The South Bayview Bulldog

Whitney Junior Public School

Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa has alerted staff and students at Whitney Junior Public School that someone who now has a confirmed case of COVID-19 visited the school on March 4.  The Toronto and District School Board has said that the individual was not a staff member or student at the school, though their reason for being there has not been released. In her letter, Dr. De Villa said that the individual was not symptomatic on the day he visited the school and therefore the risk to staff and students is considered low. Whitney Junior Public School is at the corner of Rosedale Heights Rd. and Maclennan  Ave. Members of the school community are being urged to monitor for symptoms and to call ahead if they need to seek medical treatment. “Symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure and may include: fever, new onset of cough, difficulty breathing, fatigue, chills, malaise, sore throat, and/or diarrhea,” de Villa said in the letter. School cleaning staff have been scrubbing handrails, doorknobs and push plates at all schools, given the emerging threat from COVID-19.

Italy announced a sweeping quarantine early Sunday for its northern regions, igniting travel chaos as it restricted the movements of a quarter of its people in a bid to halt the new coronavirus’ relentless march across Europe. Shortly after midnight, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree affecting 16 million people in the country’s prosperous north, including the Lombardy region and at least 14 provinces in neighbouring regions. The extraordinary measures will be in place until April 3. “For Lombardy and for the other northern provinces that I have listed, there will be a ban for everybody to move in and out of these territories and also within the same territory,” Conte said. “Exceptions will be allowed only for proven professional needs, exceptional cases and health issues.” CBC

• Italy records biggest one day jump in coronavirus cases

An Ontario ticket holder won Saturday night’s $11.4 million Lotto 649 jackpot. And the guaranteed $1 million prize went to a lottery player in British Columbia. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Mar. 11 will be approximately $5 million.

Daylight Saving Time returns Sunday at 3 a.m. Sunrise will be 7.41 a.m., sunset 7.16 p.m. Spring forward an hour.

Steven Del Duca addresses convention on his election as leader/CPAC capture

Ontario Liberals have selected former cabinet minister Steven Del Duca as their new party leader. Del Duca takes over from former Premier Kathleen Wynne, who stepped down due to a dismal election result in 2018.

Toronto officials are alerting the public to the movements of a man now diagnosed with COVID-19 in the three days between his return from Las Vegan and his self-isolation with the virus.

How Chinese wildlife markets can cause virus outbreaks

This fascinating report explains how China’s wildlife “wet markets” are a breeding ground for coronavirus outbreaks and the quite frightening reason why the Communist government does not shut them all down.

Friday afternoon encampment fire

Last sunday’s encampment fire

The Toronto Fire Service was called Friday to extinguish a fire under the Gardiner. It is one of many such fires set by homeless people to cook and keep warm. On the right is a similar fire last Sunday.

WATCH: California National Guard delivering coronavirus test kits to the Grand Princess cruise ship pic.twitter.com/RpN0H6qTvU

— BNO News (@BNOFeed) March 6, 2020

There are 235 Canadians on the passenger manifest for a cruise ship that is being held off the coast of California for coronavirus testing. Global Affairs Canada says there are no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus on the ship. But the federal department says previous passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19, which is the respiratory disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus that first appeared in China last year.

Police Chief Saunders has vowed Friday to get to the bottom the abduction a 14-year-old boy. The lad was grabbed off Driftwood Ave. in North York Thursday morning by drug dealers in a bizarre act of revenge for his brother’s apparent theft of some $4 million in dope. The chief made an appeal for information on who was behind the abduction.

It started with a simple birthday wish — and turned into a global celebration. Today, Second World War veteran Fred Arsenault has 90,000 birthday cards to open, after his son's request for well-wishes went viral. #cbcnn pic.twitter.com/sPFbsjLiWs

— CBC Morning Live (@CBCMorningLive) March 6, 2020

The Toronto area’s raging tow truck war has seen four trucks burned in about 15 minutes in Richmond Hill and Aurora on Friday morning. Two of the trucks were parked in Aurora and two were in Richmond Hill. Between 4:15 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Friday, dispatchers received calls that all four of them had been torched. The locations of the fires are 64 Wellington Street East in Aurora, 145 Wellington Street West in Aurora, 10366 Yonge Street in Richmond Hill and 16th Avenue and Fern Avenue in Richmond Hill.

Extraordinary violence related to a legal business

The so-called turf war between tow truck drivers is said to have been raging for as long as 18 months without a resolution. The violence seems related to illegal practices that have sprung up in an otherwise legal business.

The Ontario Ministry of Health reports a further case of coronavirus in the province. It was diagnosed in a patient had recently travelled to Las Vegas. It is the 24th such case in the province.