Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to kick off your weekend.
Canada to receive 6.5M doses of COVID-19 vaccines by end of March
With the approval of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine announced today by Health Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will receive 6.5 million doses of vaccines by the end of March. Today, Health Canada authorized for use the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine. With that announcement, Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand revealed Canada has secured two million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. “In other words, we now have a third safe and effective vaccine independently approved by health experts in Canada,” the prime minister said in a news conference today. “This is very encouraging news.” AstraZeneca has licensed the manufacture of the vaccine to the Serum Institute of India, which is marketing the vaccine under the name COVISHIELD. Verity Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. of Mississauga is the sponsor of the Serum Institute-manufactured vaccine in Canada. Those two million COVISHIELD doses are in addition to the 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine expected to arrive between April and June.
Donors wondering where their money went amid Laurentian’s insolvency
A retired Laurentian University professor who set up a scholarship for students in his late wife’s name is one of several people who have spoken out recently because they’re concerned about the fate of their donations amid LU’s insolvency. Bill Crumplin, who retired as a Laurentian environmental studies professor last year, set up the scholarship through Laurentian’s development office in memory of his wife, Donna Williams, after she passed away in 2016. The scholarship provides $1,000 per year to a woman in the environmental studies program who is involved with the community. Crumplin estimates there was about $10,000 in the fund, although he was aiming to eventually get the fund to about $25,000 so it would be self-sustaining. But with Laurentian announcing its insolvency earlier this month and entering restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, Crumplin said he suspects the money is probably already gone.
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Public Health Sudbury reported six new COVID-19 cases, one death
The Sudbury health unit reported Thursday that there are six new cases of COVID-19 in the area. Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) said there are now 36 cases being actively monitored, an upward change from the 30 active cases reported on Thursday. Since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, there have been 611 total COVID-19 cases reported to the Sudbury health unit. PHSD said 575 of those cases have been resolved locally. Public Health Sudbury & Districts also reported another COVID-19 death in Greater Sudbury today, bringing the number of deaths in the region associated with the virus since the pandemic began to 13. The individual was linked to the outbreak at Health Sciences North. The health unit is also reporting three more COVID-19 outbreaks in the area. Two are at Lasalle Secondary School and Cyril Varney Public School in Greater Sudbury. This follows the dismissal of all students and staff at both schools Feb. 24. On the provincial COVID-19 report today, the Ontario government daily website reported there were 1,258 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province. Also today, the province reported 28 new deaths had occurred in the previous 24 hours.
Sudbury construction company fined $210K for 2018 death of employee
Construction company R.M. Bélanger Ltd. has been fined $210,000 for the death of a worker who was killed when a wooden telephone pole fell on the person in the parking lot of a Chelmsford golf course in 2018. The company was convicted under the Ontario Health and Safety Act in October, 2020, of failing to use a safe procedure for loading a pole onto a flatbed trailer, and failing to ensure that no worker was in an endangered position during the loading of a pole onto a flatbed trailer. The sentencing was issued in Provincial Offences Court by Justice of the Peace Kathleen Bryant on Feb. 26.
Timmins health unit warning about high-risk COVID-19 exposure on buses between Timmins and Sudbury
The Porcupine Health Unit is reporting a high-risk COVID-19 exposure on two Ontario Northland buses. The affected routes are: Wednesday, Feb. 24 - Ontario Northland bus 11 a.m. bus from Toronto to Sudbury, and; Wednesday, Feb. 24 - Ontario Northland bus 6 p.m. bus from Sudbury to Timmins. People who were on these buses are being asked to self-isolate immediately.
Sault police officer charged with mischief by Greater Sudbury Police
A Sault police officer was arrested yesterday by the Greater Sudbury Police Service following a public complaint. In a news release issued today, the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service reports that Constable Craig Johnson has been charged with public mischief under the Criminal Code and has been suspended from duty with pay. Greater Sudbury Police told Sudbury.com they were brought in to investigate by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service. It has been alleged that Johnson, 35, "filed a false police report in relation to a traffic complaint to the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service against another community member of Sault Ste. Marie," GSPS spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn told Sudbury.com.
