The Ministry of Health Ontario is reporting 2,123 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, a drop from 2,316 cases the day before. Most of the new cases are in Toronto (611), followed by Peel Region (480), and York Region (192). Testing continues at a substantial rate. Some 54,500 tests were completed in the 24-hour period ending at midnight.

Cases in South Bayview remain in a narrow range

The incidence of new infection in South Bayview neighbourhoods continues in a narrow range compared to Toronto hotspots. On Monday, the City’s Interactive Map shows Leaside-Bennington reporting 20 cases within the past three weeks. Rosedale-Moore Park shows 23 such cases. On December 17, these numbers were 22 and 19 respectively. On December 6, they were 51 (Leaside) and 31 (Rosedale-Moore Park).

Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park

Monday’s three-week count in Thorncliffe Park is 220. This represents a moderate increase from December 6 when the number was 206. In Flemingdon Park, the number of cases has dropped to 132 compared to 146 on December 6.

Friends of St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church can gather virtually Monday night (tonight) at 7 p.m at this YouTube link.  The church’s Christmas with Friends event has to be a different form of treat this year.  St. Cuthbert’s usually hosts ‘Carols with Friends’ on the last Monday evening before Christmas — a time of singing carols and Christmas songs in the church, followed by hot cider and Christmas cookies. But the community will still gather tonight online for a  Christmas presentation of music and spoken word, a program featuring two soloists, piano and narrator.

The Ontario government will impose a province-wide lockdown on Christmas Eve, returning life to the same bare-bones business activity seen in March. There will be a 28-day lockdown for Ontario south of Sudbury beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, sources confirmed. The northern parts of Ontario will be under a 14-day lockdown. The news comes with grim forecasts from a variety of health authorities that January will see potential C-19 surges that will test health facilities. On Sunday, the province recorded 2,316 new cases of the virus.

Canada halts travel from the United Kingdom

Also Sunday, Canada joined several European nations in halting flights from the UK in an effort to prevent a new, potentially more contagious strain of the coronavirus from spreading to this country. Various frightening things are said about the variant — that it is “out of control” and that it is 70 percent more contagious — but there is little context or depth to the information so far. Prime Minister Johnson spoke Sunday and said the new strain does not seem so far to be any more lethal than the one the world has been battling for a year.

Wreckage from high-speed rollover on Dundas St. in Etobicoke

Three people have been injured, two critically, after a single-vehicle collision in Etobicoke early Sunday morning. Police say the car shown in the City News video capture above was hurtling along about 3 a.m. when it struck a barrier, hit a pole and flipped. It seems remarkable that anyone survived. All of this at the corner of Islington Ave. and Dundas St. opposite Mongomery’s Inn. Video.

Bitcoin perps at it again

Who invented bitcoin? The best friend a conman ever had is once again the object in a crazy scheme to terrify and steal from people. This time anonymous letters are being sent in Halton Region and Toronto in which the bitcoin perps threaten to poison you and your family if you don’t go to your handy corner store and pay them some $1,500 in protection money. Fortunately, most people see through this dirty racket.

An Innisfil server is the lucky recipient of a $1,000 tip. Wow. Then, all across Canada, the vaccinations have begun. Gimme that jab. Please. In Nigeria, 344 schoolboys who were abducted by Boko Haram rebels have been released. Boko Haram doesn’t like so-called Western teaching similar to the stuff your kids get in school. Lastly, the satirical laugh that was is finished as Jim Carrey decides he won’t be the face of Joe Biden on SNL anymore. People.

Big win in Quebec

A ticket holder in Quebec claimed Saturday night’s nearly $30 million Lotto 649 jackpot. And the draw’s $1 million guaranteed prize went to a lottery player in the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Dec. 23 will be approximately $5 million.

Seen in Leacrest Rd backyard/Giancarlo Sansone

Dozens of people are commenting on the picture of this elegant visitor to a Leacrest Rd. backyard. FB

Scarborough neighborhoods like Rouge, Malvern, Woburn and Scarborough Village are C-19 hotspots with cases per 100,000 of population ranging up to 783. The CBC says it’s because many residents are “front line workers” who can’t stay home plus what it calls “multi-generational” homes. This would mean kids living with parents or vice versa. Sadly, the highest rate of infection is currently in Thorncliffe Park, 1,094 to every 100,000 of population. Interactive Map

Toronto tax would persuade landlords to rent

Toronto Council has voted to design what it calls a vacant home tax as a way of getting landlords to rent empty homes.

Minassian trial near end

The trial of Alek Minassian is nearing its end. Closing arguments are now being heard and Justice Anne Molloy will then decide whether the Yonge St van killer will go to a hospital or to prison. City News

California has announced a “mass fatality program” after 142 people have died from C-19 in a single day. The state has ordered 5,000 body bags and placed 60 morgue trucks on standby at hospitals. Horrible. Then, Canada continues to sell citizens on the use of C-19 vaccines. A combined 79 percent of people say they will take it immediately (48 percent) or after a short wait (31 percent). Below that, in the UK, the famed young Aston Villa star Jack Grealish is in disgrace after being discovered apparently drunk behind the wheel. Lastly, a subdued Peter Nygard has appeared in court at an extradition hearing in Winnipeg.

Quiet open space behind Leaside Gardens

A new park for south Leaside will be created in due course with access off of Southvale Dr. at the former site of No. 21 Southvale. That home has now been demolished and the lot will become a parkland entry point to the long-hidden open land behind Leaside Memorial Gardens. The quiet space behind the Gardens is an estimated three-quarters of an acre and is a public asset largely unknown to residents. The plan to create a City of Toronto park was confirmed by the office of Councillor Robinson in reply to an inquiry from The South Bayview Bulldog.

Public to be consulted

Park staff said the land must first be conveyed to the City by the Gardens at which time it will become part of the Parks Capital program. “Once the project is funded, the City will look at 21 Southvale and the Leaside Memorial grounds as a whole and will consult with the public on the best design for the space,” said the Parks Department reply to the Councillor’s office. In 2017, The Bulldog speculated about this outcome in a post titled “Parkland” behind arena to remain ever isolated, unused?

Homeless camp tent fire on Fort York Blvd

Another roaring fire has ripped through a tent at the homeless camp on Fort York Blvd Tuesday night. Less than a week ago, a similar blaze injured two men in Liberty Village. No injuries were reported in the Fort York fire. The City says it has no plans to dismantle the many homeless camps dotting the downtown and has opened warming centres as the cold weather approaches. Video tweeted by Tony@Mrtdogg

Stolen van chase in Brampton

Mustang Sally, think you better slow your Mustang down. Who knows what Elon Musk (much less Wilson Pickett) might think about the new all-electric Mustang? But the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E is said by reviewers to make you re-think what it means to go running all over town now.