Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday
CBC
The latest:
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says Canada is in crisis when it comes to COVID-19 PCR testing capacity, even as the federal government struggles to make good on its promise to deliver 140 million rapid tests to provinces by the end of the month.
Duclos says access to PCR tests in provinces is a crisis, and that's why at-home rapid tests will be such an important tool to combat the Omicron wave of COVID-19.
But some provinces have flagged that shipments of those vital rapid tests from the federal government have been slow to arrive.
"Alberta Health has learned that the expected supply of at-home rapid COVID-19 tests has been delayed from the federal government and manufacturers," Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday on Twitter.
In Ontario for example, fewer than 0.3 per cent of the rapid tests committed to the province in January have been delivered so far, and there is no delivery scheduled for about 80 per cent of them.
However, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced on Wednesday that students and staff in Ontario schools and child-care settings will each get two rapid COVID-19 tests after schools return to in-person learning on Monday.
Tests will be distributed starting next week first to staff, then to children in daycares and students in public elementary schools, followed by high school students.
Provincial officials say more tests will be provided when supply allows.
Federal Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi says the provinces' demand for the tests has increased drastically since last year, while the market has become very competitive. She says the government is working with 14 suppliers to secure the tests that were promised by the end of the month.
In Nova Scotia, Premier Tim Houston said the province is distributing 830,000 rapid tests a week, which he said is almost a test for every person in the province.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Strang said there continues to be confusion and anger around the changes in the province's testing strategy since the Omicron variant arrived in Nova Scotia. He said given the amount of virus in the province, there is no need to identify every case of COVID-19.
Strang said rapid tests need to be used more efficiently, as there are currently just over one million tests in the province.
"We ask for your patience while we rebuild our testing supply," he said, adding that 3.6 million more tests were on the way.
The federal government is stoking Quebec separatism by walking back its climate commitments — including in its recent deal with Alberta — Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Four more Alberta MLAs are facing recall petitions organized by their constituents, including the first NDP representative to be caught in the province's ongoing wave of recall efforts.
Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96.
Hundreds of P.E.I. parents can't find child-care spaces, especially for infants. The provincial government says expanding those spots remains a top priority — and it recognizes the concern.
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
The architect of Alberta's politician recall legislation says it was never meant to be used as a political weapon, but as an "ultimate tool of accountability" if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour.
The Government of Saskatchewan has introduced its long-promised involuntary treatment legislation on the final day of the fall sitting.
The Law Society of Ontario has suspended the licence of Deepak Paradkar, one of seven Canadians arrested in connection with alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding’s cocaine smuggling ring.
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is getting rid of unlimited mental health benefits for staff, blaming ballooning costs and former administrators for implementing it without proper due diligence or oversight.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's TV and film studios and streaming division for $72 billion US, a deal that would hand control of one of Hollywood's most prized and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer that has upended the media industry.
CBC Calgary kicks off its annual Make the Season Kind campaign this morning at Fratello Coffee Roasters.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.