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Good morning, Sudbury! Here are seven stories to start your day

ambulance-paramedic
(File photo)

Good morning, Greater Sudbury.

Here are some stories to start your day.

A Sudbury paramedic talks about his job during COVID-19:

In the battle against COVID-19, paramedics are out on the frontline. They're transporting patients who may be contagious; they're out in the comunity providing care while most Canadians hunker down at home to minimize physical contact with others. On Thursday morning, editor Mark Gentili spoke with Roger Frappier, a primary care paramedic in Sudbury, with 17 years of service under his belt. He works as a community paramedic in health promotion and is part of the team of paramedics administering community testing for COVID-19. How are paramedics doing their jobs in the age of COVID-19? Watch the discussion here.

Province establishes safety guidelines for employers in preparation for re-opening of economy:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the curve of COVID-19 is flattening in the province and that he is "laser focused" on opening Ontario's economy as quickly as possible. The Ontario government has developed safety guidelines for employers to protect workers, customers, and the general public from COVID-19 as it prepares for a gradual reopening of the provincial economy. The government safety guidelines released Thursday will provide direction to those working in manufacturing, food manufacturing and processing, restaurant and food service, and the agricultural sector.  These measures build on more than 60 guidelines developed by Ontario's health and safety associations in response to COVID-19 for various sectors such as retail, health care, construction, transportation, police services, firefighters, and transit employees.  "We all want to reopen our businesses, services and favourite places across the province, but we must do it in a safe and responsible way," said Ford. "That's why we are providing clear guidelines to employers, with practical measures to help them keep staff and customers safe while preventing the spread of COVID-19. By taking these steps, we will be prepared to get people back to work when the time is right." Watch the Premier's press conference from Thursday here.

Canadian municipalities looking for $10B to keep essential services running across the country:

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is making an urgent recommendation to the federal government to provide at least $10 billion in emergency operating funding for municipalities across Canada in order to keep essential services running. "In a matter of weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside down. We now face a public health and economic challenge unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetime," said FCM president Bill Karsten in the FCM report, Protecting Vital Municipal Services, which was released on April 23. "As municipalities across the country work to support front line action and ready essential response services, the financial impact to our operations has created a crisis—and threatens to put the Canadians we serve at further risk." The FCM's proposed funding model to deliver at least $10 billion in emergency operating funding is roughly a 75/25 per cent hybrid formula based on the federal gas tax fund (GTF) and a ridership-based allocation for municipalities that operate transit systems. In specific, this would allocate at least $7.6 billion of the fund using a GTF-style allocation formula for all local governments, and $2.4 billion based 100 per cent on transit ridership. This funding model would require no provincial or municipal matching funds. Get the full story here.

Ontario reports 86 new COVID-19 deaths, the highest one-day toll so far:

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Ontario hit the 1,000 mark over the past day. There are now 1,082 reported COVID-19 deaths in the province, an increase of 86 over the past 24 hours. This is the highest death toll reported in any 24-hour period to date. The province now reports 16,186 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, an increase of 459 cases over yesterday. The number of daily reported cases appears to be on the decline in recent days, well below the record 640 cases reported on April 24. Long-term care homes in Ontario have been particularly hard-hit by the virus, and there are now 190 outbreaks reported in these facilities in Ontario, with nine new outbreaks since yesterday. The province also reports 530 COVID-19 deaths at Ontario long-term care homes, an increase of nine deaths from yesterday. Of Ontario's confirmed cases, 10,205 are considered to be “resolved,” meaning the person has recovered. Ontario has tested a total of 277,522 people for the virus, with 11,859 people currently under investigation for COVID-19. There are currently 999 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, with 223 being in the ICU and 181 on ventilators.

The new norm? Mines in Sudbury testing COVID cameras that detect fever-level temperatures:

A number of mining companies in Greater Sudbury and across Northern Ontario are going to greater depths to screen their employees for symptoms of COVID-19. Mines have been deemed essential services, and while a number of companies have suspended operations for the time being, others have taken measures to prevent the spread of the virus, like limiting the number of staff on crews. Right now, a lot of mine sites and other companies are screening workers by taking a manual temperature with a handheld body temperature device, which creates a greater risk of spreading the virus. That’s why some companies have turned to Ontario-based company Provix Inc. and what it is calling its COVID camera technology. It can quickly read the body temperature of multiple people as they are moving through the camera’s range. If anyone shows a body temperature higher than 37.3 degrees C, the device activates an audible alarm. Typically, when a person’s temperature is above 37.3 C, that is an indication they are feverish, said Karly Winfield, technical sales consultant with Provix Inc. More on this story here.

A request from Canada Post: Keep your dogs away from our employees:

In order to help adhere to physical distancing rules and to decrease the number of dog incidents, Canada Post is asking dog owners to prevent their canines from approaching employees on delivery. Every day, Canada Post employees deliver to millions of homes across Canada, and an estimated 41 per cent of these households have dogs. They see them every day when delivering your mail and parcels, especially since the weather is warming up and as most customers – both adults and children – are now home during the day, said Canada Post. “As much as we love our furry friends, they are protective of their home and their family, and it’s impossible for delivery agents to know how any dog will react when they approach your home to deliver the mail.” said Canada Post in a news release. The request to dog owners: “Please do not open the door during deliveries or allow your dog to approach our employees while they are out in the community. This makes it difficult to adhere to physical distancing when owners need to retrieve their dogs, and it increases the risk of dog incidents.”So far in 2020, Canada Post delivery agents in Sudbury have already experienced dog incidents. “We know this is a difficult time and we appreciate your help in keeping our employees safe, which will also help keep our local communities safe,” said Canada Post.

Mick Lowe: The terrifying effect of the word ‘outbreak’ to long-term care residents:

On Thursday we brought readers the second part of a series from writer Mick Lowe about his experience in a long-term care home during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the first installment here. Of course outbreaks of infectious diseases are nothing new for us here at Pioneer Manor — every fall means a return of the dreaded “cold and flu season.” And I do mean “dreaded.” writes Lowe. "Because we are a clustered, physically segregated segment of society’s most vulnerable and infirm, we are at constant risk of catching or propagating an infectious disease, and they watch us like hawks. Especially the infectious disease control mavens at Public Health Sudbury and District who monitor each sniffle, every sneeze, the tiniest trace of fever, ready to declare the word we most loathe to hear: outbreak. It always seems to me the word should be accompanied with a shrill scream and an exclamation, “Outbreak!”. Read the full article here.

Friday Weather:

Some warm spring weather is finally here. A mix of sun and cloud for Friday with the high getting up to 15. Partly cloudy heading into the evening with the temperature dipping as the sun goes down. Overnight low will get down to zero. Chances of some showers by Saturday morning. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.

Current Weather

Light Snowshower

Light Snowshower

-0.2°C

Pressure
101.4 falling
Visibility
32.2 km
Dewpoint
-7.3 °C
Humidity
59%
Wind
SSW 31 km/h
Gust
40 km/h

Radar Satellite


Hourly Forecast

Today
4 PM
0°C
Chance of flurries
Today
5 PM
0°C
Chance of flurries
Today
6 PM
-1°C
Chance of flurries
Today
7 PM
-2°C
Chance of flurries
Today
8 PM
-3°C
Chance of flurries
Today
9 PM
-4°C
Cloudy
Today
10 PM
-4°C
Cloudy
Today
11 PM
-5°C
Mainly cloudy
Tomorrow
12 AM
-5°C
Mainly cloudy
Tomorrow
1 AM
-6°C
Mainly cloudy
Tomorrow
2 AM
-6°C
Cloudy
Tomorrow
3 AM
-6°C
Cloudy

7 Day Forecast

Chance of flurries

Today

1 °C

Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries. Wind southwest 20 km/h. High plus 1. UV index 3 or moderate.


Chance of flurries

Tonight

-9 °C

Cloudy. 30 percent chance of flurries early this evening. Wind southwest 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low minus 9. Wind chill minus 7 this evening and minus 12 overnight.


Overcast

Friday

3 °C

Overcast. Wind up to 15 km/h. High plus 3. Wind chill minus 14 in the morning. UV index 1 or low.


Cloudy periods

Friday night

-9 °C

Cloudy periods. Low minus 9.


Chance of flurries

Saturday

3 °C

A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of flurries. High plus 3.


Chance of flurries

Saturday night

-6 °C

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 6.


Sunny

Sunday

6 °C

Sunny. High 6.


Clear

Sunday night

-4 °C

Clear. Low minus 4.


Sunny

Monday

9 °C

Sunny. High 9.


Cloudy

Monday night

-3 °C

Cloudy. Low minus 3.


A mix of sun and cloud

Tuesday

4 °C

A mix of sun and cloud. High plus 4.


Chance of flurries or rain showers

Tuesday night

-3 °C

Cloudy periods with 30 percent chance of flurries or rain showers. Low minus 3.


Chance of flurries or rain showers

Wednesday

5 °C

A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of flurries or rain showers. High plus 5.


Yesterday

Low
0 °C
High
0 °C
Precipitation
0.3 mm

Normals

Low
-7.4 °C
High
2.9 °C
Average
-2.3 °C

Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
7:10 AM
Sunset
7:49 PM

Record Values

Type Year Value
Max 1993 15.3 C
Min 1959 -18.3 C
Rainfall 1977 34.3 mm
Snowfall 1971 11.7 cm
Precipitation 1977 34.3 mm
Snow On Ground 1959 99.0 cm

Based on Environment Canada data