A look at the local numbers …
Public Health Sudbury & Districts is reporting six new cases of COVID-19, five in Sudbury and one in the Manitoulin District.
Considering resolved cases, there are 79 active cases in the agency’s jurisdiction.
Health Sciences North has 16 admitted patients, 10 positives and the other six waiting for test results.
The hospital has reduced the number of its intensive care patients down to three.
Algoma Public Health is reporting three new cases, two from Sault Ste. Marie and one from Elliot Lake and area.
Considering resolved cases, there are 22 active cases with three individuals in the hospital.
Stopping use of AstraZeneca vaccine
The provincial government is halting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Doctor David Williams, says it’s due to the small risk of blood clots that may be caused by the vaccine.
That risk has been increasing here in Ontario.
Those who received the AstraZeneca product will get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine as their second inoculation, once studies are completed into the safety and efficiency of mixing vaccines.
Williams says, while the risk is still low, they decided to make the switch out of an abundance of caution, adding supplies of other vaccines are increasing rapidly.
Safe or not?
The science advisor to the province’s Science Advisory Table says many outdoor recreational activities could be safely resumed even if the stay-at-home order is extended past May 20th.
Doctor Peter Juni says activities like golf and tennis are low-risk and people could wear masks if physical distancing can’t be maintained.
But before reopening, they’d have to address the issues of car-pooling and locker rooms, where the chance of virus transmission remains high.
Virus could explode in jails
The Ontario Human Rights Commission is warning that prison populations are on the rise again, and that could lead to mass COVID-19 infections in provincial jails.
The Commission notes the government took early action during the pandemic, reducing the number of people being held behind bars by 30 percent.
But it says levels have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, just as the worst of the third wave hits the province.
That, according to the Commission, makes it impossible to maintain proper physical distancing or to properly quarantine those inmates who may fall ill.