Canada's chief public health doctor says a slow but steady increase in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 is a cause for concern. Dr. Theresa Tam says today the average daily number of people testing positive over the last week is 545 — a 25 per cent increase over the previous week which saw a daily average of 435, and 390 a week before that.That number increased every day over the last week prompting Tam to remind Canadians not to get complacent about their risk of contracting the novel coronavirus. Overall, in the last week, 3,955 people tested positive across Canada, and

British Columbia has recorded another 121 cases of COVID-19 and one death related to the virus. In a joint statement on Friday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say there has been a total of 6,162 cases since the pandemic began. COVID-19 has claimed 211 lives in the province. Almost 2,800 people in the province are under active health monitoring after being identified as being exposed to someone who has tested positive, and 4,706 people have recovered. KinVillage long-term care home in Delta is the latest facility with an outbreak after a worker tested

Statistics Canada says the economy added 246,000 in August as the pace of job gains slowed compared with July, when 419,000 jobs were added. The figure marked the fourth consecutive month of gains from COVID-19 related lockdowns this spring, bringing the number to within 1.1 million of pre-pandemic levels. Gains in August were largely concentrated in full-time work, which had been lagging behind gains in part-time employment. Employment also rose at a faster pace for women than men for the third straight month as Statistics Canada reported women gained about 150,000 positions in August comp

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says British Columbia is at a precipice when it comes to a potential surge of COVID-19 infections. But Henry says reducing the number of cases is still within reach as long as people work together and follow public health protocols. She urged people to avoid activities that are considered high-risk, such as spending time with groups of people that they may not know. B.C. announced 89 new cases of COVID-19 as well as one additional death today, bringing the province's total number of COVID-19 cases to 6,041 and 210 deaths. Dr. Henry's warning comes af

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues his virtual tour of Canada today, with electronic visits to the Atlantic provinces.He conducted a virtual tour of British Columbia yesterday, meeting with Premier John Horgan and consulting with business and environmental leaders about how to ensure a green economic recovery from the devastating effects of the pandemic.Trudeau is planning to unveil what he promises will be a bold recovery plan in a throne speech re-opening Parliament on September 23th.The speech will be put to a confidence vote, which could result in the defeat of Trudeau's minority Lib

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared in the nephrology unit at a hospital in Surrey, B.C. Fraser Health's interim chief medical health officer says a patient tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin says the unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital has fewer than a dozen patients, and staff are being monitored and screened. She says the nephrology unit is closed to new patients and it is not expecting visitors. Brodkin says an outbreak is defined as a transmission at a hospital site. The new outbreak comes as B.C.'s health minister and provincial health officer announced 104 n

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole is naming Manitoba MP Candice Bergen his deputy. Bergen was first elected in 2008 and was a junior cabinet minister in Stephen Harper's government. She has been the Tories' House leader, managing the Conservatives' part in moving legislation through the House of Commons. Bergen follows Leona Alleslev, an Ontario MP who resigned as deputy leader in July to back O'Toole's key rival for the leadership, Peter MacKay. O'Toole is naming Quebec MP Gerard Deltell as the Tories' House leader and Richard Martel as his Quebec lieutenant. O'Toole says he plans to nam

Health Canada has reversed course on home test kits for COVID-19, saying it will now review applications for such devices.In June, the department indicated it would not review such applications.But Cole Davidson, a spokesman for Health Minister Patty Hajdu, says that was meant to apply to test kits for diagnosing cases of COVID-19.Due to the evolution of the pandemic since then, he says Health Canada is now considering applications for at-home testing devices for screening purposes.Davidson says Health Canada, which regulates the safety of all medical devices sold in the country, "is open to

An outbreak of COVID-19 in British Columbia's Nass Valley has prompted an alert from the Northern and First Nations health authorities. The warning goes out to anyone who attended gatherings between Aug. 21 and 25 in the valley. A statement from the Nisga'a government says all those who attended a memorial, a funeral or settlement feast need to contact their community clinic. A joint statement Tuesday from Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says there have been 58 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 5,848 cases. There has been one additional death, whil