Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Two more confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sudbury:
Public Health Sudbury and Districts reported two more cases of COVID-19 in Greater Sudbury on Thursday. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the area to 41. Case number 40 is a man in his 20s who was exposed to the virus by close contact with another case. He was tested on April 13 and is currently self-isolating. Case number 41 is also a man in his 20s who was exposed to the virus by close contact with another case. He too was tested on April 13 and is self-isolating. The health unit provided updates to three cases that were previously defined as unknown type of exposure. Case number 33, a person under the age of 19 was confirmed as contact with a case, as were cases 35 and 39, both men in their 20s. All of those cases are self-isolating at this time.
Sudbury.com gets an inside look at HSN's drive-thru COVID-19 test site:
As of April 15, Health Sciences North had swabbed nearly 1,500 patients for COVID-19 since testing began back on March 13, and swabbed more than 260 people over Easter weekend alone, thanks to opening their new drive-thru COVID-19 testing option on Walford Road. HSN gave local media a tour of their Walford Road testing site on April 16 in order to provide a closer look at what the day-to-day rigor is like inside a COVID-19 testing area. Sudbury.com reporter Matt Durnan was part of Thursday's tour, check out the video here.
PM announces Ottawa expanding loan program for small businesses hit by COVID-19:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is expanding a loan program for small businesses suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and is working on a new support for companies having trouble paying rent. The loan program will now be open to businesses that had payrolls last year between $20,000 and $1.5 million. The Canada Emergency Business Account previously offered up to $40,000 in loans to business with payrolls between $50,000 and $1 million. Trudeau says 195,000 loans worth a total of $7.5 billion have so far been approved. Watch the announcement here.
We got a COVID-19 update from Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre:
Sudbury.com editor Mark Gentili spoke with Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre on Thursday. Topics of discussion included Thursday's announcement regarding federal support for small business owners, President Donald Trump's decision to cut funding to the World Health Organization, and criticism of recent family travel decisions by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer. On Friday afternoon, Gentili will be speaking with Norm Blaseg, director of education with Rainbow District School Board, about home schooling and the challenges of keeping children learning during this pandemic. Watch Thursday's conversation with Lefebvre here.
Ontario adds more than 2,000 acute care and critical care beds:
Acting on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health care professionals, the Ontario government has significantly expanded hospital capacity in preparation for any COVID-19 outbreak scenario. The province has added 1,035 acute care beds and 1,492 critical care beds and taken steps to ensure hospitals have the staff available to care for a sudden surge in patients. "Thanks to the hard work and relentless preparation of our hospital staff to build capacity in our hospitals, we are in a position to better allocate resources to sectors that are in critical need and respond to any potential surge in cases," said Premier Doug Ford. "When you combine these life-saving beds with the very best care delivered by our highly skilled hospital staff, our patients will definitely have a fighting chance against this deadly virus." Hospitals across the province have taken steps to make more beds available for COVID-19 patients in every region of the province. As a result, Ontario has a total of 20,354 acute care beds with a potential for an additional 4,205 more acute care beds by April 30, 2020. Of Ontario's 3,504 critical care beds, 2,811 are now equipped with ventilators, up from 1,319 when the outbreak first started. Watch Premier Ford's Thursday press conference here.
Health Sciences North has swabbed nearly 1,500 people since March 13:
COVID-19 testing has been ramped up across the province at the stipulation set out by Premier Doug Ford, and Sudbury is nearing 1,500 tests. As of April 15, Health Sciences North has swabbed more than 1,454 patients since testing began back on March 13 and swabbed more than 260 people over Easter weekend alone, thanks to opening their new drive-thru COVID-19 testing option on Walford Road. The hospital is continuing to ramp up testing at the Walford site, along with their site at NEOMO Medical at 885 Prete St. and the third and most recent site at the Primacy Medical Centre, located at 1485 Lasalle Blvd. which opened April 15. Health Sciences North currently has three admitted patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, none of whom are in the ICU. There are an additional 16 patients at HSN that are currently under investigation, with two in the ICU. To date, the hospital has assessed more than 3,000 patients by telephone and all patients will continue to be first assessed by phone by an HSN nurse by calling 705-671-7373.
Win or lose, Ontario youth know their climate lawsuit will have an impact:
Regardless what happens with the lawsuit she's part of, a teenaged climate activist from Greater Sudbury says the legal fight will amplify the message of fighting climate change. In the lawsuit launched in November 2019, Sophia Mathur, 13, and six other young Ontario residents argue Ontario’s current 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels "is inadequate, unconstitutional, and must be struck down," the group said in a statement through its lawyers today. And this week, the Government of Ontario has filed a motion to strike against the lawsuit, arguing it shouldn't go to a full hearing. The province's argument, as detailed in an email to Sudbury.com from the Ministry of the Attorney General, is pretty simple. "Ontario's position is that it is plain and obvious that the application will fail, as the issues raised are not matters that should be dealt with in court," said the statement supplied by Brian Gray, a spokesperson for the AG. The youth characterize the Ford government's climate change targets as a "weakening" and said in a news release that "Ontario’s 2030 target will allow significantly more greenhouse gas emissions to be emitted. This will worsen the climate emergency and contribute to dangerous climate change." Sophia said it was "not much of a surprise" that Ontario filed a motion to strike, adding if she were the premier, she would be scared. Full story here.
Friday Weather:
Mixed bag of weather for Friday, with some warmer temperatures on the way this weekend. A mix of sun and cloud Friday with 30 per cent chance of flurries or rain showers late in the morning and in the afternoon. Today's high will only get up to 4. Partly cloudy tonight with a 60 per cent chance of flurries. Overnight low will get down to -5, feeling like -9 with the wind chill. Temperature expected to climb back up to 8 by Saturday. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
