New cases in local coverage area
Six new cases of COVID-19 are being reported by Public Health Sudbury & Districts.
The agency says they currently have 24 active cases of the virus, two of them reported on Manitoulin Island on Tuesday, the others in Greater Sudbury.
The agency has also declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Amberwood Suites retirement home following the report of one case of COVID-19 in a resident.
To date, no staff has tested positive in relation to this outbreak.
And, Algoma Public Health is reporting two new cases of COVID-19 with both from Sault Ste. Marie and area.
There are now 30 active cases in the Algoma District.
Coronavirus rates quickly moving out of control
Canada’s chief medical officer of health is warning that we have some “really difficult” months ahead, as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow.
There have been more than 100-thousand new cases diagnosed across the country in the past two weeks.
At the outset of the pandemic, it took five months to reach the 100-thousand mark.
Doctor Theresa Tam says the continued rapid spread of the coronavirus has been complicated by the arrival of a new, more contagious strain first identified in the UK.
Tam says the actions we take to limit our contacts are even more critical now, in determining how, and when, the virus will be brought under control.
Field hospital opens for cases
Ontario’s first field hospital to treat COVID-19 cases is now accepting patients, as the strain on the health care system in southern Ontario continues to escalate.
The field hospital, built on the grounds of the Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, can accommodate 93 patients.
It’s being used to provide continuing care for COVID-19 patients whose condition has stabilized, but who require treatment that can’t be delivered at home, such as oxygen therapy.
Provincial health officials are reporting 13-hundred and 47 people being treated in hospital, 352 of them in intensive care.
Both numbers are record highs.
Ford says vaccinations will speed up
The Ford government plans to vaccinate every long-term care resident, health care employee, and essential caregiver in the hardest-hit areas of the province by January 21st.
The plan will cover those people in Toronto, Peel, York, and Windsor-Essex.
Premier Doug Ford admits there have been some bumps along the way since vaccinations began three weeks ago with Ontario currently having one of the lowest per-capita counts in the country.
But he says the program is now being ramped up significantly, with ten-thousand people a day now being vaccinated.
Trudeau not happy with vaccination rate either
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s upset by the slow COVID-19 inoculation process across Canada.
More than 400-thousand doses of vaccine have arrived in Canada to date but only about a third of them have been administered.
Trudeau says Canadians have a right to be upset that the vaccine is stuck in freezers and not going into people’s arms.
He plans to bring up the issue during his regular conference call with the premiers later this week.