Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Police arrest man in suspected drive-by shooting in Val Caron:
Greater Sudbury Police attended a home in Val Caron following what they believed was a drive-by shooting early Monday morning. Police said the incident happened just after 4 a.m. on April 20 at a home on Fifth Street. No injuries were reported, however, there were three individuals inside the home at the time of the incident. Officers secured the residence and shut down Municipal Road 80 for a short period of time in order to collect physical evidence. A 25-year-old man from Greater Sudbury has been arrested and charged with extortion and criminal harassment following a suspected drive-by shooting, said Greater Sudbury Police Service. The man has a court date of April 23. The investigation into the matter is ongoing and anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call the criminal investigations division at 705-675-9171.
Ford: The steps we have taken as a province are working:
Ontario has so far avoided a worst-case scenario when it comes to COVID-19, but the province is not out of the woods yet, according to Premier Doug Ford. The Premier addressed the media during his daily press briefing Monday afternoon, first taking a moment to offer condolences to the families of the victims of a mass shooting spress in Nova Scotia on Sunday. "The people of Ontario and the entire country are grieving with our friends in Nova Scotia right now," said Ford. "My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the entire community." Ontarians heard earlier in the day Monday that community COVID-19 cases appear to have peaked, earlier than first anticipated. Earlier modelling predicted a peak in May, but officials say restrictions including physical distancing have pushed the peak to now. The light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to flicker, and Ford explained that he is aware that people are getting eager to get back to work, visit loved ones and return to their normal lives, but Ontarians need to continue working together in order to flatten the curve of COVID-19. "We've avoided the devastation that we witnessed in other countries, we're not out of the woods yet, far from it, we're still in the middle of a battle, we're still fighting hard to protect our long-term care homes and our most vulnerable," said Ford. You can watch Ford's full press conference from Monday here.
COVID-19: Hospital has six patients in the ICU as experts say Ontario outbreak has likely peaked:
There are six patients in the intensive care unit at Health Sciences North today, the hospital’s daily bulletin stated today. As of noon Monday, the hospital had a total of 11 people admitted related to COVID-19. Two of those cases are confirmed positive, one of whom is in the ICU.The remaining nine cases are under investigation. But of those nine, five patients are in the intensive care unit. Across Northern Ontario, there are 199 cases as of this writing, of which four have died and 119 are reported to have recovered. District health units in the region have reported 10 more cases of the virus since Saturday, along with five recoveries and one death following the testing of 811 individuals. While several hundred new cases are identified daily in Ontario, hospitals across the province have not been overwhelmed by the COVID-19 outbreak, the province said Monday, as a result of capacity planning and the public health measures currently in place. The key here is that the rate of growth in new cases day-over-day is declining.
Two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Greater Sudbury:
Public Health Sudbury & Districts repored the 43rd 44th COVID-19 cases of COVID-19 in residents in the area on Monday. The 43rd case is a woman in her 30s who was in close contact with another case. Case number 44 is a man in his 20s who was also exposed to the virus through close contact with a case. The man was tested on April 19 and is currently self-isolating. Of the 44 cases that have been confirmed in Greater Sudbury, 33 have been resolved, and one person has died. There have been 2,378 people tested in the area, with 1,889 negative tests and 446 that are currently under investigation.
A director of education provides an update on pandemic distance learning:
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all walks of life and that includes Canadian students. School boards scrambled this month to begin providing online distance education opportunities for school children. Sudbury.com editor Mark Gentili spoke live with Norm Blaseg, director of education for Rainbow District School Board, on Monday about distance learning, what's worked and what hasn't, and the challenges of ensuring all students can access the service. Watch their conversation here.
‘I feel abandoned,’ says woman who needs Botox injections to deal with pain:
Sudburian Tammy MacDonald is well aware there are people in worse situations than she is, but she still has a message she wants to share: No one should have to live in pain. MacDonald is two weeks overdue for the numerous Botox injections that help alleviate the symptoms associated with her auto-immune disease, fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid arthritis and Epstein-Barr. She said she’s been ill for about 20 years, and needed a walker before she started the Botox treatments. She gets between 30 to 60 injections each visit, depending on how bad her pain is at the time. The injections freeze her joints and allow her to manage life a bit better. MacDonald suffers severe aches and pains, but especially migraine headaches. “I have all 18 trigger points, so the pain is everywhere,” she said. The clinic she attends in Markham, Canadian Integrative Medicine, was closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she can’t even get ahold of them on the phone, and they aren’t taking any messages right now. “I really thought the province would look at essential services in the medical field a bit better than they have,” MacDonald said. She said she believes the province dropped the ball when it determined what businesses are essential. More on this story here.
Hand sanitizer is in short supply, and Health Canada has made a temporary change to tackle these shortages:
Proper hygiene and disinfection is essential during the COVID-19 outbreak to reduce the risk of infection. Washing your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds remains the most effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19. If soap and water are not available, a hand sanitizer, with at least 60 per cent alcohol, that has been approved by Health Canada should be used. There are a variety of hand sanitizers that meet Health Canada's requirements for safety, efficacy and quality and have been approved. Recent data released by Statistics Canada shows that there was a sevenfold increase in sales of hand sanitizer in mid-March compared to sales during the same one-week period last year. This high demand has led to shortages of raw materials, such as ethanol, which has led to searches for substitute ingredients. Hand sanitizers are normally made with United States Pharmacopeia (USP) or food grade ethanol. However, in light of the current shortage of hand sanitizers, Health Canada recently temporarily modified its rules to allow manufacturers to use other types of ethanol for hand sanitizer without compromising safety, efficacy and quality. Get the full story here.
Column: The hospice needs your help:
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the revenue stream for Maison McCulloch Hospice drying up. Chair of the Sudbury Hospice Foundation, Gerry Lougheed Jr. put the call out to the community in a column for Sudbury.com, explaining the hospice's need for help. "The hospice has never charged for its facilities, services and staff. Everyone and anyone can go to our hospice. The government funds 66 per cent of the operational expenses. The remaining 34 per cent of expenses is paid by funds raised in our community. That translates into approximately $1 million raised annually to keep the doors open," writes Lougheeed. "The Maison McCulloch Hospice needs help. The caregiving by the staff is priceless and given freely, but that million dollars is needed to pay the operating expenses." If you or anyone you know can make a donation please contact Ashley Pawlowicz, Sudbury Hospice Foundation, at 705-920-9877 or MaisonSudburyHospice.org/donate.
Tuesday Weather:
Still no sign of spring weather as Tuedsay's forecast looks pretty bleak. Flurries to start the day, ending near noon then mainly cloudy with 60 per cent chance of flurries. Today's high will be sitting right at the freezing mark. Mainly cloudy this evening with 40 per cent chance of flurries. Overnight low will be -8, feeling like -14 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.
