The measure will be mandatory for all government employees.He is also asking organizers to cancel all indoor events attracting crowds of more than 250 people and all other large gatherings that are not considered essential.12:10 p.m.: Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announces that he has been tested for COVID-19 because he has been unwell. He says his doctor doesn’t believe he has symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

But he will limit contact with the public, on doctor’s advice.11:59 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife are in self-isolation over COVID-19 concerns, which has forced the cancellation of an in-person meeting of Canada’s first ministers. Sophie Gregoire Trudeau came down with flu-like symptoms after returning from a trip to U.K. She is being tested for COVID-19 and her symptoms have since subsided, the PMO said in a statement Thursday.11:56 a.m.: Ontario announces that there are 17 more cases of COVID-19, including a baby boy under 1 years old.
All are travel-related or had close contact. There have been 4,185 people tested to date, with 3,590 negative, 536 under investgation and 5 resolved.11:51 a.m.: Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health says the province has its first presumptive case of COVID-19.

Patrick’s Day Parade has been cancelled amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The city’s St. Patrick’s Parade Society made the announcement this morning.The event had originally been scheduled to take place this Sunday. The cancellation marks an about-face for the society, which had released a statement on Wednesday saying the parade would go ahead.11:28 a.m.: Fear about the economic impact of COVID-19 gripped investors as North American stock markets plunged in late-morning trading.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 1,358.67 points or nearly 10 per cent at 12,911.42.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 2,028.87 points at 21,524.35. The S&P 500 index was down 210.19 points at 2,531.19, while the Nasdaq composite was down 564.57 points at 7,387.48.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.34 cents US compared with an average of 72.75 cents US on Wednesday.11:25 a.m.: The Juno Awards have been cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The show, which celebrates Canadian music, was to take place Sunday at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences says the decision was made with input and guidance from provincial tourism and health authorities.11 a.m.: Waterloo has two more COVID-19 cases, Anam Latif of the Waterloo Region Record reports.

The first is a woman in her 60s returning from a Caribbean cruise, the second is a man in his 40s who returned from Las Vegas. It’s the third confirmed case for Waterloo Region.11 a.m.: Ontario’s premier says concerns over COVID-19 shouldn’t prevent people from going on vacation for March Break.Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa, Ford said he wants people to have a good time and enjoy themselves.He says the province is monitoring the situation daily and things may change, but for now, people shouldn’t alter their plans.The remarks come ahead of a first ministers’ meeting set for later today.10:40 a.m.: The Philippine president has suspended domestic travel to and from the Manila area for a month and authorized sweeping quarantines in the region to fight the new coronavirus.

President Rodrigo Duterte also banned large gatherings in the metropolis, suspended most government work and extended the suspension of classes by a month in new restrictions announced Thursday in a nationwide TV address.10:07 a.m.: The NHL is advising clubs to forgo morning skates and practices.The league is also advising against team meetings, citing what it calls “uncertainty regarding next steps” related to COVID-19.The NHL says it plans to make an announcement about the future of the season later today.10:05 a.m.: The Raptors announce that players, coaches and travelling staff are all in self-isolation for 14 days. The Toronto Raptors played the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Monday night.

On Wednesday evening, testing revealed that a Jazz player, reportedly Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.They are also asking fans who came in contact with anyone from the organization this week to be extra vigilant for signs of coronavirus. Team members have made two public appearances since returning to Toronto from Utah.9:49 p.m.: The TMX Group says market-wide circuit breakers were tripped to pause trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange and TSX Alpha.The pause came after the S&P/TSX composite index fell more than 1,000 points at the start of trading.Get more of today’s top stories in your inboxSign up for the Star’s Morning Headlines email newsletter for a briefing of the day’s big news.Sign Up NowThe S&P 500 dropped about 7 per cent within the first few minutes of Thursday’s trading, steep enough to trigger an automatic halt to trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The index is set to join the Dow in entering a bear market after losing more than 20 per cent from its record set last month, and one of the greatest eras in Wall Street’s history is crumbling.9:35 a.m.: Ontario says the province’s first wave of dedicated assessment centres for COVID-19 will open in the next several days.The facilities will be at the Brampton Civic Hospital, The Ottawa Hospital, North York General Hospital, Mackenzie Health, Scarborough Health Network and Trillium Health Partners.

More centres are set to open across the province in the coming weeks and will be separate spaces to protect patients in the rest of the hospital.The province has also approved new physician billing codes for telephone assessments and is launching a provincewide public education campaign with ads on social media, search engines, radio and in print.8:42 a.m.: The City of Toronto announced that it has entered the next phase in its ongoing management of COVID-19, with the implementation of a city-wide task force.In a news release, it says the Emergency Operations Centre is at a Level One activation, which involves monitoring the situation here and around the world.

It coordinates internal efforts at the City to ensure it meets the needs of residents and businesses should the activation level change.In the release, it says the COVID-19 task force comprises key managers from all City divisions and agencies and are now situated at the centre, planning for various responses, including:

• the potential for increased staff absenteeism due to illness and the impact on the City’s ability to deliver core services

• global supply chain challenges for personal protective equipment, like masks and gloves for frontline workers and first responders

• actions undertaken to protect vulnerable populations, such as those experiencing homelessness or in City-run long-term care homes

• developing, sharing and continually updating critical information for residents and visitors to the city

• forecasting and responding to economic impacts the pandemic may have on residents and businesses.

8:25 a.m.: A spokeswoman for New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says he will not attend the first ministers meeting today in Ottawa now that his province has reported its first presumptive case of COVID-19.Spokeswoman Nicolle Carlin said this morning Higgs has decided he must stay in New Brunswick.On Wednesday, Higgs said the Ottawa meeting should be held via teleconference, noting there is a travel ban for New Brunswick government employees as a result of the pandemic.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer, says health officials learned Wednesday that a woman between 50 and 60 years old living in the southeastern area of the province was “minimally symptomatic” after returning from a trip to France.New Brunswick is the first Atlantic province to report a presumptive case of the disease.8:21 a.m.: Dow Jones futures are down more than 1,000 points as U.S. stock markets brace for more losses Thursday after President Donald Trump’s speech on the coronavirus outbreak seemingly failed to ease investors’ concerns.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were showing a drop of 5 per cent, or 1,194 points. Futures for the S&P 500 declined 5 per cent, or about 138 points.On Wednesday, the Dow dropped 1,464 points, dragging it 20 per cent below the record set last month and putting the index in a bear market. If the S&P 500 closes down more than 1 per cent, that would put the index in bear market territory and bring an end to the longest bull market in U.S. history.Overseas markets suffered steep losses. Most stock markets in Asia fell more than three per cent and markets in Europe are seeing declines of six per cent or more.8:06 a.m.: Inmates at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre are being quarantined after an offender claimed to have been previously in contact with someone with COVID-19.

The infection protocol was done as a precautionary measure. Alberta and B.C. officials confirmed they haven’t identified the individual identified by the offender as being infected, said Noel Busse, Director of Communications for Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice/Corrections and Policing on March 11.“Until we have completely ruled out any potential contact between this individual and COVID-19, we are undertaking precautionary infection control measures in our correctional facilities as necessary.”Seven inmates were being transported with the original offender.

Six living areas out of 13 are under quarantine at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre.The quarantine impacts 158 offenders.7:33 a.m.: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was tested for the new coronavirus on Thursday after meeting with Cabinet officials who were exposed to infected people and have now been self-quarantined, an official said.Duterte has no symptoms of COVID-19 but wanted to make sure he is healthy and can continue to engage with the public, said Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, a former presidential aide who still accompanies Duterte to official functions.“Considering that some Cabinet members we engage with regularly have been exposed to individuals who were tested positive for COVID-19 … it is just prudent for us to take precautionary measures in compliance with the advice of our health officials,” Go said.7:28 a.m.: Iran said Thursday it had asked for an emergency $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help fight the spread of a new virus that’s swept across the country, infecting more than 10,000 people and killing hundreds.

Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced in a now-daily televised news conference that 75 people had died in the past 24 hours and more than 1,000 new cases of infection had been confirmed, pushing the death toll to 429 and confirmed cases to 10,075.In a tweet Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the IMF to “stand on right side of history & act responsibly” by releasing the funds through the international lender’s Rapid Financial Instrument.

Iran’s Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said Thursday he made the request for $5 billion last week in a letter to IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva. The IMF has said it stands ready to support countries battling the virus.7:05 a.m.: The European Union on Thursday lashed out at President Donald Trump’s “unilateral” decision to restrict travel from Europe to the United States over the coronavirus, saying that the illness does not respect borders.Trump announced that all European travel would be cut off, but U.S. officials later clarified that restrictions would apply only to most foreign citizens who have been in Europe’s passport-free travel zone at any point for 14 days prior to their arrival to the United States.

“The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” EU Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement.“The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires co-operation rather than unilateral action,” the two said.5:16 a.m.: A spike in cases in the Gulf Arab states helped push infections in the Middle East for the new coronavirus past 10,000 cases on Thursday, with most infected people either in Iran or having recently travelled there.Iran has asked for an emergency $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to combat the outbreak there, which has killed more than 360 people and infected some 9,000 people in the Islamic Republic. Iran’s Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said Thursday he made the request last week in a letter to IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva. The international lender has said it stands ready to support countries through a Rapid Financial Instrument.

Source:https:thestar.com/news