Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Thursday
CBC
The latest:
Provinces face difficult choices over how to curb the spread of the Omicron variant ahead of the holiday season as COVID-19 case counts continued surging throughout much of Canada on Thursday.
British Columbia and Alberta saw their confirmed Omicron case totals jump, while Saskatchewan's premier expanded eligibility for booster shots and called Omicron the "most significant challenge" of the pandemic so far.
Quebec's premier announced new measures limiting private gatherings to a maximum of 10 people indoors, reducing capacity at stores and restaurants, and delaying the return of in-person high school classes until Jan. 10, among other restrictions.
"In this fight that we are waging, it's not enough to just get vaccinated," Premier François Legault said at a news conference.
Quebec booked 2,736 cases Thursday, up from 2,386 the day before. These numbers are the highest reported in the province since January, when Quebec was grappling with a second wave.
In Ontario, the province's table of science experts called for "circuit breaker" restrictions that will reduce people's social contacts by 50 per cent. Otherwise, the province could see between 6,000 and 10,000 new cases a day by the end of the year, the scientists said.
Nova Scotia reported 287 new cases Thursday, topping a previous record set in May. The province has identified 40 cases involving Omicron.
In New Brunswick, 177 new cases were recorded, up from the previous high of 174 set last week.
None of the new cases reported in that province Thursday were caused by Omicron, public health authorities said. But the province has identified 14 cases of the variant, and the health minister has said she expects to see many more.
Prince Edward Island has its highest active caseload yet, with 49 residents currently infected. The island reported 10 new cases Thursday.
Elsewhere in the country, case numbers are reaching levels not seen for months.
Manitoba recorded 218 new cases Thursday, its highest number since June.
On Wednesday, that province's chief provincial public health officer said that number could hit 1,000 a day by January because of the transmissibility of Omicron. He urged Manitobans to decrease the number of people they have contact with and be "very, very careful" about their holiday plans.
If Allan Speight wants to make a phone call, he has to drive about eight kilometres down the road to the Welsford Irving gas station.
Quebec’s third-largest city is switching from weekly garbage and recycling collection to every two weeks in a cost-saving move it says is better for the environment. But the plan is getting mixed reaction from residents and opposition councillors.
If you’re driving through rural Manitoba next summer, you might not see a big increase in the number of golden flowering fields adjacent to the highways, according to some provincial canola producers.
Saskatchewan RCMP say a drone was instrumental when two people needed rescue from a forested area on a dark night in frigid temperatures.
Lori Cheverie has received her fair share of teasing for always having her nose in a book — but for the next few months, that habit will serve a greater purpose, one that goes beyond the love of reading.
Hundreds of Kashechewan First Nation evacuees have arrived in Niagara Falls, one of the Ontario cities taking in people from the Cree community as it endures a weeks-long water crisis due to a damaged treatment plant.
Windsor-based Dainty Foods to separate Canadian, American production as it launches new product line
A Windsor-based company that’s known for its rice products has just launched a new line of pasta side dishes.
According to polling by the Environics Institute, 70 per cent of Canadians are either very or somewhat satisfied with "the way democracy works in Canada."
A plan to partially demolish a 139-year-old church has set off an uproar in a Cabbagetown neighbourhood.
A 33-year-old man has died after being shot by police in Brantford, Ont., Friday morning, the province's police watchdog says.
A Whitehorse resident says gaps in the hospital system are affecting continuity of care – and he has 2,000 pages of documentation to prove it.
A Newfoundland and Labrador judge postponed a decision Friday about whether a man charged with three attempted murders is fit to stand trial, in a case where the accused's family says the health-care system failed him and his alleged victims.
A doctor in Nova Scotia's Pictou County has been handed a professional reprimand for the way he treated a 30-year-old woman who died after being admitted to the Aberdeen Regional Hospital in New Glasgow, N.S., in August 2023.