The South Bayview Bulldog

Stand-alone clinics scheduled soon

The Ministry of Health announced Thursday that it will open dedicated COVID-19 assessment centres across Ontario within days. The stand-alone centres in the GTA are coming to Brampton Civic Hospital, The Ottawa Hospital, North York General Hospital, Mackenzie Health in York Region, Scarborough Health Network and Trillium Health Partners in Peel Region. The centres will be located in separate spaces to protect other patients. More centres are set to be established across the province in the next few weeks. Ontario has also approved new physician billing codes for telephone assessments, which will allow doctors to do more evaluations that way rather than having people come into their clinics. The province is also in the early stages of planning to establish at-home testing.

The stock market plunge which has wiped hundreds of billions of dollars off stock markets continues Thursday after US president Trump declared restrictions of travel from Europe to the United states for 30 days. “We made a lifesaving move with early action on China,” Trump said. “Now we must take the same action with Europe.” The State Department followed Trump’s remarks by issuing an extraordinary global health advisory cautioning U.S. citizens to “reconsider travel abroad” due to the virus and associated quarantines and restrictions.

Hamilton doctor returned from Hawaii

Ontario has announced five new cases of novel coronavirus, including a Hamilton cancer doctor specialist who saw several patients on the day she was diagnosed. The woman, 32, recently returned from Hawaii. She reported to Hamilton Health Sciences Centre with symptoms. But before that, the infected doctor apparently saw patients and colleagues who are now being contacted. She reportedly saw as many as 14 patients on the day she was diagnosed. The provincial total of virus cases is now 42.

NBA suspends season, Raptors told to self-quarantine

With the NBA suspending its season after a player on the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19, the league is asking their recent opponents to self-quarantine, according to ESPN‘s Brian Windhorst. The Toronto Raptors are among the teams that have played against the Jazz over the past 10 days and, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the players will have to be in self-quarantine for the next 14 days. Charania added that the Raptors were also given precautionary tests for coronavirus Wednesday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons also played against the Jazz during that stretch and have been asked to self-quarantine.

Flooding has been reported in the intersection of Richmond and Simcoe streets due to a watermain break in the area https://t.co/QbMr1oNswN pic.twitter.com/sRL3yXZGeV

— CP24 (@CP24) March 11, 2020

A water main break has flooded the intersection of Richmond and Simcoe Sts. Wednesday. Work goes on to repair the rupture. The corner has been under construction for weeks.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and scolded unnamed countries for what it called alarming inaction to battle the virus. WHO said COVID-19 was unknown to world health officials just three months ago but its aggressive nature has romped across carelessly lazy countries to infect more and 121,000 people in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and US. “In the past two weeks the number of cases outside China has increased thirteenfold and the number of affected countries has tripled,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva. “In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of affected countries to climb even higher,” Tedros said several countries have demonstrated the ability to suppress and control the outbreak, but he accused other world leaders of failing to act quickly enough or drastically enough to contain the spread.

Former Hollywood czar and womanizer Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for a collection of sex crimes ranging from outright rape to molestation. His lawyer addressed the media shortly after sentencing to say she was “overcome with anger” by the severity of the term. She called the court’s reaction to public pressure “cowardly.”

A Sudbury man who travelled to Toronto last week to attend a conference has been confirmed to have COVID-19, health officials said Tuesday. Health officials in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts announced the positive test in a news release Tuesday night. The development marks the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the area. CTV

Italian army manning stations to prevent travel

Air Canada has stopped all flights to and from Italy, saying the decision was prompted by Italian regulations and “ongoing health and safety concerns” related to the outbreak of a novel coronavirus. The airline’s last flight to Rome took off from Toronto Tuesday, with the final return flight departing Rome for Montreal on Wednesday. Army stops travellers as death toll  rises

Judge forces Ryerson to give money back to student union

Ryerson University has been ordered by an Ontario judge to give back millions of dollars it has been withholding from the school’s student union. Justice Markus Koehnen apparently made his decision not on the basis of disputed use of money by the student body but rather on the impact the school’s decision would have on the student body. The court battle came after Ryerson’s student newspaper reported last January that student union credit card statements apparently showed expenditures of more than $250,000 over eight months. The Canadian Press has not seen the credit card statements and the union’s financial controller declined to comment on the matter at the time of the allegations.

Mounted officers and steeds catch some late-winter sunshine on Belsize Dr/Bulldog

Nice to be back on the job/Bulldog

Pleasant early March weather Tuesday afternoon saw members of the Toronto Police Mounted Unit catching a little sunshine at the corner of Belsize Dr. and Bayview Ave.

It’s been since August that a pleasant sign appeared announcing the arrival of Bomou Bakery at 1636 Bayview Ave., the former site of Cumbrae’s before it moved to the east of the street. At the time, The Bulldog was unable to find anyone to speak about the venture. Today the store remains unopened and a phone number at Bomou’s Google listing carries a message saying that the customer has not initialized the mailbox. The recording asks callers to tell the owner of the number to please activate the mailbox

Can you sneak across Eglinton on Hanna unscathed?

Tweets from the scene of a reported collision at Eglinton Ave. and Hanna Rd. say the accident is little more than a bumper bender. Felix@FelixTse11 tweets that he passed the scene after it was reported and found nothing more than a severed bumper. The corner is of interest as an alternative to crossing Eglinton at Bayview Ave. The absence of lights permits a north-south driver to beg for an opening from drivers mired in the Eglinton crawl. All very handy but you have to be careful as someone found out this morning.

Couple said to be from the Parry Sound area make the best of things

A cargo aircraft carrying 237 Canadians who were on the Grand Princess cruise ship has landed at CFB Trenton. Several people on the ship have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Passengers will be quarantined at the base for 14 days. The ship docked at Oakland, California. CBC

Cargo plane brings Canadian tourists home to quarantine

A statement published Monday by Josh Matlow, Ward 12, reads: I have just been informed that I came into contact this past Thursday, March 5th, with an individual who has tested positive for COVID – 19 (Novel Coronavirus) upon their return from a conference in Washington, DC. While I am completely asymptomatic, out of an abundance of caution, and on the advice of Dr. Eileen de Villa, the City’s Medical Officer of Health, I am going into self-isolation until March 20th.

It is very important to note that I have been informed by Dr. de Villa that because I am asymptomatic, no one, including my family, is at an elevated risk of having contracted the virus due to contact with me. The Medical Officer of Health, and her excellent team, have provided me with prompt, informative advice, as they have to all Toronto residents since the virus was discovered. It is important that everyone seek information regarding COVID – 19 from credible sources, such as Toronto Public Health, and follow expert advice.

During my isolation period, I will unfortunately have to cancel all public events, including a community meeting to support Mabel’s Fables tomorrow evening, March 10th. The meeting will be rescheduled and the new date, time, and location will be communicated to residents as soon as possible.

For more information about COVID – 19 and how to protect yourself and your family, please visit the City of Toronto’s webpage. If you have travelled from Hubei Province, China, or Iran within the last 14 days or have had close contact with a person ill with COVID-19, please self-isolate and contact Toronto Public Health at 416-338-7600 within 24 hours of arriving in Toronto.

Councillor Josh Matlow”

Click here to view statement.