Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
OPP lay charges against mother of children killed in tragic Jan. 1 crash:
The mother of three kids killed in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 17 on Jan. 1 has been charged with careless driving causing death and careless driving causing bodily harm. Speed and lack of seat belt use were factors in the fatalities, said the Ontario Provincial Police. Uche Osagie, 46, is scheduled to appear in court on July 6. On Jan. 1, at approximately 8:50 a.m., members from the Nipissing West (Sudbury) Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) along with Sudbury Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Greater Sudbury Fire Services responded to the crash in the westbound lanes of Highway 17, near the Highway 144 interchange. An investigation revealed the westbound car left the travelled portion of the roadway and struck a rock cut. The crash killed Britney Osagie, six, and her brothers Flourish Osagie, 10, and Destiny Osagie, 11. A 10-year-old passenger suffered life-altering injuries and remains in hospital in Toronto. The driver was not injured and the front seat passenger suffered minor injuries.
City estimating $4 million in lost revenue and costs associated with COVID-19:
The impacts of COVID-19 have been widespread across multiple sectors of the economy and city hall is not immune, as the city is forecasting a financial impact of $4 million in lost revenues and costs related to operations during the crisis by the end of the month. Greater Sudbury's finance and administration committee met virtually on April 14 to hear a report on the financial implications that the city is dealing with during its respons to COVID-19. From a very basic overview, the $4 million is broken down into two parts - approximately $1.5 million in lost revenue, and approximately $2.5 million in additional expenses. The city suspended bus fare collection on March 20, and is expected to make more changes to GOVA's service in the coming week, namely scaling back the frequency of some routes. Reduced ridership, coupled with no bus fare resulted in an impact of $250,000 over the last 12 days of March. At that rate, the city is projecting a loss of approximately $650,000 for every month that the crisis continues. From March 17 to April 3, the city experienced revenue losses totalling approximately $600,000 related to the closure of facilities such as pools, arenas, ski hills and community halls, with the biggest chunk coming out of arenas at approximately $400,000. More on this story here.
Two more cases of COVID-19 in Greater Sudbury bring local total to 38:
Public Health Sudbury & Districts is reporting Greater Sudbury’s 37th and 38th cases of COVID-19. At noon Tuesday, the health unit said a woman in her 60s is the 37th case and is self-isolating after testing on April 11. It is not clear how she contracted the virus. The 38th case is in a woman in her 70s, who likely contracted the virus through close contact and international travel. She, too, is self-isolating after being tested on April 11. Twenty-one of the region’s 38 cases are now listed as resolved, and there has been one death. In the region, there have been 1,520 tests done to date, with 999 coming back negative and 485 currently under investigation. Northern Ontario now has 150 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
HSN to open third drive-thru testing site in New Sudbury:
Greater Sudbury is getting a third COVID-19 drive-through testing centre and it opens April 15. Health Sciences North announced the new testing site Tuesday in its daily pandemic bulletin. “HSN is building more testing capacity for COVID-19 in the Sudbury area by adding a third location where patients can be swabbed,” the bulletin reads. “Primacy Medical Centre, located at 1485 Lasalle Blvd., will start swabbing patients for COVID-19 on [April 15].” The Primacy Medical Centre drive-thru testing site will be open seven days a week between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. Other testing sites in the city are: 56 Walford Road, with additional drive-through testing option, open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days a week, and; NEOMO Medical at 885 Prete Street, open 8 a.m.-4 p.m., seven days a week. All three COVID-19 assessment options are by appointment only. They are designed to protect health workers and patients alike from being exposed to the virus.
Sudbury's 3D printers creating hundreds of medical headbands for HSN:
Thanks to a bunch of Sudburians with access to 3D printers, Health Sciences North now has 800 made-in-the-Nickel City headbands in case its medical-grade supply runs out. These headbands are designed to attach to face shields, an important piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. With reports of PPE shortages in Ontario, Gisele Roberts, Laurentian's manager for innovation and commercialization, started looking into how the university could use its 3D printers to help, and settled on the headbands. Since then, many other individuals and organizations with 3D printers have jumped on board to create the devices. That includes the city's two colleges, Collège Boréal and Cambrian College, as well as SNOLAB, Science North, Lively District and Lo-Ellen Park high schools, and businesses including Hard Line Solutions and Ionic Mechatronics. The headbands can be printed in less than an hour using an open-source design by the Swedish firm 3D Verkstan. Full story here.
Province set to redeploy health care workers from different sectors to support long-term care homes:
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that he will spare no expense when it comes to protecting staff and residents at long-term care home around the province. Speaking at his daily press conference Tuesday, Ford described COVID-19 as a wildfire at long-term care homes and that they were quickly turning into the front line of the fight. "My top priority right now is getting the troops and the resources needed to this front," said Ford. "We're going through everything we have at our long-term care homes and tomorrow we will launch an enhanced action plan to fight COVID-19 in long-term care homes." The plan will include added support and resources, as well as redeploying frontline healthcare workers from hospitals, as they have not seen the surge in COVID-19 cases that they were bracing for. "We must redeploy every available resource to our long-term care homes right now, it is absolutely critical," said Ford. "Thanks to our collective efforts, we've not seen the surge in our hospitals that we were so worried about. As a result, we have capacity within the health sector and I want available resources from our health system redeployed to those homes when there is a serious outbreak." You can watch the Premier's press conference from Tuesday here.
Schools won’t reopen on May 4, says Premier:
Students in Ontario will not be going back to their classes on May 4, Premier Doug Ford confirmed Tuesday afternoon. The question was raised during Ford’s latest COVID-19 update. Ford said Education Minister Stephen Lecce will be speaking further to this in the coming days, but it “does not mean that the year’s cancelled.” On March 12, the province announced all publicly funded schools would be shut down for two weeks after March Break due to concerns about coronavirus. Then, on March 31, the province extended the school closures until May 4, with the proviso to re-evaluate based on public health advice as that date came closer.
Police looking to check on well-being of woman who was forced into a vehicle at the Grotto:
Greater Sudbury Police are requesting the assistance of the public to check on the well-being of a woman who was involved in an incident near the Grotto on Lourdes Street on April 12. Around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, April 12, a woman was seen standing in the parking lot of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes off of Van Horne Street when a man exited the driver’s seat of a parked grey/silver four-door sedan, grabbed the woman and forced her into the car. The woman appeared to be crying once she was inside the vehicle. The man got back into the driver’s seat and drove towards the downtown core with the woman in the front passenger seat. The man is described as being white, in his 20s with an average build and brown hair. The woman is described as being white, in her 20s with a slim build and average height (shorter than the man). Police are requesting assistance to check on the well-being of the woman. Anyone with information related to this incident, the two individuals or the involved vehicle is asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Division at 705-675-9171. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 705-222-8477.
Wednesday Weather:
The calendar may say mid-April, but it's feeling more like mid-March out there. Mainly cloudy today with a 60 per cent chance of flurries in the afternoon. Wednesday's high will only get up to 1. Mostly cloudy tonight with 60 per cent chance of flurries early in the evening. Skies will clear up overnight but chilly temperatures will be settling in. Overnight low will be -9, feeling like -13 with the wind chill. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
