Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to get you started on this Wednesday morning.
Sudbury health unit will continue to report local COVID-19 case counts despite testing restriction
It looks like it will be business as usual for the time being when it comes to reporting daily COVID-case counts by Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD). This follows last Thursday's announcement from the province that COVID testing procedures would be changing and that ordinary citizens with no specific history of disease would no longer be eligible for PCR testing. The PCR test, also known as the polymerase chain reaction, or molecular test, is considered the gold standard for COVID-19 testing. PHSD said today that it is evaluating procedures to determine the best indicator of the severity of illness, but in the meantime it will continue to report local cases. It was not described in any detail how this would take place. "Public Health Sudbury and Districts is evaluating current COVID-19 reporting practices to assess whether changes are needed based on the provincial announcement last week regarding changes to COVID-19 PCR testing eligibility," PHSD said in an email response to questions from Sudbury.com.
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Enhanced vaccine passport takes effect
Heading out to dinner or the gym? Ontario's new proof of vaccination requirements for the QR code that can be scanned takes effect Jan. 4. As of Jan. 5, the province is returning to a modified step two of the Roadmap to Reopen, which will close indoor dining and gyms until at least Jan. 26. People who are visiting places that require proof that they're vaccinated against COVID-19 must have the enhanced vaccine certificate with the QR code to be scanned by the Verify Ontario app. A piece of identification is still needed as well. Up until now, businesses have accepted the QR code and the original vaccine passport that shows the date someone was vaccinated. The certificate with the QR code can be downloaded here. You'll need your health card to access it.
NOJHL announces three-week pause to season
The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League has announced a three-week pause to its 2021-2022 regular season in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases. The league said it remains committed to finishing the season. The pause was announced today in the wake of the Government of Ontario announcement of a number of COVID-19-related restrictions scheduled to commence on Jan. 5. “Despite the limitations being put in place by the province, the NOJHL remains wholly committed to the completion of our regular season, playoffs, and league championship series as well as sending our representative to compete in the Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Jr. A event,” NOJHL commissioner Robert Mazzuca said in a news release. “The players, team staffs, game officials and everyone associated with the NOJHL have done a tremendous job following the guidelines put in place, at every level, with hundreds, upon hundreds, of negative COVID-tests coming back as a result, as we remained dutiful of our responsibilities in dealing with the on-going pandemic.” Mazzuca, who also chairs the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) board, said NOJHL administrators are exploring options for how to finish out the season.
Tourism entering ‘dangerous time’ as new COVID restrictions introduced, says association
Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) is concerned additional COVID-related provincial restrictions introduced this week will bring fresh uncertainty to the province's tourism industry. Among measures announced Jan. 3, in-house dining at restaurants is prohibited; meeting and event spaces must close; and museums, galleries, science centres, and other attractions must also close. The move was made in an effort to slow the rate of COVID infections from the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the disease, which is resulting in more cases and putting the stability of the health-care system at risk. In a Jan. 3 note to members, Dave MacNeil, the CEO at FEO, called it “another excruciatingly painful day” for the industry. “I know how hard you have all worked to make your venues and businesses safe for your patrons,” MacNeil said. “The health data reflects that our industry has been hugely successful in reducing transmission, and that makes today’s announcements even more frustrating. In my view, 21 months into this pandemic, this is the most dangerous time for our industry, as the economic scars of the pandemic have left many heavily debt-laden whilst at the same time facing steep rises in costs and falling revenues.”
Vaping flavour bans will put lives at risk, says lobby group
Restrictions on flavours in vaping products would be a "drastic setback" in the battle to reduce the 48,000 Canadian lives lost every year to smoking, according to a study released by a lobby group called E-Cigarette Research. Read the full report here. Read the executive summary of Flavours Report here. The study says e-cigarette flavourings are “inextricably linked” to smoking cessation and should be made more accessible and affordable to adults trying to quit. The Canadian government has initiated the process of banning most flavoured vaping products. The Health Canada regulation will prohibit flavours other than tobacco, menthol and mint. The website says the government "aims to protect Canadians from nicotine addiction and from inducements to use tobacco and, in particular for youth, from vaping products use." “Well-regulated use of flavours can and should be considered as a valuable tool to help prevent disease and save the lives of adult smokers who cannot or will not quit by themselves or with other approved methods,” says report author Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, a cardiologist with a career devoted to tobacco harm reduction. The report examines the science, consumer insights, risks and regulatory considerations related to e-cigarettes.
‘It just doesn’t seem like there’s any plan’: Sudbury reacts to school going virtual … again
For the third school year in a row, JK-12 schooling in Ontario is going virtual once again due to the COVID-19 situation, leaving families and school boards alike scrambling to prepare on short notice. Eric Laberge, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation District 3, representing English public high school teachers in the Sudbury region, said given the rise in COVID-19 cases, going virtual is the “prudent thing to do.” However, he said the province’s handling of this file to date has been “terrible.” Laberge said it would have been better to just make the decision to shift schools to virtual learning before the Christmas holiday break. The province knew the COVID-19 trends at that point, he said. “Staff, parents and students have been caught off guard and have been left scrambling,” Laberge said. “This is a decision that … however unpopular it might have been, it could have been taken before Christmas.”
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Quite a bit of snow in today’s forecast
Warm up your snowblower and dust off your shovels, there’s snow in the forecast today. Snow will be heavy at times, with between five and 10 centimetres expected by the end of the day. Today’s high is -5 but expect temperatures to dip to -10 in the afternoon. The wind will be out of the northeast at 20 km/h, gusting to 40, so expect a wind chill of -12 this morning and -17 this afternoon. Tonight, expect periods of snow and a low of -19.
