The South Bayview Bulldog

The Ministry of Health is reporting 178 new cases of COVID-19 Friday. These are cases found Thursday during the greatly accelerated testing seen in recent days  Some 27,225 tests were done in this period. Thursday is the sixth day that the 24-hour count was under 200. MInistry summaries

Stephen Lecce with Valentina and Vivienne

Education Minister Stephen has plotted a three-option plan for schools on the resumption of studies this fall. At a news conference Friday, Mr Lecce said the province is tasking school boards across the province to prepare three separate plans for September:

• A plan for regular in-class instruction with heightened health protocols.
• The continuation of remote learning with more standardization. This would happen should school closures be extended, or if some parents choose not to send their child back to school, the province says.
• An adapted delivery model, which blends in-class with online learning, which would see students alternating being in class by days or weeks.

Lecce said in that situation, class sizes wouldn’t exceed 15 students in class at a time. In recent days, recommendations have suggested that schools should limit large gatherings, prevent children from sharing food and drinks and ensure classrooms are properly ventilated with open windows when possible. But the nature of school, and the normal behaviour of kids, make it all seem like quite a tricky task. CBC

Chinese prosecutors charged two detained Canadians with spying Friday in an apparent bid to step up pressure on Canada to drop a U.S. extradition request for a Huawei executive under house arrest in Vancouver. Michael Kovrig was charged by Beijing on suspicion of spying for state secrets and intelligence. Michael Spavor was charged in Dandong, a city near the North Korean border, on suspicion of spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets. CBC

BMW stolen in Toronto/York Regional Police

Italian police and Canada Border Services Agency have seized as many as 40 expensive vehicles stolen in the GTA at ports in Southern Italy. They were headed to Libya and Turkey. In addition, the CBSA was able to locate and seize ten more vehicles before they were shipped. And York Regional Police said Thursday that they arranged to raid a business called RS Royal Services at 53 Bakersfield St (northeast of Sheppard and Keele) where they found evidence leading them to other vehicles.

• International stolen vehicle operation discovered
• York Regional Police

The Ministry of Health is reporting 173 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, the lowest such number seen since March 28. The infection is on the decline in Ontario but the GTA remains a problem. Seventy of today’s count were reported in Toronto. Peel Region had  27 cases, York Region, 14 and Durham, three. Ministry summaries

• Seasonal residents with US plates harassed in Muskoka for travelling during COVID-19

A Facebook post on Thursday reports the discovery of six dead possums on the Sherwood Park trail near Blythwood Rd. and also west of Mt. Pleasant. FB

Many women are waiting to learn the freedom of cycling

As many as 50 women in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Heights have joined their sisters in the Women’s Cycling Network and are waiting to benefit from the freedom of riding their own bike. WCN was founded by Najia Zewari, leader of Women’s Wellness Café, and is assisted by the ever-present Neighourhood Organization (TNO). The current campaign to find unused but functioning bicycles is being supported by Cycle Don Valley Midtown which brought this worthy cause to The Bulldog’s attention. Now you can help these women find freedom, empowerment and health benefits by riding a bike. If you have a bike to give, read about the Women’s Cycling Network #BikeMatch program and complete the form. Your bike will be matched with a woman from our waiting list and a contact-free donation arranged.

The province will extend its COVID-19 emergency orders from June 19 to June 30, Premier Ford has announced. A release Monday says: “Extending these emergency orders gives our frontline health care providers the necessary flexibility to rapidly respond to urgent needs and protect our most vulnerable.” The release refers to declining cases of the infection but also repeats frequently heard concerns that a wider spread of the infection is still possible. As reported Tuesday, Toronto, Peel Region, and Windsor-Essex remain in Stage 1 of the provincial lockdown, meaning that many businesses including restaurant patios, hair salons, barbers and many others cannot yet reopen in those three areas.

A cheap and widely-available steroid drug called dexamethasone has proven to save the lives of critically-ill COVID-19 patients in a British study. It’s estimated many thousands of lives would have been saved around the world if physicians had been aware of the effectiveness of the drug earlier. Test results reported Tuesday from Oxford University in the UK indicated as many as a third of the patients on ventilators improved and survived after receiving dexamethasone. The work was done at a laboratory known as Recovery.

• Steroid dexamethasone reduces deaths among patients with severe COVID-19 – trial shows

An agreement has once again been reached between Canada and the United States to keep the border closed to all non-essential travel for another month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced. The extension on the existing agreement means that the border restrictions will stay in place until July 21, even as both countries continue to reopen their economies. “This is an important decision that will keep people in both of our countries safe,” Trudeau said Tuesday. There is survey information indicating a large majority of Canadians fear an influx of potentially infected arrivals — with CTV

• CBC streaming Tuesday from Ottawa
• Consumer debt loads drop for first time in a decade in Canada