The outbreak of a novel coronavirus is prompting calls in China to ban the sale of wildlife and exotic species. The COVID-19 virus spreading throughout the globe is suspected to have originated in the same type of live animal market that spawned the SARS epidemic in 2002. Now, more than 60-million people are under lockdown in more than a dozen Chinese cities, and the virus has sickened more than eight times more people than SARS.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canadian health workers are assisting in Japan after 12 Canadians contracted the novel coronavirus while on a cruise ship.Champagne says three members of the Public Health Agency of Canada and two medical personnel from the Canadian Armed Forces have been sent to Yokohama, the Japanese port city where the Diamond Princess has been docked since last week.Some 3,500 passengers on the ship are under quarantine and 218 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.Champagne says the Japanese government will allow some elderly people to co

China is reporting 254 new deaths and a spike in virus cases of more than 15,000, after its hardest hit province applied a new system that broadens the scope of diagnoses for the outbreak, which has spread to more than 20 countries.Japan is also reporting its first death.The hardest hit Chinese province has replaced its top officials in an apparent response to public criticism of local authorities' handling of the epidemic.The total deaths in mainland China now are more than 1,300, with confirmed cases exceeding 59,000.That number now includes patients who have been diagnosed with a doctors'

A cruise ship turned away by other Asian and Pacific governments due to virus fears anchored Thursday off Cambodia, which is checking the health of its 2,200 passengers and crew. The Westerdam was unwelcome elsewhere even though operator Holland America Line said no cases of the COVID-19 viral illness have been confirmed among the 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members on board.The ship is anchored a kilometre (.6 miles) from the main Sihanoukville port and a team of health officials will conduct health checks and determine the disembarkation process, Preah Sihanoukville Gov. Kouch Chamrouen t

The number of new cases of COVID-19 in China dropped for a second straight day, raising hopes the epidemic of the new coronavirus may be peaking. Chinese health officials report the outbreak has infected about 45,000 people and killed more than 1,100. Another 39 new cases have been confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama, Japan but it's not clear yet if any of them are Canadians.The third person to be diagnosed with the virus in Ontario has tested negative two times in 24 hours and is no longer considered infectious.The Chinese Grand Prix set for Shanghai in Apri

The operators of a cruise ship that was barred from docking by four governments say it will finally land and disembark passengers in Cambodia. Thailand had said it would not allow the MS Westerdam to dock at a Thai port after it had already been turned away by the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. The ship has been unwelcome because of fears that those aboard could spread COVID-19, the new viral disease that originated in China. Holland America Line says no cases of the disease have been confirmed among the more than 2,200 passengers and crew on board. The ship is due to arrive in Sihanoukville,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Senegal, Africa for an official visit that will test his commitment to gender equality with one of Canada's closest francophone partners.He was greeted at the airport near last night Dakar by Foreign Minister Amadou Ba.Trudeau's visit includes a meeting with President Macky Sall and a moment of reflection at Goree Island where slaves being taken to the Americas were held.Dalhousie University political science chair David Black, who studies Canada's role in sub-Saharan Africa, says Senegal and Canada have long-standing links, mostly through their shared Frenc

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday gave the official name for the latest novel coronavirus, that has sickened more than 42,000 people, as 'Covid-19,' which stands for coronavirus disease starting in 2019. The CO stands for corona, while the VI for virus and the D for the disease. "Under agreed guidelines between WHO, the OIE Animal Health and FAO, we had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press

A second plane chartered to bring Canadians from Wuhan in China is bound for Vancouver International Airport, and scheduled to arrive shortly after 8 pm. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says 185 passengers were screened for symptoms of the new coronavirus and allowed on board. The plane will stop briefly at the Vancouver airport for refuelling before continuing on to Ontario, where the passengers will be quarantined at a Canadian Forces Base for two weeks. Similar to the first chartered plane that departed from Wuhan last week, arrangements have been made with the BC gove