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Public Health issues annual report on the pandemic year 2021

Titled “Strong and Steady In Uncertain Times”, the report highlights the scope of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic
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Public Health Sudbury & Districts office on Paris Street.

In its 2021 annual report, Public Health Sudbury & Districts focussed on the challenge protecting the public from COVID-19 while working to roll out more than 380,000 doses of vaccine. 

This happened despite "disruption and uncertainty".  The report is titled: Strong and Steady In Uncertain Times.

The annual report was approved by the PHSD board of health on Oct. 20. The document included input from board chair and newly re-elected Ward 6 city councillor René Lapierre and Medical Officer of Health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe. 

In her report to the board, Sutcliffe said, "We have for sure been navigating turbulent times and waters in 2021." She said PHSD carried on "sticking with our values and principles in responding to community needs."

Lapierre said public health provided the public with "a steady response" to the pandemic regardless of outside influences.  

"These achievements underscore the value of public health in our communities: even in times of considerable disruption and uncertainty, Public Health adjusted, collaborated, and responded in-step with community needs to protect the health of residents and reduce the burden on an overstretched health care system," Lapierre said.

The report noted that by January 2021 the pandemic had been ongoing for nine months already and that vaccines were just being introduced to the general public in a limited way. At the same time, the Ontario government announced its second provincial lockdown and stay-at-home order.

The same week all that was occurring, PHSD began administering COVID-19 vaccines for the first time, at a long-term care home on Manitoulin Island. Days later, the first COVID outbreak at a Sudbury long-term care home was declared. The first person to die as a result of the outbreak did so that week. The outbreak would eventually claim at least six lives.

Up until that time, Sudbury had reported only two COVID deaths for all of 2020. By the end of January, 2021, there would be seven more COVID-related deaths locally. 

PHSD reported its vaccine program as a success and creditted that success to the efforts of its staff and the staff of partner agencies, including First Nations, area municipalities and health-care providers.

"Public Health developed a vaccination approach that was not only effective, efficient, and aligned with federal and provincial directives, but one that addressed barriers to equal access, engaging with equity-seeking groups, for example, those living in remote areas, Indigenous people, and persons with disabilities," said the report. 

"By using focused, respectful outreach and purposeful planning, Public Health and our partners were able to bring vaccines to the arms of individuals who might otherwise not have been protected."

The report also revealed that despite the best efforts of public health workers, COVID-19 continued to spread to the point that additional restrictive measures were taken. By November, Sudbury was one of the worst public health jurisdictions in Ontario in terms of the rate of transmission. Sutcliffe issued work-from-home requirements and took steps to encourage people to limit public outings as much as possible.

"As the Omicron variant became the dominant COVID-19 strain circulating, our agency ended the year with a focus on offering booster doses to all eligible individuals to increase their protection against severe illness," said the report.

Also mentioned in the PHSD annual report was the continuing crisis involving opioid substance abuse. PHSD said part of the community drug strategy in 2021 included better public education to reduce the stigma associated with substance abuse along with the need for harm reduction.  

"We know there is not just one quick solution, and in the presence of an ongoing toxic drug supply, Public Health remains focused on preventing the harms associated with substance use by offering education and awareness-raising activities, working to build resilient communities, and strengthening local partnerships and policies as part of the immediate, medium, and long-term collective strategies to address this crisis," said the report. 

Len Gillis covers health care and mining for Sudbury.com.


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Len Gillis

About the Author: Len Gillis

Graduating from the Journalism program at Canadore College in the 1970s, Gillis has spent most of his career reporting on news events across Northern Ontario with several radio, television and newspaper companies. He also spent time as a hardrock miner.
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