Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Sudbury COVID-19 assessment centre hits single-day record for testing:
Health Sciences North gave a nod to the staff at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre for hitting a record number of tests on Sept. 24. "We want to give a big shout out to the dedicated staff at our COVID-19 Assessment Centre who have been doing all they can to deal with a surge in demand for testing in recent weeks which has jumped from an average of 234 tests per day during the last week of August to an average of 560 tests per day this past week," said HSN in a Facebook post. The staff at the assessment centre administered their single-day record with 652 tests on Sept. 24.
Province investing nearly $2 million for job training in Sudbury:
The Ontario government is investing $1.9 million to help more than 2,000 students, underemployed adults, Indigenous community members and other Northern Ontario workers learn the skills they need to find new, better jobs. Working with local partners, the government's investment in local skills development will help address unemployment in Northern Ontario as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement was made Friday by Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development at Science North, which will receive $428,870 to provide tech-sector training for up to 905 students, teachers-in-training and underemployed adults. "This funding will benefit Northern people from all walks of life, and help them find the kind of job they need to support themselves, their families and their communities," said McNaughton. "Soft skills like financial literacy, digital skills and coding, and the skilled trades are all pathways to new, exciting opportunities, new careers, and a bright future for residents of Northern Ontario." Get the full story here.
Pharmacists challenged to distribute more naloxone kits:
Canadian pharmacists are pushing to have Naloxone kits in the home of every opioid user in Canada in a bid to reduce the number of deaths from opioid overdoses. Vinita Arora, associate professor for doctor of pharmacy at the University of Toronto, and a part-time pharmacist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), is the co-author of a report in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal that says the rate of the opioid overdoses is a crisis. The report said action is needed to get Naloxone kits into the home of every opioid user. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is described by Health Canada as a fast-acting drug used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses from such substances as heroin, morphine and codeine. The product is free and is available to anyone who has an opioid user in their family or social group. Take-home kits include nasal spray devices or injection devices for administering the Naloxone. More on this story here.
Closest pharmacy doing COVID-19 testing is in Huntsville:
Beginning Friday, COVID-19 testing is available at some Ontario pharmacies. Details were announced in Huntsville Wednesday by Premier Doug Ford and health minister Christine Elliott. A news release said the plan is to provide citizens with convenient and timely access to free COVID-19 testing at 60 pharmacies — none of them are in Northern Ontario — in a bid to expand testing well beyond the 150 assessment centres already set up by the province through hospitals and public health units. The province said more locations will be established and revealed "in the coming weeks.” The locations opening Sept. 25 include several pharmacies in Toronto, in Brampton, in Mississauga, in Ottawa, with one in Markham and one in Huntsville, about 120 kilometres from North Bay. Full story here.
Luncheon of Hope may be virtual, but Northern Cancer Foundation still needs your support:
Friday was the annual Luncheon of Hope, a long-running local fundraiser that raises money for breast cancer research. But since we’re in the midst of a pandemic, there was no actual luncheon this year. Northern Cancer Foundation executive director Tannys Laughren said while the Sept. 25 fundraiser will be different, the mission and the cause remains the same. “I love the Luncheon of Hope — watching everybody get together, and watching these amazing friend groups who have some of them been coming for 22 years,” she said. “They look forward to it, they co-ordinate their outfits, they’ll bring little treats to the table. It’s an unbelievably powerful hour, and to not have that in person is going to be really, really tough. We don’t at all think it’s going to be the same. We don’t think it’s going to be as good, but it is what it is.” The annual Northern Cancer Foundation fundraising event — which is in its 22nd year — has raised more than $1 million for breast cancer research and treatment equipment here in Greater Sudbury. Funds raised this year will be directed toward the purchase of the Incucyte S3 Live Cell Analysis system.
COVID-19 means more homeschoolers: Sudbury families tell us why they took the leap:
An increasing number of Ontario parents are opting to homeschool their kids for the first time amid the pandemic after deciding their families’ needs wouldn’t be met by either sending the kids back to school or by school board-led distance learning. The Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents, which provides information and support to Ontario homeschooling families, said its membership has been growing quickly in recent months. As of Aug. 24, the group had 460 members, which was up about 90 members from a year before. The group’s most recent stats show they now have 554 members. Sudbury.com spoke to a couple of local moms who have opted to homeschool their kids for the first time due to COVID-19. Their stories can be found here.
45th anniversary of the Franco-Ontarian flag at University of Sudbury:
Sept. 25 was Franco-Ontarian Day. It was also the 45th anniversary of the Franco-Ontarian flag, which first flew Sept. 25, 1975 at the University of Sudbury. The University of Sudbury had a virtual flag-raising in honour of the occasion. You can watch the event here.