Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger expressed his disappointment with a surge in COVID-19 cases in Greater Sudbury in a statement issued July 28.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts reported eight new cases of COVID-19 on July 27, seven of which were individuals aged 19 or younger, and all of them were linked to travel-related exposure to the virus.
The city has had 12 new cases of COVID-19 since July 20, after nearly a month without a single new case.
Full text of Mayor Bigger's statement is as follows:
I was very disappointed to learn of the surge in new COVID-19 cases in Greater Sudbury. We have all worked too long and too hard to give up the success we had gained in protecting the community from this virus. I want to reiterate that no one is invincible from this virus.
Those who put themselves at risk of catching the virus also put others in the community at risk - that's not acceptable. This is irresponsible and I would please ask all residents of Greater Sudbury to take COVID-19 more seriously, and follow the guidelines that have been put in place to protect all of us.
It has been a long few months, but if we want to get back to normal we need to act accordingly and stay vigilant. We have advanced forward but if a second wave occurs, we could very likely be back to where we were in March or April. I don't think we want to be back there again.
We are roughly four weeks from provincially planned school reopenings, and the annual cold and flu season later this fall. In the interest of public health and wellbeing in our community, the City of Greater Sudbury will remain in its current state of emergency. This will also assist public health officials and those on the front line contain the spread of COVID-19.
The only way we will reduce and ideally finally stop the spread of COVID-19 is by making better choices and not letting our guard down.
We have been strong, resilient and positive through this crisis. I am confident this is just one set back and I ask that we all work together, stay positive and keep this curve crushed.
