Coronavirus

Scientists examine a step in the vaccine purification process as they design updates to the Novavax’s COVID-19 shots in the company’s research laboratory on May 24, 2022, in Gaithersburg, Md. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Angie Wang

Company planning to make COVID-19 vaccine in Canada could go out of business

US-based Novavax told investors changing market is creating significant uncertainty

Scientists examine a step in the vaccine purification process as they design updates to the Novavax’s COVID-19 shots in the company’s research laboratory on May 24, 2022, in Gaithersburg, Md. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Angie Wang
FILE - This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, which cause COVID-19. A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab? Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” that it began with a lab leak although others in the U.S. intelligence community disagree. (Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP, File)

Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic

Experts say the true origin of the pandemic may not be known for many years — if ever

FILE - This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, which cause COVID-19. A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab? Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” that it began with a lab leak although others in the U.S. intelligence community disagree. (Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP, File)
Snow falls as protesters stand by a semi-trailer truck on Wellington Street, on the 21st day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that had grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. Justice Paul Rouleau says the Canada Border Services Agency made a bad situation worse when it mishandled the announcement of a vaccine mandate for truckers early last year, amid rampant anger and false information around the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Government communication on COVID-19 contributed to ‘Freedom Convoy’ origin: report

Commissioner said social media also played a large part in then spreading misinformation

Snow falls as protesters stand by a semi-trailer truck on Wellington Street, on the 21st day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that had grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. Justice Paul Rouleau says the Canada Border Services Agency made a bad situation worse when it mishandled the announcement of a vaccine mandate for truckers early last year, amid rampant anger and false information around the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Hundreds of people march along Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during a so-called Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

OPINION: The staggering socioeconomic costs of COVID anti-vaxxer behaviour

COVID-is-a-hoax crowd caused thousands more deaths, hundreds of millions in hospital costs: report

Hundreds of people march along Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during a so-called Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)
Artist Fran Usher will present an art installation at the Gabriola Art Council on South Road based on a board game created in response to observed human behaviour during the COVID pandemic. Community members are invited to observe the installation, or play the game, Feb. 4-5. (Submitted photo)
Artist Fran Usher will present an art installation at the Gabriola Art Council on South Road based on a board game created in response to observed human behaviour during the COVID pandemic. Community members are invited to observe the installation, or play the game, Feb. 4-5. (Submitted photo)
Makhan “Mak” Parhar speaks at an anti-mask rally outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Parhar died on Nov. 4, 2021 from a fatal combination of illicit drugs, according to the BC Coroners’ Service. (Flat Earth Focker/YouTube.com screenshot)

B.C. COVID-denier Mak Parhar died from toxic drugs, not virus: coroner

Parhar was infected with virus when he died, but it wasn’t what killed him

Makhan “Mak” Parhar speaks at an anti-mask rally outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Parhar died on Nov. 4, 2021 from a fatal combination of illicit drugs, according to the BC Coroners’ Service. (Flat Earth Focker/YouTube.com screenshot)
City of Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz wants the B.C. government to drop the vaccination mandate for health-care workers to help deal with staffing shortages. (Photo courtesy of City of Merritt)

Merritt mayor calls on B.C. to drop vax mandate for health-care workers ‘right now’

Michael Goetz first made the demand in a conference call with Interior Health

City of Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz wants the B.C. government to drop the vaccination mandate for health-care workers to help deal with staffing shortages. (Photo courtesy of City of Merritt)
People working in long-term care have filed the most approved COVID-19 compensation claims to WorkSafeBC since 2020, out of all the different work sectors in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

More than 15,000 COVID compensation claims approved for B.C. workers since 2020

Vast majority of claims to WorkSafeBC come from health-care sector

People working in long-term care have filed the most approved COVID-19 compensation claims to WorkSafeBC since 2020, out of all the different work sectors in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A food delivery rider walks up a staircase near restaurants only allowing take away in a shuttered commercial distirct as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

WHO decided the COVID-19 global emergency isn’t over. What happens next?

In the past 8 weeks, at least 170,000 people have died around the world in connection with the virus

A food delivery rider walks up a staircase near restaurants only allowing take away in a shuttered commercial distirct as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to the media at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. Monday could mark a major milestone in the history of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the World Health Organization stands poised to decide whether or not to declare an end to the global public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Keystone via AP-Salvatore Di Nolfi

WHO decides the COVID-19 global emergency isn’t over

‘No doubt that we’re in a far better situation now’

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to the media at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. Monday could mark a major milestone in the history of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the World Health Organization stands poised to decide whether or not to declare an end to the global public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Keystone via AP-Salvatore Di Nolfi
The World Health Organization’s emergency committee, will vote today on whether to maintain the emergency designation. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, gestures as he speaks to journalists during a press conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Martial Trezzini-Keystone via AP

WHO decision on COVID-19 emergency won’t affect Canada’s response: Tam

The WHO’s emergency committee will vote today on whether to maintain the emergency designation

The World Health Organization’s emergency committee, will vote today on whether to maintain the emergency designation. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, gestures as he speaks to journalists during a press conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Martial Trezzini-Keystone via AP
FILE - A nurse prepares a syringe of a COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation station in Jackson, Miss., July 19, 2022. U.S. health officials are proposing a simplified approach to COVID-19 vaccinations, which would allow most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus. The new system unveiled Monday, Jan. 23, 2023 would make COVID-19 inoculations more like the annual flu shot. Americans would no longer have to keep track of how many shots they’ve received or how many months it’s been since their last booster. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

U.S. proposes once-a-year COVID shots for most Americans

The FDA will ask its panel of outside vaccine experts to weigh in at a meeting Thursday

FILE - A nurse prepares a syringe of a COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation station in Jackson, Miss., July 19, 2022. U.S. health officials are proposing a simplified approach to COVID-19 vaccinations, which would allow most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus. The new system unveiled Monday, Jan. 23, 2023 would make COVID-19 inoculations more like the annual flu shot. Americans would no longer have to keep track of how many shots they’ve received or how many months it’s been since their last booster. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
New figures released show British Columbia passed the 5,000-mark for COVID-19 deaths since the start of pandemic in March 2020, but other metrics such as hospitalizations are trending down. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Grim milestone: British Columbia passes 5,000-mark for COVID-19 deaths

Other COVID-19 figures, influenza cases are trending down while RSV cases remain high

New figures released show British Columbia passed the 5,000-mark for COVID-19 deaths since the start of pandemic in March 2020, but other metrics such as hospitalizations are trending down. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Jagmeet Singh and his wife Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu walk past hand sanitizer as they leave a campaign plane in St. John's, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Provinces look to cleanse storerooms of expired hand sanitizer sent by Ottawa

Hundreds of thousands being spent on repurposing or disposal of unused sanitizer

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Jagmeet Singh and his wife Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu walk past hand sanitizer as they leave a campaign plane in St. John's, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)

Bacteria harvested from B.C.’s coastline fight COVID-19 in a new and exciting way

UBC researchers have identified 3 compounds with long-term promise

Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)
This colorized electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in November 2022, shows cells, indicated in purple, infected with the omicron strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, orange, isolated from a patient sample, captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. (NIAID/NIH via AP)

‘Kraken’ as a COVID subvariant name beats ‘alphabet soup’ moniker: biologist

Canadian scientist proposing snappy names to better inform the public

This colorized electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in November 2022, shows cells, indicated in purple, infected with the omicron strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, orange, isolated from a patient sample, captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. (NIAID/NIH via AP)
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses during a news conference with his provincial counterparts after the second of two days of meetings, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. to reactivate its COVID emergency operations centres to prepare for more illness

Expected surge in flu, respiratory illness and COVID cases behind the move at 20 major locations

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses during a news conference with his provincial counterparts after the second of two days of meetings, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses while responding to questions during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. yet to see post-holidays spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations: health minister

Adrian Dix says 356 people are hospitalized across the province with COVID-19

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix pauses while responding to questions during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Emily Lu, a student in the environment science graduate program at Ohio State, tries to extract ribonucleic acid (RNA) from wastewater samples to test for fragments of the coronavirus, March 23, 2022 at a school lab in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)

Canadian scientists watching for new COVID variants in airplane wastewater

‘A sentinel system for new variants — that’s really where we see the value add of airport testing’

Emily Lu, a student in the environment science graduate program at Ohio State, tries to extract ribonucleic acid (RNA) from wastewater samples to test for fragments of the coronavirus, March 23, 2022 at a school lab in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)
A young boy who arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong wears a face mask and face shield at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Starting Thursday, Canada will require air travellers from China, Hong Kong and Macau to have a recent negative COVID-19 test result. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Rule requiring negative COVID test before Chinese flights takes effect

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson criticized Canada’s change in requirements this week

A young boy who arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong wears a face mask and face shield at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Starting Thursday, Canada will require air travellers from China, Hong Kong and Macau to have a recent negative COVID-19 test result. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck