A look at the local numbers
Public Health Sudbury & Districts say there are 17 new cases of COVID-19, all in the Greater Sudbury area.
The agency states most are outbreak-related or due to contact with a positive case.
Considering resolved cases, there are now 95 active cases in the district.
Health Sciences North is reporting there are 12 admitted patients with none in intensive care.
Of the 12, nine have tested positive and three are awaiting tests.
And Algoma Public Health is reporting 13 active cases with one hospitalization.
We are doing better
Provincial health officials say we’re doing better now than we were two weeks ago, in the battle against COVID-19.
The latest modelling data shows that, despite a bump in the number of new diagnoses yesterday, case rates, and the positivity rate, have generally declined.
They also note that mobility levels have fallen across Ontario, meaning fewer people are out and about, increasing the risk of spreading the virus.
However, hospitalizations remain a concern, with 35 percent of hospitals reporting no free beds in their ICUs, with another 15 percent having only one or two open.
Another concern is the presence of variants of the virus that are much more contagious than the original strain.
But officials say maintaining strict public health protocols should deal with that possibility.
Shipping the vaccine
Premier Doug Ford is calling for a “loud voice” from Canada to ensure we get our promised supplies of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
The company has delayed shipments due to the expansion of its plant in Belgium.
But federal figures show that we might be receiving fewer supplies, 3.5-million doses instead of
four-million, between now and the end of March.
Major-General Dany Fortin, in charge of the federal government’s vaccine distribution program, insists we will get the full allotment.
But that could be based on Pfizer’s assessment that six doses can be extracted from each vial rather than the five now approved by Health Canada.
A special needle is necessary to draw the sixth dose.
Premier Ford says Pfizer has let us down tremendously.