Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Provincial cuts will have dire consequences for northern hospitals, unions predict:
With the next Ontario election just over a year away — on June 2, 2022 — one of Ontario's largest public service unions is getting ready to take on Ontario's Progressive Conservative government by arguing that Northern Ontario hospitals will be in dire straits and "steady decline" in eight to 10 years time, falling billions of dollars into debt. The prediction is based on a research paper commissioned by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (OCHU/CUPE). The paper entitled "Ontario Hospital Crisis: Overcapacity and Under Threat" was revealed at a media teleconference held Wednesday morning. The report projects staff and funding cuts for hospitals in Sudbury, North Bay, Kenora, Fort Frances, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay as examples of the depth of the cuts that are projected. Although COVID-19 pandemic has shown Ontario hospitals have only limited capacity after decades of cuts from successive governments, the crisis for Northern Ontario hospital patients will get much worse, said the research paper. Full story here.
Public Health Sudbury leads the north for COVID vaccine ‘adverse events'; Such reactions mostly 'non-serious':
Public Health Ontario is receiving hundreds of reports every week of “adverse events” following immunization (AEFIs) now that the provincial vaccination rollout plan is in full swing. The report also shows that 236 events were reported from Northern Ontario, which was 12.5 per cent of the total number — 1,878 events — in all of Ontario. There were also 63 events reported by Public Health Sudbury, or 3.3 per cent of the total in the province, which was the highest number of any Northern Ontario health unit area. The latest statistics from Public Health Ontario (PHO) give a breakdown of adverse events based on data collected between Dec. 13, 2020 and April 24, 2021, which was a week ago Saturday. PHO said the data was extracted from public health files as of 9 a.m. on April 26. A quick look at that time period (132 days) reveals there were a total of 1,878 AEFI reports received following 4,629,149 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered, which is 00.04 per cent. PHO said 1,815 of those events — more than 96 per cent — were described as "non-serious.”
Monetary settlement most likely result of Robinson Huron Treaty appeal, proponents say:
With concluding arguments on April 28, the legal team behind the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund (RHTLF) say are pleased with the way the Stage One appeal went, that they are preparing for Stage Two and they are keenly aware that the case will most likely come down to a settlement. The Stage One appeal, brought forth by the Government of Ontario, was heard by a five-member panel of the Ontario Court of Appeals, chaired by Chief Justice George Strathy. Mike Restoule, chair of the RHTLF, said both he and the group were pleased with their arguments. “Our legal team gave the Court of Appeal an idea of what was considered at the Stage One of the trial,” said Restoule. “The judge heard evidence of the Anishinabek understanding of the treaty, especially the augmentation clause and I think that was good for the Court of Appeal to hear.” More on this story here.
Public Health Sudbury reports 12 new cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday May 5:
Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) reports 12 new cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday, May 5. PHSD also said there are now 90 active cases being monitored by public health officials. Also, since the PHSD began tracking COVID-19 cases just over 14 months ago, there have been 1,987 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 1,897 of those cases have now been resolved. With respect to where the newest COVID-19 cases might have occurred, the PHSD daily update page reported that 10 cases were found in the Greater Sudbury area, and one case was linked to the wider Sudbury district. In terms of possible causes of the new and recent cases, PHSD reported 10 cases linked to close contact of a confirmed case, two cases that are associated with an outbreak, two cases with known epidemiological link and two more cases listed as under investigation. On the provincial COVID-19 register Wednesday, the Ontario government daily website reported 2,941 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province.
Vaccine rollout expansion begins in Sudbury District Thursday morning:
With the continuing rollout of Ontario's COVID-19 vaccination plan, Sudbury's health unit has expanded the list of those who now qualify to book a vaccination appointment. Beginning Thursday May 6, this will include adults 50 years of age and older in 2021 (born in 1971 or earlier). Also on May 6, Public Health Sudbury and Districts will be accepting vaccine bookings from essential workers in Group 1 of the province’s Phase 2 schedule (Government of Ontario). The essential workers includes those who are defined as workers who cannot perform their work from home. Get the full story here.
Cambrian College suspends new enrolment to its music program:
Laurentian University’s music program was among the 69 programs cut by the university last month amid the university’s insolvency restructuring. Now Sudbury.com has learned that Cambrian College has also suspended the intake of first-year students into its music performance program. Students who wish to begin music studies at the post-secondary level in Northern Ontario this fall now only have the option of Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie. Cambrian spokesperson Dan Lessard explains that only 10 students have registered to enter the program’s first year this fall. “There’s just insufficient numbers of students coming into the first year of the program to warrant us starting a whole new three-year cycle of the program,” he said. Enrolment trends for the program have been going downward for the last few years, the spokesperson added. Lessard said the students entering the program’s second and third years in the fall will be able to finish out their music diplomas. Get the full story here.
Health Canada approves Pfizer shot for kids 12 and up:
Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 12 and up on Wednesday, prompting Alberta to announce it would offer the shot to kids in that age bracket as the province combats a surge in COVID-19 cases. The vaccine announcement comes after a promising trial out of the United States, which Health Canada's chief medical adviser said shows the vaccine is both safe and effective for kids in that age group. "It will also support the return to a more normal life for our children, who have had such a hard time over the past year," said Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada's chief medical adviser. The shot had previously only been approved for those aged 16 and up. The American trial of more than 2,200 youth between the ages of 12 and 15, which used the same size doses and two-dose requirement as the vaccine for adults, recorded no cases of COVID-19 among vaccinated kids. More on this story here.
Sudbury woman killed in crash with moose near Parry Sound:
A Sudbury woman lost her life this week after her vehicle collided with a moose near Parry Sound. On May 4 at around 9 p.m., West Parry Sound OPP, fire and EMS were dispatched to a crash on Highway 69 in Wallbridge Township, north of Parry Sound. The investigation revealed that a southbound vehicle struck a moose, left the roadway and rolled over in the ditch. The driver of the vehicle suffered fatal injuries in the crash. A passenger was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Pronounced dead was Josee Boisvert, 56, of Sudbury.
Thursday Weather:
Mix of sun and cloud for Thursday with chances of rain showers. Increasing cloudiness into the afternoon with a 60 per cent chance of showers. There is a risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Daytime high will be sitting at 11. Partly cloudy this evening with 60 per cent chance of rain or flurries. Overnight low will drop to -1. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.