Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Public Health Sudbury reporting 20 new cases of COVID-19:
Public Health Sudbury & Districts is reporting 20 new COVID-19 cases in residents in Greater Sudbury. Through contact tracing, Public Health notifies all close contacts directly. If you are not contacted by Public Health, you are not considered a close contact. “The detailed investigations to determine exposure settings and identify close contacts of all cases are ongoing. To date, close contacts of cases have been identified in household settings, at the McDonald’s located at 3575 Highway 144 in Chelmsford, and at Cambrian College. These individuals have been reached by Public Health and advised to self-monitor or self-isolate and seek testing, depending on their risk of exposure,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health with Public Health Sudbury & Districts. “It is essential that everyone continues to stay home when they are feeling ill and get tested if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 to help limit the spread of infection,” added Dr. Sutcliffe. Public Health works closely with every person who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 to understand their circumstances and prevent further spread. This is a rapidly evolving situation with a number of case investigations underway. Of the newly reported cases (#143 to #162), all are from Greater Sudbury. One is a close contact of a confirmed case, one is outbreak associated, and the remaining are still under investigation. All are self-isolating, as are all close contacts identified to date. There are currently 38 active cases in the area.
Case spike: McDonald's in Chelmsford and Cambrian College reporting COVID-19 cases:
On a day when Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) reported nine newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 within its service area, McDonald's Canada revealed there was an outbreak among three of its workers at its Chelmsford Restaurant on Highway 144. McDonald's has since announced that two employees at its Hanmer restaurant have also tested positive. "Out of an abundance of caution, the decision was made to immediately shut down the restaurant for a thorough cleaning and sanitization by a certified third party. We are working to ensure we reopen safely, as we know our guests depend on their local McDonald’s and we are committed to doing our part to help our communities," said a corporate news release Friday morning. The restaurant has since re-opened. Also speaking out publicly was Cambrian College of Sudbury, which said in a statement on Nov. 5 that "members of the Cambrian community have tested positive for COVID-19." This was the second public statement from the college in two days. On Wednesday, Cambrian revealed that an individual member of the Cambrian community tested positive for COVID-19, but that person had not been on campus this semester. Both statements were signed off by college president Bill Best. Get the full story here.
Laurentian 12th out of 19 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean’s rankings:
For the second year in a row, Laurentian University has ranked 12th out of 19 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean's Magazine's annual university rankings. Its rankings have been slowly dipping since a peak around a half-decade ago. Before its 12th-place rank both this year and in 2019, Laurentian ranked 11th in both 2018 and 2017, 10th in 2016, 11th in 2015 and 10th in 2014. Going back roughly a decade, Laurentian was toward the end of the list of universities in its category, if not dead last. As was the case in both 2018 and 2019, Mount Allison University in New Brunswick was the highest-ranked university in the primarily undergraduate category, while Cape Breton University was last at 19th. Nipissing University in North Bay ranked 15th this year, a one-spot improvement from 2019. Lakehead University in Thunder Bay ranked eighth, as it also did in 2019. Maclean's ranks Canadian universities according to 13 metrics, grouping universities into the categories of medical, doctoral, comprehensive and primarily undergraduate (of which Laurentian is the latter). Find more on this story here.
Police seize approximately $27,000 worth of drugs, two Sudbury residents arrested:
Shortly after 11 a.m. on Nov. 4, members of the Greater Sudbury Police Services Integrated Crime Section assisted in arresting three people and seizing nearly $30,000 worth of street drugs. In November of 2019, the GSPS Integrated Crime Section (I.C.S.) working in collaboration with the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (O.C.E.B.) commenced multiple investigations intending to disrupt drug trafficking operations entering and operating within the city of Greater Sudbury. In October of 2020, detectives conducted an investigation into a suspected drug distribution criminal enterprise operating within the city and on Tuesday the police teams executed three Controlled Drugs and Substances Act Search Warrants at addresses located in Greater Sudbury. As a result of the three CDSA Search Warrants the following were seized by Detectives: 63 grams of Cocaine, 49 grams of Fentanyl, 114 Methamphetamine tablets, $3,350 Canadian currency. The total street value of the Drugs seized is an estimated $27,000. The amount of Fentanyl seized represents approximately 490 street level doses that could have reached the community. Two individuals from Greater Sudbury and one individual from the Greater Toronto Area were arrested and charged in relation to the drug bust. More on this story here.
15 years later, murder of Sudbury wife and mother Daphne Kochar remains unsolved:
It has been 15 years since Daphne Kochar went missing on Nov. 5, 2005. That was the last time anyone saw Kochar, although her husband, Dr. Harinder Kochar, only reported her missing the next day, on Nov. 6. Her minivan was found in a South End parking lot a couple of days after. Her body was found Dec. 27 of that year, rolled up in a carpet in the bush near Estaire. She was 42. She left behind three daughters, Jasmine, and twins Simran and Karuna. The case was officially deemed a homicide the following March after police found personal items belonging to Daphne in another bush area near Lively. In April 2012, Harinder Kochar was found dead in his medical office in Lindsay, Ont., where he'd moved in 2007. He had closed the doors to his Sudbury practice. He had remarried after moving there. His second wife told media following his death that he'd left a note, saying he wasn't responsible for Daphne's death. Police did not pursue a criminal investigation. Harinder was under a court order to pay $200,000 in retroactive child support to the grandparents of his three children. The girls went to live with their maternal grandparents in Florida about 18 months after their mom's death. Hundreds of people attended a traditional Sikh funeral service for Daphne Kochar, held Jan. 7, 2006, at Lougheed’s Funeral Home. In 2015, Daphne’s daughter, Jasmine, came to Greater Sudbury on Nov. 6 to participate in a ceremony at MacLeod Public School that honoured her late mother’s volunteer efforts. A maple tree was planted at the school in Daphne’s memory.
Nearly 8,400 active, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 380 in hospital:
Public Health Ontario reported 1,003 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as well as 949 recoveries and 14 deaths. The province has reported the deaths of two people between 60 and 79 years old and 12 people over the age of 80. Since Thursday's report, 42 people have been hospitalized with the coronavirus and five COVID-19 patients have been admitted to intensive care units. Of the 1,003 cases reported Friday, more than half are from Toronto and the GTA. Toronto Public Health reported 300 of today's cases and Peel Public Health reported 280 new cases. York Region reported 125 of the new cases in Friday's update. The remaining 31 health units in Ontario reported between zero and 43 new cases. Cases are more prevalent in the 20 to 39-year-old and 40 to 59-year-old age categories, which account for 631 of Friday's new cases. The province reported 85 new school-related cases on Nov. 6. There have been 2,628 school-related cases reported to date including 914 cases in the last 14 days. Since Nov. 1, the province has confirmed 5,953 new cases of COVID-19, 5,369 recoveries and 73 deaths.
Transparency: Gélinas intros bill to make chief medical officer of health an independent public servant:
Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas, the opposition health critic, wants to make Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) an independent officer of the legislature. Ontario is the only province where the CMOH is accountable to both the Minister of Health and the Legislative Assembly, said a Gélinas news release. Gélinas introduced a private members' bill seeking the change on Wednesday. It is called the Public Health Accountability Act, in Honour of Dr. Sheela Basrur, Bill 227, an Act to amend the Health Protection and Promotion Act. Gélinas said the bill would accomplish two things; one is to make the CMOH an independent officer of the legislature and secondly to create a select committee of the legislature to hear directly from the CMOH and allow that person to answer questions from those MPPs. Gélinas said it was important for MPPs to be able to speak to the chief public health officer on urgent health-related matters. Full story can be found here.
First Nation member offers $1,000 reward after 'spirit moose' illegally killed:
Seeing a white moose is considered to be good luck in Indigenous culture. Flying Post First Nation member Troy Woodhouse has seen a white moose a few times in his life. “White moose has been a symbol for us as long as we’ve known,” he said. “It’s been known as the 'spirit moose'. If you see one in real life and you get a glimpse of it, you just realize how much of a sacred animal it is and rare and majestic to see.” Moose have always played a big part in Indigenous culture to provide meat for winter and hide for clothing, Woodhouse said. But the white moose is sacred and it should be spared, not used for harvest, he added. Besides the cultural consideration, shooting and harvesting white moose is illegal in the local wildlife management units 30 and 31. The week of Oct. 26, two cow moose were shot and harvested on Nova Road near kilometre 18, northeast of Foleyet. One was a white moose. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is investigating the incident. Although Woodhouse doesn’t live in the community anymore, he has offered up a $1,000 reward for any information that may lead to an arrest or to encourage the people involved to turn themselves in.
