Greater Sudbury shuts down municipal recreation facilities amid concerns about COVID-19

Municipal recreation facilities are being closed in Greater Sudbury as officials work to limit the spread of COVID-19.

On Sunday, the second case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the Sudbury area. It involves a woman in her 60s who was in close contact with the person who has the first confirmed case in the city, the health unit said.

City and health officials updated the public on Monday. Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the medical officer of health with Public Health Sudbury & Districts, said more social distancing will help to limit the spread of the virus.

"There is a need to find a balance between the inconveniences and life changes that will occur with social distancing and their effectiveness in reducing disease transmission," she said.

"In the context of COVID-19, the goal of social distancing is to ensure that we don't all get sick at the same time."

Sutcliffe said social distancing practices include staying at home when you're sick, avoiding crowded spaces, avoiding physical contact with others, asking to see if you can work from home and when outside, to be in a setting where you can maintain a two metre distance from others.

"Social distancing does not mean social isolation," Sutcliffe said.

As a result, the City of Greater Sudbury is suspending public programs and closing a number of facilities.

The affected programs and buildings in Sudbury include:

• All city-run camps and recreation programs, including the remainder of March Break activities, are suspended.
• Parks facilities, including fieldhouses, community spaces and youth centres are closed.
• Arenas are closed.
• All events at the Sudbury Community Arena are cancelled.
• Rentals at all community halls and community centres, including the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre, are suspended. No new rentals will be accepted until after April 5, 2020.
• Fitness centres are closed.
• Ski hills are closed and all scheduled programs are suspended.
• Library branches and library/citizen service centre locations are closed (with the exception of the Tom Davies Citizen Service Centre). All late library fees will be waived.
• All museums are closed.
• All provincial offence act court is suspended.
• Pioneer Manor remains closed to visitors.
• All in-person public meetings are cancelled. Online engagement opportunities online will continue.

A number of programs are not impacted, including emergency shelters, fire and paramedic response, garbage, recycling and compost pickup, the animal shelter, and city council meetings.

"This was a hard decision to make given the already heightened anxiety many in the community are experiencing, especially those with children, caring for seniors or people with complex health issues," Sudbury mayor Brian Bigger said.

"But we need to follow the expert advice of public health. They are the experts who have been tested on local, provincial and national levels and they know best what we need to do as a city to minimize the options for this virus to spread."