COVID

Priority groups in Canada should start receiving COVID-19 vaccine doses early next year, a top public health official said Thursday, as new restrictions for those entering New Brunswick effectively popped the so-called Atlantic bubble.

The country's chief public health officer urged Canadians on Wednesday to avoid non-essential outings, as cases continued to rise across the country and Ontario became the latest province to announce scaled-back holiday plans.

To the atmosphere, this year’s “return to nature” — a silver lining for some amid a deadly virus — was virtually meaningless.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective, buoying the prospects of a relatively cheap, easy-to-store product that may become the vaccine of choice for the developing world.

Ontario’s premier suggested Monday that things would "get back to normal" once COVID-19 vaccines are approved and mass-produced, as two hot spots in the province entered lockdowns and Eastern Canada’s Atlantic bubble was temporarily dismantled in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

It is surprising to find an inconsistent, and occasionally non-existent, application of risk communication practices by those leading the COVID-19 response in many Canadian jurisdictions, says Cathy Slavik.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning Canada’s future hangs in the balance if people don’t reduce their contacts to prevent dire new COVID-19 projections from becoming a reality.

Manitoba, which has the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate in Canada, has announced it’s tightening the rules for social gatherings and shopping.

Ontario’s education minister won’t say whether kids will get an extended winter break this year, but the Ford government is considering it to protect the classrooms Stephen Lecce says are the safest in the country.

Across B.C.’s Kootenay region, slow internet has left many farmers struggling after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed everything from sales to school online.

Toronto art space Tea Base launched early last year with a mandate to engage the local community and bridge the divide between older and younger generations. It closed its doors last month, but collective members are already looking at what comes next.

As COVID-19's death toll mounts again, seniors' advocates want national standards for long-term care homes and funding tied to meeting new benchmarks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he hopes to see COVID-19 vaccines roll out in Canada early next year, but warned that won’t bring an immediate resolution to the pandemic currently seeing a resurgence in several provinces.

Humans first caught the virus that causes COVID-19 from animals and research now suggests it could also be the other way around.

We must dismantle the bomb that is factory farming in all its forms, whether that means returning to small herds and flocks raised outdoors on family farms or moving away from animal products altogether, Zack Metcalfe writes.