variants

With new and more contagious variants of COVID-19 escalating in Canada, provincial governments lifting lockdown restrictions must be ready to slam them back into place at a moment's notice, Canada's chief public health doctor said on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

As the Trudeau government is forced to explain delays rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, some of the world's economic and health leaders are warning of catastrophic financial consequences if poorer countries are shortchanged on vaccinations.

British Columbia's top doctor has extended COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings in order to slow down the spread of the virus amid concerns about new variants, including a third one from California that could potentially be detected in the province.

A rule requiring international travellers landing at Ontario's largest airport to take a COVID-19 test came into effect on Monday, February 1, 2021, amid growing concern over vaccine deliveries and new reported cases of contagious COVID-19 variants.

Canada's top doctor warned provinces against easing stringent public health measures on Saturday, January 30, 2021, just as the premier of one of the provinces hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic said he hoped to do exactly that in a little over a week.

As the federal government prepares to slap new restrictions on international travel, Health Canada data suggest a worrying uptick of infections directly connected to foreign arrivals.

Ongoing tensions between the provinces and the federal government over the management of the COVID-19 pandemic pivoted back on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, to the question of whether and how border controls can be tightened to slow the spread of the virus.