The US government has agreed to a deal with 3M of Minnesota to import more than 166 million respirators from China over the next three months and allow 3M to continue exporting its US-made respirators to Canada and elsewhere. The agreement breaks a deadlock which resulted in Washington stopping nearly three million of the specialized masks from being exported to Ontario, stirring fears that Canada’s most populous province would run out of supplies for medical staff battling coronavirus by the end of the week. CBC
British PM Johnson moved to ICU as his oxygen intake falls
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Facts elusive on when, where masks were blocked at border
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The facts of where, when and whether US border guards physically stopped a shipment of masks from entering Canada over the weekend remained elusive Monday afternoon. The prime minister said Canadian officials are still in talks with U.S. officials about reports medical supplies could be blocked from entering Canada. Premier Ford is reported to have said flatly Monday morning that such a blockade occurred Sunday. But Mr. Trudeau would not confirm that a shipment had been blocked. A White House spokesman meanwhile has said: “there will still be some shipments to our friends in Mexico and Canada.”
Pending cases fall to 329 offering hope of a flattened curve
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The Ministry of Health has announced that the Monday total of new virus cases is 309. There have been 13 new deaths and the number of cases across the province is 4,347. Remarkably, the number of cases under investigation is down to 329 from many thousands in recent weeks. Website
Entertaining indoor game for dogs during days of isolation
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This entertaining idea for keeping dogs busy in these difficult times has been posted to Facebook by Ursula Daphne Aitchison at The Dogspotting Society page.
UK prime minister hospitalized after days of COVID fever
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Among Monday headlines is the hospitalization of UK prime minister Boris Johnson after what is said to be ten days of high fever and coughing. Johnson was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. In North America, stock markets opened higher and in Washington, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Friday that 3M would continue to export masks to Canada.
Fearful collateral damage done to shops as City fights virus
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The sacrifices being made to save lives against the COVID-19 pandemic are essential but a terrible price is being paid by small businesses. Self-isolation and quarantine are destroying — at least for now — the lives of these entrepreneurs. Shops and restaurants have closed by the dozens and many more are likely to fail in the days to come.
Lovely weather for staying at home with Monday high of 12
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Pleasant early April weather has arrived in the quiet neighborhoods of Midtown Toronto during the COVID-19 lockdown. The high Monday is forecast to be 12º Celsius.
Victory over COVID-19 will belong to all of us says Queen
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Sunday COVID-19 count 408, test backlog falls below 1,000
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The Ontario Ministry of Health says its Sunday count of new COVID-19 cases is 408. It also confirmed an additional 25 deaths, many related to nursing home outbreaks. Four residents of St. Clair O’Connor Community long-term care home have died of the virus. Some 14 others are ill with it. Total fatalities in Ontario attributed to the virus now stand at 119. Ontario reported 375 new cases Saturday and 462 on Friday. As seen at the ministry’s website, the testing backlog is now down to a promising 981 after coming close to 11,000 less than two weeks ago.
Vaccine chase on in Toronto, Quebec, Saskatoon, Vancouver
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The furious search for a vaccine to knock out the COVID-19 threat is underway in several centres across Canada as well around the world. The best guess is that with necessary testing, it might be 18 months before a vaccine could arrive in doctors’ offices. Media reports say a key moment in research came January 10, when researchers in China released the genomic sequence for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Since then, no fewer than 60 vaccine projects have been launched around the world, by some estimates.
Sunnybrook HSC, U of T and McMaster isolate the virus
Another key moment came in early March when researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the University of Toronto and McMaster University managed to isolate and culture the virus from two patients. This meant that lab-grown copies of the virus would be available for researchers around the world who are looking for a vaccine or treatment. In the past few months, more than half a dozen projects have sprouted up across Canada in pursuit of a vaccine and using various different approaches to the problem.
Eerie echoes from past emerge at vacant Sunnybrook Plaza
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Echoes of the past at empty Sunnybrook Plaza/Virginia Lennox Kelly Facebook
John and Chris Interiors in September
Here’s an eerie echo of the past posted to Leaside Community Facebook page by member Virginia Lennox Kelly. John and Chris Interiors was among the oldest tenant at the 1951 plaza. They had been in business since 1971 at this location. But behind their sign was this even older retail memory of Marion’s Smoke Shop, Gifts and Barber Shop. Talk about a multi-purpose store. Other such Sunnybrook memories have come to the surface as seen in this 2017 post about the mall’s original Canadian Bank of Commerce sign.