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.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says there's ``a special place in hell'' for hoarders and scammers during the COVID-19 crisis. Kenney says officials are continuing to hear about cases of hoarding food and other vital supplies, along with Internet scams stoking fears about the novel coronavirus to obtain credit card information. He says such behaviour is un-Canadian and anyone caught scamming will face the full weight of the law. Kenney says he was at a soup kitchen where demand is soaring but the kitchen is having trouble getting supplies because of bottlenecks at grocery stores. He says the pro

Canada's most populous province says that non-essential businesses must close for at least 14 days starting at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday in efforts to stem the new coronavirus pandemic. Ontario Gov. Doug Ford said Monday he will release the list of businesses that will be allowed to stay open, but food will remain on the grocery store shelves and people will still have access to medication. Ford also acknowledged students will not going back to school on April 6, the date initially set for a return to classes. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier that ``Enough is enough. Go home and stay h

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is announcing multiple new flights to bring stranded Canadians home from abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Trudeau says Air Transat, WestJet and Sunwing airlines all have flights planned this week.He says two Air Canada flights are to reach Canadians in Morocco in the coming days. An Air Canada flight to Spain is also confirmed, while Air Transat has been cleared for two flights to Honduras and one each to Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala.Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Twitter earlier today that the government has also arranged f

Ontario is reporting 78 new COVID-19 cases today, bringing the provincial total to 503.It's the largest increase in a day so far.The total includes six deaths and eight cases that have fully resolved.At least six of the new cases are hospitalized, including a woman in her 30s, a man in his 40s, two people in their 50s and two people in their 70s.Information on dozens of the new cases is listed as pending.Since Sunday, more than 1,950 people tested negative, while more than 8,000 people are still awaiting their test results.

Air Transat says it has temporarily laid off about 3,600 staff including all flight crew personnel.That's about 70 % of its workforce in Canada.The company says the final Air Transat flight prior to the full suspension of its operations is scheduled for April 1st.Non-essential travel around the world has come to a near standstill as governments close borders in an effort to slow the COVID-19 pandemic.