British Columbia's premier is apologizing for comments he made Thursday comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to the province's ongoing opioid crisis. B.C. set a new record of 175 overdose deaths in June, surpassing the record just set in May and about 5,000 people have died since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016. Advocates have questioned whether the opioid crisis has been overshadowed by the pandemic, despite occurring for longer and with a higher death toll. Horgan told reporters Friday that he ``mischaracterized'' the challenges of addiction. He says he knows addictions c

There's more evidence that COVID-19 is a stubborn bug to beat. Two new outbreaks have been flagged in British Columbia. One is at a neo-natal intensive care unit in Vancouver, and there's another case detected at a massive hydroelectric project. Vancouver Coastal Health has issued a notice about the outbreak at the neo-natal unit at St. Paul's hospital in Vancouver's downtown. Several patients and their families have been traced as potential contacts and are in isolation. BC Hydro says a worker who arrived from Alberta on Monday to the Site C work camp in Fort St. John has tested positive and

Canada's deputy public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo says singing and dancing in close quarters is not the way to party this summer. Njoo is urging younger people to stop cramming bars and dance floors to stop the spread of COVID-19. Njoo says indoor activities carry a higher risk to spread COVID-19 and that can have serious health consequences, even for young people. However, Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the province is due to private gatherings rather than bar visits. Njoo says younger Canadians have a duty to act responsibly to keep COVID

With the highest single-day spike of 34,956 cases, India's COVID-19 count crossed 10 lakh on Friday.The death toll has gone up to 25,602 with 687 deaths in the last 24 hours.The Health Ministry said that the total count of cases stands at 10,03,832 including 3,42,473 active case and 6,35,757 cured/discharged/migrated patients.The recovery rate stands at 63.33 per cent.Maharashtra reported 8,308 new COVID-19 cases and 258 deaths on Friday. The total number of positive cases has risen to 2,92,589 including 1,60,357 recovered cases, 1,20,480 active cases and 11,452 deaths.Tamil Nadu reported 4,53

Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the Liberals are easing eligibility rules for the government's emergency wage subsidy and changing the amounts businesses can receive. The government had been under pressure to make the subsidy more accessible, specifically by loosening the requirement of a 30 per cent drop in revenues, so more companies under that cut-off can qualify. Speaking in Toronto, Morneau says the rules will be changed so amounts paid out will be proportional to revenue declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is the heart of the Liberals' promise to help Canadians get bac

Another House of Commons committee is to begin probing the aborted deal between the federal government and WE Charity to run a massive student-volunteering program. WE gave up running the $912-million program amid controversy over hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees the WE organization paid to members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's family for appearances at WE events. Conservatives on the Commons ethics committee say they'll be seeking copies of all records related to any speaking appearances involving Trudeau, his wife, his mother and his brother. According to WE, most of the fees we

A newborn intensive care unit at a Vancouver hospital is the site of the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the city.Vancouver Coastal Health, which administers health care services for much of Greater Vancouver region and the inner south and central coasts, issued a notice about the outbreak Thursday.The outbreak covers the neo-natal intensive care unit at St. Paul's hospital in downtown Vancouver.The agency did not say if the outbreak is related to staff or patients at the unit, or how many cases have been reported.Officials with the health authority say a satellite unit has been set up to continu

There are 109,155 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 57,001 confirmed (including 5,646 deaths, 26,097 resolved) Ontario: 37,052 confirmed (including 2,732 deaths, 32,920 resolved) Alberta: 9,114 confirmed (including 165 deaths, 8,142 resolved) British Columbia: 3,170 confirmed (including 189 deaths, 2,789 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,002 resolved) Saskatchewan: 923 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 794 resolved) Manitoba: 320 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 318 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 262 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 258 resolved)

Premier John Horgan says he expects BC will receive nearly two billion dollars from the federal government under a new COVID-19 Safe Restart Agreement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is providing a total of 19-billion dollars to provinces and territories to boost their economies amid the pandemic. The agreement includes 10 days of paid sick leave, fully funded by the federal government. Horgan says the sick-leave program is a key move to make sure nobody feels pressured to go to work while ill.