pandemic

TORONTO — Among the letters, bills and coupons in their mailboxes, some Ontario residents have found a flyer claiming to expose the truth of the COVID-19 pandemic. Titled “Facts Not Fear,” the flyer is just more junk mail, says infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch. “It’s garbage,” he told CTV’s Your Morning on Friday. But … Read more

TORONTO — The mystery of why virtually all of the seniors and 74 workers became infected with COVID-19 at Roberta Place long-term care is now becoming clear — one of the new variants of the novel coronavirus was behind the outbreak. Six residents at the home in Barrie, Ont. have now been confirmed to be … Read more

TORONTO — Canada remains on schedule to vaccinate the entire population by the end of September despite a temporary supply shortage of Pfizer vaccine doses, according to officials overseeing the rollout. Projections released Thursday by federal health officials suggest that Canada will be able to vaccinate 3 million people by the end of March, accounting … Read more

TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the CEO of Pfizer Global on Thursday and was assured that, despite an ongoing delay in vaccine deliveries, the company will follow through on millions of vaccine shipments due in March. News of Trudeau’s conversation with CEO Dr. Albert Bourla comes as officials overseeing the vaccine rollout … Read more

TORONTO — With long-term care COVID-19 cases and deaths accounting for a dramatic proportion of Canada’s pandemic numbers, some are calling for an end to for-profit long-term care, but at least one doctor says the entire system is underfunded. The numbers are stark: 42 per cent of the country’s long-term care homes have been hit … Read more

TORONTO — Snowbirds hoping to skip the line in Canada by flying to Florida for COVID-19 vaccines now face a tougher set of rules aimed at snuffing vaccine tourism. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that anyone who owns property in Florida and lives there at least part-time will qualify for the vaccine, but travellers … Read more

TORONTO — The inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden doesn’t just mark the end of Donald Trump’s presidency but it also signals a new direction in the effort to end the COVID-19 pandemic in America. To political and health experts critical of Trump’s response, the twice-impeached president’s pandemic action plan was one of inaction that … Read more

TORONTO — More variants of the novel coronavirus are being detected worldwide, ramping up fears in Canada around the increased transmission some of these variants could bring. They’re known as “variants of concern” according to the World Health Organization, and since the first variant emerged in the U.K., it and other variants have spread to … Read more

OTTAWA — A group of long-term care workers in rural Quebec have taken extreme measures to keep COVID-19 from entering their facility: they have each decided to move in with the residents. For the second time since the start of the pandemic, employees at Manoir Stanstead in Stanstead, Que., about 160 kilometres southeast of Montreal, … Read more

TORONTO — Based on what disability advocates have seen so far, Canadian cities aren’t ready for the influx of people temporarily or permanently disabled from COVID-19. Long-term effects include breathing problems, mobility limitations from fatigue, and neurological and sleeping difficulties. “This is a whole new source of disability,” Mary Ann McColl, academic lead for the … Read more

BEIJING — A city government in eastern China says the coronavirus was found on ice cream produced there, prompting a recall of cartons from the same batch. The government says employees of the company in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, are being tested for the coronavirus. There is no indication anyone has contracted the virus from … Read more

Canada’s procurement minister urged drugmaker Pfizer-BioNTech to get the country’s COVID-19 vaccine delivery schedule back on track as soon as possible as cases of the novel coronavirus surged past the 700,000 mark on Saturday. The country hit the milestone less than two weeks after recording 600,000 cases of the virus on Jan. 3 — a … Read more

TORONTO — More than seven in 10 Canadians support or somewhat support barring those who don’t have proof of vaccination from businesses where people are in close contact, according to a new Nanos survey. The survey, conducted by Nanos Research in December 2020 and commissioned by CTV News, asked more than 1,000 Canadians 18 years … Read more

EDMONTON — Bianca Andreescu’s coach, Sylvain Bruneau, has tested positive for COVID-19, one of three confirmed cases that have forced 47 Australian Open players into quarantine ahead of the tournament. The three positive cases, including Bruneau, were detected among charter flights carrying players, coaches and officials to the Australian city before Saturday’s tournament. Despite following … Read more

WILMINGTON, DEL. — Getting 100 million shots in Americans’ arms in his first 100 days is only the beginning of his coronavirus plan, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden declared Friday. Lasting impact, he said, will come from uniting the nation in a new effort grounded in science and fueled by billions in federal money for vaccination, … Read more

GENEVA — The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief said Friday that the impact of new variants of COVID-19 in places like Britain, South Africa and Brazil remains to be seen, citing human behaviour for some recent rises in infection counts. “It’s just too easy to lay the blame on the variant and say, `It’s the … Read more

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open to tighter travel restrictions, including a possible ban on outbound air travel as COVID-19 case counts climb across the country. “We’re always open to strengthening them as necessary,” Trudeau said, referring to measures restricting international flights. Officials are keeping a close eye on countries … Read more

BALTIMORE — The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 2 million Friday as vaccines developed at breakneck speed are being rolled out around the world in an all-out campaign to vanquish the threat. The milestone was reached just over a year after the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The number … Read more

OTTAWA — The spread of COVID-19 continues to surge rapidly, with tens of thousands of new cases and thousands of additional deaths forecasted in the coming weeks. New national modelling released on Friday shows that Canada is on track to see up to 796,630 total COVID-19 cases and 19,630 deaths by Jan. 24.  The short-term … Read more

A collection of children’s drawings made during the pandemic illustrates the mental toll the pandemic is taking on Canadian youth, says the researcher behind a project analyzing their artwork. Many of the submissions by kids and teenagers on childart.ca depict people alone, haunted by shadowy spectres, or worse, their own thoughts. Collectively, the images paint … Read more

TORONTO — As new variants of the novel coronavirus pop up around the globe, a team from the World Health Organization is back where it all began — in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic first started more than a year ago. The delegation was greeted by security staff in full protective gear … Read more

OTTAWA — While medical experts and Health Canada agree that rapid testing plays an important role in the fight against COVID-19, self-administered rapid tests have yet to see approval and clinical rapid testing is lagging behind. To date, Health Canada has approved several rapid testing methods — which are typically used detect COVID-19 antigens — … Read more

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT — The wife of a Nunavut man who died from COVID-19 after contracting it in his community is urging the territory’s residents to get vaccinated. Diane Sammurtok’s husband Luki died in December after being flown from his home in Arviat to a southern hospital. Sammurtok called in to Arviat’s local radio station and … Read more

MEXICO CITY — A surge in COVID-19 cases is hitting nearly all countries in the Americas, the head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Wednesday, adding that the pandemic’s toll in 2021 could be worse than last year if containment efforts relax. From Canada to Argentina, coronavirus infections are spiking, with particularly alarming … Read more

TORONTO — Canadian front-line doctors and health-care staff frustrated with the vaccination rollout demanded better transparency, communication, and prioritization as emergency staff in regions with limited resources wait their turn to get the COVID-19 shot. “As front-line physicians, we see that many of our members, along with emergency department nurses, other ED staff, and paramedics … Read more

TORONTO — Some of Ontario’s gastroenterologists who do procedures outside of hospitals say they are frustrated after not receiving a straight answer from the province as to when they can expect to receive COVID-19 vaccines – as their backlog of high-risk procedures and patient appointments mounts due to the pandemic. “My nurses and my anaesthetist … Read more