Laurentian University confirms 4 COVID-19 cases on campus

There are four confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Laurentian University campus, the university's president said Wednesday afternoon. 

In a meeting of Laurentian's board of governors on Dec. 22, Laurentian President Robert Haché said Public Health Sudbury and Districts has confirmed four positive COVID-19 cases on the campus.

"We do have a few students that are currently self-isolating on campus, " Haché said.

He said a university care team has provided meals, care packages and mental health support to the students in self-isolation.

In a report on the university's vaccination policy, Tammy Eger, Laurentian's vice-president of research, said 99.8 per cent of employees and students at the university were fully vaccinated as of Nov. 19.

Eger said Laurentian does not yet have a policy on booster shots, and would need to wait for them to be more readily available before revisiting that topic.

The university had previously pushed back the start of its winter semester by one week to Jan. 17, 2022, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections after the holiday break. 

Haché said courses will be delivered remotely from Jan. 17 to Jan. 28. He said that remote learning window could be extended, and a decision will be made by Jan. 15. 

Early in the meeting Haché welcomed the five new members of the board who were appointed by the province of Ontario. They were Debbi Nicholson, Don Duval, Robert Brouillette, Gerald Bilodeau and Jeff Bangs.

They were appointed after 11 board members resigned on the same day the province presented new funding for the university, which announced it was insolvent in February.

The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities said it would provide $35 million to refinance Laurentian's existing debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan, which first was made available when it went into creditor protection earlier this year.

The province will also provide the university up to $6 million in COVID-19 funding, and "performance protection" of up to $22 million over a number of years.

"This announcement is both important and timely," Haché said during the meeting.

He said the province's financial support would help Laurentian rebuild and eventually come out of its restructuring through the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).