Air Canada is suspending flights to and from Italy, saying Italian regulations and ``ongoing health and safety concerns'' prompted the decision. The airline's last flight to Rome is scheduled to take off from Toronto today, with the final return flight departing Rome for Montreal on Wednesday. Air Canada hopes to restart service May 1. Meanwhile, it says affected customers will be notified and offered a full refund. In January, Canada's largest airline halted all direct flights to China, the epicentre of the virus, as it braced for a hit to revenues. Its shares have fallen about 40 per cent i

The government wants to make sure workers don't feel they have to go to work if they have symptoms of COVID-19. Federal Labour Minister Filomena Tassi says if the government starts hearing that's happening, it will take action, but she didn't offer any specifics. Tassi says the government's special cabinet committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland will continue to monitor the situation. Canada has recorded 80 confirmed and presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus, including a BC man in his 80s who died of the virus Sunday night.

Police say a man has been arrested and charged in connection with a pair of sex assaults near bus stops in the Greater Victoria area.Saanich police say the 40 year old suspect from Sidney was arrested on Sunday and has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and released on conditions.The man is alleged to have followed a 17 year old girl and a 25 year old woman off the bus in two separate incidents.Police say the incidents each happened at the end of February and both involved unwanted sexual touching.

A private school in West Vancouver has closed its two campuses early for spring break as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus.Collingwood School says classes are expected to resume at the end of the month at its junior school campus, as well as its middle and senior school campus.A letter sent out from the head of the school says a ``close contact to one of our Collingwood families not a student family member, or staff member,'' tested positive for the virus.The school will be subject to deep cleaning while it is closed.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne confirms there were 228 Canadian passengers and crew from the Grand Princess cruise ship who arrived this morning at CFB Trenton, Ontario.There were 237 Canadians aboard the ship that had multiple cases of the novel coronavirus.Champagne says some stayed in Oakland, California due to unrelated medical conditions and that some of the Canadian crew members who tested positive are still aboard the ship.He didn't say how many of the seven Canadian crew members have been diagnosed with the virus.

Keeping the tradition alive, people celebrated Holi with great zest in Amritsar keeping in mind coronavirus outbreak. They opted for flowers this time. The nation will celebrate the festival of colours on March 10 with great fervour. The festival is celebrated across the country to symbolize the victory of good over evil.

The Grand Princess cruise ship with 21 cases of novel coronavirus has arrived at a port in Oakland near San Francisco. There are about 35 hundred people on board including 237 Canadians. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it is expected they will be taken soon to a federally chartered plane and flown home to Ontario. They will be in quarantine for two weeks.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the Canadian economy is strong enough to weather the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus. He says the federal government has enough wiggle room in its finances to help individuals and businesses deal with the fallout. But he is still not sharing any details of those plans or the date when the federal budget will be released. He also would not reveal whether he expects the deficit to be bigger than previously projected, given the sharp decline in oil prices and the hit the markets are taking today. In an appearance on Parliament Hill, Morneau says the f

Canada's main stock index has closed down 10.3 per cent to its lowest level in 14 months as a collapse in oil prices triggers a plunge. The TSX composite index lost 1,660 points to close at 14,514. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down two thousand points or 7.7 per cent at 23,864.