SUDBURY -- With a province-wide shutdown on the horizon, going into effect at 12:01 a.m. Boxing Day, some say a northern Ontario "bubble" should be considered.

Like the Maritimes did this summer, a regional bubble would restrict non-essential highway travel from outside the region.

Some northern politicians say including our region in the lockdown wasn't necessary as the number of infections is much lower than our southern counterparts. And as of Tuesday, there were no COVID-related cases in any northern Ontario hospital intensive care units.

Sudbury City Councillor Mike Jakubo feels other measures are needed to keep people from highly-affected COVID-19 areas from bringing it to the north.

"You're still hearing of people either visiting southern Ontario from northern Ontario or coming up from southern Ontario for family gatherings. That's the kind of thing we have to stop," Jakubo said.

Jakubo feels having regional restrictions to block non-essential travel is an option that has been overlooked.

The idea would be to have police checkpoints along major routes to preserve a bubble and thereby be able to loosen regulations within the region which might allow local businesses to stay open

"There's a whole bunch of things that you've also got to do. You've got to support those small businesses that are now going to be shut down for two weeks ... So we need to do all of these things and at one point, you may have to start isolating who comes from one region of the province to the other," said Timmins MPP Gilles Bisson.

Many First Nation communities in the province have already implemented travel bans.

The Porcupine Health Unit's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Lianne Catton, said she has long recommended limiting non-essential travel.

"The language is there to avoid non-essential travel outside of the region and likewise to also ask that people avoid non-essential travel into our region, it's equally important," Dr. Catton said.

And Jakubo said limiting inter-community travel would cement that message.

"If people knew that there was an actual enforceable ban, I think that's the signal that people would need," Jakubo said.

He said it would up to the province to implement a "northern bubble" and for local officials to push for it.

Jakubo said he hasn't yet discussed the idea with Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger And Timmins Mayor George Pirie wasn't available for comment. 

As for the cost of setting up such a system, Jakubo said the province is sitting on billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief that could be better used to keep businesses open in a bubble, rather than supporting them through another lockdown.

"Those subsidy programs the government has put out in the past were necessary, but ... businesses are getting back onto a footing," said Jakubo. "I think those resources could be used elsewhere to allow more freedom in the north."

"The provinces in the Atlantic region have done it, they've done it successfully and I think we do have that dividing line between southern and northern Ontario that we could have restrictions."