An update from the Sudbury health unit Tuesday shows there are 22 active outbreaks of COVID-19, influenza, respiratory disease and enteric disease happening in the Greater Sudbury jurisdiction.
The numbers, which were updated as of 8:55 a.m. Jan. 16, showed there were 29 outbreaks in all, but seven of those outbreak notices have been deemed inactive in the past week.
The numbers included two active COVID outbreaks at Health Sciences North — fifth floor Kirkwood and eighth floor North Tower — and one active respiratory virus, cause unknown, on the seventh floor North Tower.
The list of COVID outbreak locations also includes Pioneer Manor’s York-Ramsay Unit, the Wikwemikong Nursing Home, and St. Joseph's Clarion Site third floor.
Nine of the active cases listed enteric disease, which is described by Public Health Ontario as "diseases that are caused by micro-organisms such as viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause intestinal illness. These diseases most frequently result from consuming contaminated food or water and some can spread from person to person".
Enteric disease outbreaks were listed at
- St. Joseph's Continuing Care Centre: Clarion Site;
- Westmount Retirement Home;
- St. Josephs' Villa – Gardenway;
- St. Josephs' Villa – Hillcrest Wing;
- Chartwell Southwind Retirement Residence;
- Finlandia Village - Koivu Wing;
- The Walford Retirement Home;
- St. Josephs' Villa - Lakeview Unit; and
- St. Josephs' Villa - Sunnyside Unit.
The health unit also has a Respiratory Illness Surveillance Dashboard, which outlines the level of local case activity in local sectors. This included rating the overall case activity as Moderate, hospital case activity as Very High, outbreak activity as High and wastewater activity as High.
The numbers were current from Dec.23, 2023 to Jan.6, 2024 and were due to be updated by 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Public Health Sudbury also publishes a regular epidemiology report (to be updated Wednesday) which shows that overall since the beginning of the pandemic, the Sudbury jurisdiction has exceeded 25,000 cases. This includes 246 deaths since March of 2020, with two deaths happening in the previous 14 days.
It was in the first week of January that the health unit issued a news release suggesting local residents should be taking precautions to reduce the incidence of respiratory diseases in the community.
