Provincial Health Officer Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix informed in a press conference that as of this morning there are 27 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the province. Of the six new patients, two had travelled to Iran, two are from the Grand Princess cruise ship which was quarantined off the coast of San Francisco, and the other two are from a long term care centre in a North Vancouver. Dr. Henry informed that Lynn Valley Care Centre is under outbreak protocol now.

British Columbia is activating its provincial pandemic plan to deal with the novel coronavirus.Health Minister Adrian Dix says the province is ready to use emergency powers to protect the population, health workers, and the health system's capacity to help patients with other problems.Dix says the B.C. government is also preparing for how it will function if large numbers of public employees get sick.The plan is to be ready to operate under an outbreak that lasts up to four months.Premier John Horgan says a committee of deputy ministers will oversee B.C.'s COVID-19 response, and the province n

The federal government is increasing funding for COVID-19 research from the initial $7 million level to $27 million. Health Minister Patty Hajdu says applications for the initial amount were overwhelming. 47 research teams will now receive money to work on everything from treating the new coronavirus to getting useful information out on it. The latest patient in Ontario recently travelled to Las Vegas and used public transit in Toronto for several days before he was tested, but officials say transit riders without symptoms do not need to seek medical help. Canada's first apparent case of comm

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has cleared another legal hurdle.The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to hear five challenges from environment and Indigenous groups from British Columbia. Some had wanted the top court to consider whether the Liberal cabinet violated the Species at Risk Act when it decided to approve the pipeline expansion a second time in June 2019, arguing the project would harm the highly endangered southern resident killer whales.The Federal Court of Appeal had overturned cabinet's first approval in 2018, citing insufficient consultation with Indigenous

An Amber Alert has been issued for a 14 year old boy who Toronto police say was abducted in the northwestern part of the city.Police said in a tweet Wednesday night that they are "extremely concerned" for the safety of Shammah Jolayemi.The teen was last seen Wednesday at 8:25 a.m. in the area of Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue, they said. Const. Michelle Flannery, a spokesperson for Toronto police, said investigators do not know who abducted Shammah.Investigators said a black Jeep Wrangler with oversize front tires and a front push bar with round fog lights was seen in the area where the boy

Quebec public health officials are reporting the province's second presumptive case of the new coronavirus. The province’s Health Department announced this morning that the patient had returned from a trip, but it did not say from where. Tests performed by the province's public health lab came back positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but the result needs to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. If confirmed, it would be the second case in the province and the 35th in Canada, with the others all in Ontario and British Columbia. Officials say they are seeki

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has created a new cabinet committee to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak, which began in China but now has spread around the world.The COVID-19 cabinet committee will complement the work being done by the government's incident response group.Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland will chair the group, while Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos will be vice-chair.The other members will include Industry Minister Navdeep Bains, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Health Minister Patty Hajdu, Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly, Finance Minister Bi

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government is working with the international community to make sure it does everything that is necessary to ensure Canadians are kept safe from the novel coronavirus.Trudeau says the risks in Canada remain low, but says people should take the same precautions that they do during flu season like frequent hand washing to help keep themselves safe.Health officials have recorded at least 27 cases in Canada so far, with Ontario reporting the highest number at 18.Trudeau says Canada has been following the recommendations of the World Health Organization.The pri

Ontario is reporting three new cases of the novel coronavirus today, bringing the total in the province to 18.The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, is expected to provide details about the new cases at a news conference this afternoon.A spate of new cases was reported over the weekend, all of them people who had recently travelled to Iran or Egypt, or family members of those who had visited the countries.Williams has said that so far it doesn't appear the virus known as COVID-19 is spreading locally.The province's first four cases were people with a travel history