied to your account for future bookings.
• Individual/family skate – a full refund will be issued to the credit card on the account. Those who booked ice with a different method of payment (e.g. debit, cash or cheque) are asked to email icebookings@greatersudbury.ca.
• All existing registrations for Parents & Tots, Adults, or All Ages Public Skating will be cancelled.

Pools and Fitness Centres
All pools and fitness centres will be closed during the provincial lockdown. Fitness memberships will be extended and punchcards will be honoured at all facilities based on the duration of the lockdown. Residents who were in a registered program can reschedule their registration or receive an account credit or refund. Facility staff will contact registrants in the coming days to discuss their options. Anyone who has not received a phone call about their program status by January 4 can email leisure.services@greatersudbury.ca.

Outdoor Leisure Activities
Outdoor rinks and skate paths are permitted to open, but ski hills will remain closed as per the provincial lockdown. Depending on weather conditions, Queen’s Athletic Skating Oval and the Ramsey Lake Skating Path, which historically open between mid-January and early February, will open. Some of the City’s 54 outdoor neighbourhood rinks have opened, and others will open once proper weather conditions permit ice making. Fieldhouses will remain closed. Residents should be prepared to change skates outside.

Parks, playgrounds and open spaces remain open for pass-through purposes. These areas cannot be used for team games or sports. Benches, waste bins, gates, handrails and other surfaces are not sanitized. The Jim Gordon Boardwalk (Bell Park), Delki Dozzi track and Fielding Memorial Park walking loop are maintained for winter walking opportunities.

Users are reminded to maintain a distance of two metres from people who are not part of their household and wear a mask if distancing is difficult.

Libraries and Citizen Service Centres
All Libraries and Citizen Service Centres will remain open for contactless curbside pickup. All returned materials will be disinfected or quarantined for an appropriate period of time before being recirculated.

Residents who require Citizen Service Centre services can contact the facility directly to discuss options, as many services are available online or via telephone. Residents are asked to avoid all non-essential visits to Citizen Service Centres.

For more information, including branch-specific hours of operation and to book materials for pickup, visit www.sudburylibraries.ca/covid-19-update.

Tom Davies Square
Tom Davies Square will remain open by appointment only, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Public access is limited to the main floor, including the public washrooms. Residents should avoid all non-essential visits to Tom Davies Square. Many services are available online or over the phone, and residents are asked to first contact 311 by phone or Live Web Chat (311.greatersudbury.ca) to see if there’s an alternative to an in-person visit. A full list of online services can be found at www.greatersudbury.ca/eservices.

Garbage and Recycling
The service counter at the Recycling Centre will be closed and the sale of Big Blues, kitchen collectors and backyard composters will be temporarily suspended until the provincial lockdown has been lifted.
Blue boxes and green carts can be ordered for home delivery via the Waste Wise app, online at www.greatersudbury.ca/wastewise or by calling 311. Please allow up to two weeks for delivery.

Bag tags can be ordered online or purchased at participating retail stores that remain open to the public. For more information, visit www.greatersudbury.ca/bagtags.

Landfill sites will remain open. In order to maintain physical distancing, only four to six vehicles will be permitted onsite at a time at all sites. Residential roadside waste collection vehicles and commercial waste haulers will be provided priority access. Residents should be prepared for longer than usual wait times. The City has set up a live camera at the Sudbury landfill site so that residents can see how busy it is before they make the trip. Check out the live feed at www.greatersudbury.ca/landfill-livestream.

Animal Shelter
The Greater Sudbury Animal Shelter continues to accept visitors by appointment only. Please call 311 to make arrangements.

Child Care
Child care centres will remain open during the shutdown. During the period of virtual learning (January 4 to 8), school-aged children cannot attend to limit exposures. The Ministry of Education will implement a targeted emergency child care program for school-aged children. Find a list of eligible workers on the Province’s website here: www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-provincewide-shutdown. Parents must contact child care operators directly to determine eligibility and availability.

Reminders:
• Only gather indoors with the people you live with. Individuals who live alone may consider having exclusive close contact with one other household.
• No indoor organized public events are allowed.
• Outdoor organized events and social gatherings are limited to 10 people and physical distancing must be maintained.
• Trips outside the home should be limited to essential purposes like work, medical appointments, grocery shopping and exercise.
• The provincial lockdown places a number of restrictions on in-person shopping and indoor dining. For a full list of local measures, visit www.phsd.ca/public-health-sudbury-districts-part-of-a-provincewide-shutdown.
• Travel outside the Greater Sudbury area should be for essential purposes only. Anyone travelling outside of Ontario during the shutdown period should self-isolate for 14 days upon their return.
• Continue to follow basic but important measures to prevent the spread of illness. Wash your hands often, wear a mask or face covering, cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your sleeve and stay home if you feel sick.

311
Contact 311 by phone or Live Web Chat (311.greatersudbury.ca) for:
• Unauthorized use of closed City facilities.
• People not self-isolating after international travel.
• Continued operation of non-essential businesses, as mandated by the Province of Ontario.
• Indoor organized events and social gatherings, or outdoor gatherings with more than 10 people.
• Questions about provincial rules and regulations or effects on City programs and services.

The enforcement of COVID-19 legislation is a joint initiative by City By-law Officers, Public Health Sudbury & Districts and the Greater Sudbury Police Service. 311 representatives will log your complaint, and direct it to the appropriate party based on time of day, and severity and type of issue.

The Province placed Public Health Sudbury & Districts in the Green-Protect level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework beginning Sunday, December 20 at 12:01 a.m. The Chief Medical Officer of Health will review trends in key public health indicators in the final week of the shutdown period in addition to indicators from each public health unit region to determine the appropriate zone for Public Health Sudbury & Districts area.

For up-to-date information and details on service changes related to COVID-19, visit www.greatersudbury.ca/COVID.

For local COVID-19 information, visit www.phsd.ca/covid-19.

For information on the provincial shutdown, visit www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-provincewide-shutdown.