Sudbury adds nine COVID cases Thursday

Sudbury — On the day the province announced a four-week lockdown across the province, the Sudbury area recorded nine new COVID-19 cases.

It was one of the few single-digital totals in weeks, and follows 10 cases reported Wednesday, 32 on Tuesday and 19 on Monday. The area covered by Public Health Sudbury & Districts has recorded 1,448 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Currently, 22 people are in Health Sciences North with or suspected to have the disease, including six in intensive care.

The nine cases Thursday include six in Greater Sudbury and three in Sudbury district. Three of the new cases screened positive for COVID variant strains, bringing the total to 411 cases.

The spread of the highly contagious variants is one of the main reasons Premier Doug Ford announced the four-week lockdown.