Health Canada has approved the use of a portable, rapid-testing device for COVID-19.The Spartan Cube from Ottawa's Spartan Bioscience is expected to help provide rapid tests for health services in rural and remote areas such as Indigenous communities.The hand-held device, about the size of a coffee cup, eliminates the need for swab samples to travel to the nearest lab, which can be a logistical challenge.The federal, Alberta and Ontario governments are among those who have contracts for the testing kits, which can confirm results in less than one hour.Ontario has ordered nearly 1 million test

An under construction house in Surrey caught fire which further spread to three more houses. The incident is now being investigated by Surrey RCMP and fire department. The homes are located near 126A street and 80th Avenue. Nearly 22 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire. According to authorities, the fire is contained and an investigation is pending. Cause of fire is under investigation and not known as of now. Some pictures on social media showed large flames covering the houses.

There are 24,383 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 12,846 confirmed (including 328 deaths, 1,745 resolved) Ontario: 7,049 confirmed (including 274 deaths, 3,121 resolved) Alberta: 1,651 confirmed (including 44 deaths, 823 resolved) British Columbia: 1,445 confirmed (including 58 deaths, 905 resolved) Nova Scotia: 445 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 97 resolved) Saskatchewan: 296 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 164 resolved), 2 presumptive Manitoba: 226 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 96 resolved), 16 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 242 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 129 r

Pope Francis delivered Easter Sunday Mass from a nearly empty St. Peter's Basilica due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pontiff appealed for solidarity the world over to confront the ``epochal challenge'' posed by virus, saying ``this is not a time for self-centeredness.'' Police checkpoints in Europe and closed churches around the globe forced the faithful to watch Easter services online or on TV.

A man is apologizing after facing a backlash over a video of him appearing to spit on a Vancouver condo elevator. The video, posted to Twitter, shows the man spitting on the elevator's control panel before disembarking. In a statement released by his lawyer, the man says the incident was fuelled by a dispute he had with other owners in the building. The man who has not been identified says the incident occurred eight days ago and he has no health issues related to COVID-19. He says he will also seek counselling.

After almost a week in hospital, three nights of which were spent in the intensive care unit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been discharged. His office says Johnson will continue his recovery from COVID-19 at Chequers, the prime minister's country house, and will not immediately return to work. In his first public statement since being moved out of the I.C.U. on Thursday, Johnson praised staff at the National Health Service, saying he owes them his life.

The Canada Border Services Agency says it is working with the Public Health Agency of Canada to ensure that long-haul truckers aren't bringing COVID-19 with them as they transport supplies into Canada. The mayor of Coutts, Alberta, says he is worried some truckers may not be telling the truth about if they have symptoms. The community sits at one of Western Canada's busiest border crossings, and he would like to see more stringent measures.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders across the country are taking a rare day off from updating the nation on the COVID-19 crisis as Canadians celebrate Easter today. Yet even as people gather with their families both physically and virtually for the holiday, the pandemic continues to cause pain and grief for many Canadians whose health and livelihoods have been devastated by the illness. The federal government is expected to release later today updated figures on the number of Canadians who have tested positive for COVID-19 as well as the number that have died from the respiratory

Quebec has registered 39 new deaths due to COVID-19, for a total of 328. The province reports 554 new cases, for a total of 12,846. There are a total of 824 in hospital in Quebec, including 217 in intensive care, while 1,745 people are listed as recovered. The Quebec government has not scheduled a briefing today, after weeks of daily updates on the progression of COVID-19.