Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Ontario records 477 new COVID-19 cases, in biggest single-day spike since May 2:
Ontario saw 477 new COVID-19 cases over the past day — the biggest single-day spike since May 2 — for a total of 19,598 confirmed cases in the province since the pandemic began. The province also had 63 more COVID-19 deaths over the past day, for a total of 1,540 deaths associated with the virus in the province. To date, 13,990 cases of COVID-19 in Ontario are now considered resolved, meaning the person has recovered. There have now been 234 outbreaks of COVID-19 reported in Ontario long-term care homes, which is an increase of nine outbreaks over yesterday. A total of 720 residents of long-term care homes with COVID-19 have now died, along with two staff members. There have also been 103 COVID-19 deaths at Ontario retirement homes, and 47 in the province’s hospitals. Public Health Sudbury and Districts has 59 confirmed COVID-19 cases in its service area since the pandemic began, with the last local case announced May 2. Of those cases, 48 people have recovered and two have died. The health unit reports it has now tested 7,859 people, with 6,333 of the tests coming back negative, and 1,467 people still under investigation.
Outbreak declared at Wikwemikong Nursing Home after female resident tests positive for COVID-19:
Public Health Sudbury & Districts is reporting an outbreak of COVID-19 at Wikwemikong Nursing Home after a case of COVID-19 was confirmed in a resident of the home. The individual was tested as part of the ongoing targeted surveillance of long-term care homes across the province. This is the 60th case of COVID-19 reported by PHSD. Case number 60 is a woman in her 70s and she has no travel history or contact with a known case at this time. She is currently at another institution.
Video: Sudbury wakes up to a record-breaking May snowstorm:
Like it or not, Old Man Winter wasn't ready to retire for the year. Snow blanketed the city overnight May 7-8, leaving a slightly bitter taste in the mouths of many people. Check out our video of Sudbury's spring snowfall here.
HSN has postponed 4,400 surgeries and procedures since March 15:
Since March 15, some 4,400 surgeries and procedures have been postponed at Health Sciences North. These numbers include some 2,000 non-urgent surgeries like tonsillectomies, cataract and nerve repair surgeries, as well as 2,400 more minor procedures, including colonoscopies, gastroscopies and cystoscopies. “We understand that postponing non-urgent surgeries and elective procedures has been difficult for patients and families,” the hospital said in a statement today. “While we wish we didn’t have to do this, it was a difficult but necessary decision based on Ministry of Health direction and on the need to limit the use of PPE and reduce occupancy in the hospital to create room for a surge of COVID-19 patients.” To be clear, emergency and urgent procedures are still being performed at the hospital. These include about 500 emergency surgeries — trauma, urgent cardiovascular, cardiac and cancer surgeries — as well as about 300 urgent minor procedures, such as gastrointestinal scopes, skin cancers and bladder lesions. On May 7, the province released its framework for hospitals to begin planning for a restart of postponed procedures “through a phased-in and evidence based re-introduction of clinical activities, with guidance from the province.” The framework takes into account that Ontario isn’t through the COVID-19 woods yet, and that the potential for a surge in cases in a community — such as a widespread outbreak in a long-term care home or an apartment building, for instance, that would inundate the hospital with potentially dozens of cases — means hospitals must remain nimble and able to respond and care for COVID-19 patients.
Public Health Sudbury has tested almost 80% of LTC residents in district:
Public Health Sudbury and District says 79 per cent of long-term care residents and 74 per cent of staff working at long-term care homes in its service area have been tested for COVID-19 through targeted surveillance. Of the 13 total long-term care homes across Public Health Sudbury and District’s service area, seven facilities have completed their testing. four are underway and will be finished by May 8, and the final two will be completed by May 12 — all well in advance of the May 15 provincial deadline for this initiative. On April 24, Public Health Sudbury and Districts announced targeted surveillance testing for all residents and staff in the 13 long-term care homes in its jurisdiction. The testing is part of the provincial surveillance initiative to get a point-in-time picture of COVID-19 in long-term care homes. To date, the targeted surveillance has detected a total of nine new cases: three resident cases and six staff cases. The surveillance has led to outbreaks being declared at three facilities and intensive case and contact follow up involving more than 450 individuals by Public Health.
Sudbury’s unemployment rate jumps to 6.8% in April:
Employment in Greater Sudbury declined by 4,200 jobs in April as further measures were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, bringing the city’s unemployment rate to 6.8 per cent. That’s a significant increase over the month prior, when the unemployment rate stood at 5.6 per cent, according to Statistics Canada’s labour force survey. A year ago, the unemployment rate for Greater Sudbury was 5.3 per cent, in comparison. In April, Statistics Canada reported there were 79,400 people employed in the Nickel City, down from 83,600 in March, while 5,800 people were reported as unemployed, up from 5,000 the month prior. Greater Sudbury’s labour force, or members of the population who are able to work, dropped to 85,200 in April, down from 88,600 in March. Furthermore, Greater Sudbury participation rate — the number of people working or looking for work compared to a city’s population of working-age people — was reported as 60.3 per cent in April, down from 62.7 per cent in March. The unemployment rate for Ontario sits at 11.3 per cent, up 3.7 per cent from March. Employment declined in all provinces for the second consecutive month. Compared with February, employment dropped by more than 10 per cent in all provinces, led by Quebec (-18.7 per cent, or -821,000).
Business owners from across the north pepper Economic Development minister with questions:
Some 200 business owners and businesspeople from 26 communities across Northern Ontario took part in a virtual town hall this morning with federal Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly. The event was hosted by Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce using the Zoom videoconferencing app. A sniffly Joly sipped coffee as she provided an overview of the federal programs and initiatives that have been rolled out to help Canadian businesses weather the storm of the pandemic. She said early on, it appeared Canada would rebound fairly quickly from COVID-19, but as the days and weeks ground on and cases continued to rise, it became clear those early projections were inaccurate. Joly said the federal government quickly pivoted their early plans. She acknowledged the economic impact of closing businesses and sending people home, and the expense of helping Canadians cover the cost of living while self-isolating at home, but said fortunately the country was in a good place to be able to do this. Full story here.
V-E Day: Here’s how Sudbury reacted to the Nazi surrender 75 years ago:
Seventy-five years ago, on 8 May, 1945, World War II officially ended in Europe. As expected, the news caused great jubilation. On May 7, under the front-page headline “NAZIS QUIT,” the Sudbury Star reported: “V-E Day minus one was most noted in Sudbury this morning for women with parcels in arms and men with bottles. When the news of the unconditional surrender of Germany swept the city this morning, housewives decided telepathically on a concerted rush to replenish cupboards ... The food stores, the liquor store and beer warehouse enjoyed a pre-Christmas deluge.” Sudbury Mayor William S. Beaton went on the radio and asked “all business places … to close for the remainder of the afternoon and to proclaim Tuesday, May 8, 1945, as V-E Day.” Get the full story here.
