WestJet Airlines Ltd. says roughly half of its 14,000 employees will leave the company some temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 6,900 departures comprise early retirements, resignations and both voluntary and involuntary leaves after WestJet asked staff to choose one of those options or reduce their hours or pay, said CEO Ed Sims. Up to 600 Air Canada pilots will also go on unpaid leave in the coming months due to the fallout from the virus, their union said Tuesday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a “total lockdown” in the country of 1.3 billion people during a televised address Tuesday night, the most extensive stay-at-home order yet in the world's fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The 21-day lockdown was set to begin at midnight. “To save India and every Indian, there will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes,” Modi said, adding that if the county failed to manage the next 21 days, it would be set back by 21 years. Indian health officials have reported 469 actives cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus,

The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed until 2021. The International Olympic Committee along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organizers have decided that the Tokyo Games cannot go ahead as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. The IOC says the games will be held “not later than summer 2021” but they will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Punjab Health Minister BS Sidhu, said on Monday that the state has requested the Centre to release Rs 150 crore for building isolations wards and other buildings necessary to treat coronavirus patients. "As we have so many NRIs in Punjab and 90,000 people have come here in the last three-four months, we have asked for Rs 150 crore from the Centre to help us build infrastructure as well as for isolation wards and other things if there are more cases," said Sidhu. He also said that five MPs met Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, regarding the matter. According to the Union Ministry of Hea

Ottawa's medical officer of health says the public health authority may use cellphone data to find out whether people really are self-isolating. Dr. Vera Etches says the agency is trying to get a better handle on whether people are following the advice to stay home and away from others. She says one way to do that is with polling, but they are also looking at ways to use ``electronic data'' to see if people are congregating in public spaces or moving about.

Canada's chief public officer Dr. Theresa Tam is warning against using any medication, including hydroxychloroquine, to try to treat COVID-19 until scientific evidence confirms its efficacy. The warning follows reports on social media that hydroxychloroquine can cure the respiratory illness. Among those who have repeated the claim is U.S. President Donald Trump. Tam says there is a large number of pre-existing medications that scientists are looking at to see whether they can treat COVID-19, but people should not take anything until the results are confirmed. Tam adds that some of the medicat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Canadian Olympic Committee made the right decision in announcing Canadian athletes will not go to the Tokyo Olympics or Paralympics if they start on the scheduled date in July. Trudeau says the move is heartbreaking for athletes, coaches, staff and fans, but feels it's the right call in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. He called on all Canadians to follow the lead of the COC. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to start July 24. The International Olympic Committee announced Sunday that it will make a decision on if the Games are postponed in the next fou

The latest numbers of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4.51pm on March 29, 2020: There are 6320 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Ontario: 1355 confirmed (including 23 deaths, 8 resolved) British Columbia: 884 confirmed (including 17 deaths, 396 resolved) Alberta: 661 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 73 resolved) Quebec: 2840 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1 resolved) Saskatchewan: 156 confirmed (including 3 resolved) Nova Scotia: 122 confirmed Manitoba: 25 confirmed, 47 presumptive (including 1 death) New Brunswick: 66 confirmed Canadians quarantined at CFB Tr

Alberta now has 42 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total in the province to 301. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical health officer, says 18 people are in hospital. She also says 11 of 47 people, many of them physicians, have tested positive for the virus since attending a curling bonspiel in Edmonton earlier this month. She says some of those doctors returned to work and saw patients before they were notified that they had been exposed.