'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Update: CTVNews.ca’s variant tracker is reporting the latest number of Omicron COVID-19 cases in Canada. This story is no longer being updated.
-------
The latest COVID-19 variant – dubbed “Omicron” – is spreading around the world, which has experts and governments on heightened alert.
While more research is needed to uncover just how transmissible and vaccine resistant the Omicron variant may be, researchers have raised concerns due to the more than 30 mutations to the spike proteins that cause infections in humans.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Canada has reported seven confirmed cases of the Omicron variant and has since banned travel into the country from a host of African nations, including South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt.
Here is where cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Canada:
On Tuesday, B.C. health officials announced its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant.
The individual lives in the Fraser Health region, which represents parts of B.C. south of Vancouver.
The patient had recently returned from Nigeria and is currently in isolation.
Alberta also reported its first case of the Omicron variant on Tuesday.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, told reporters that the person had returned from travelling in Nigeria and the Netherlands.
"The individual tested positive while asymptomatic and I can confirm the individual has not left quarantine since their arrival from international travel,” Hinshaw said.
Ontario health officials announced the province’s fifth and sixth cases of the Omicron variant on Thursday.
The fifth case is the first in the Greater Toronto Area. The individual is a close contact of someone who had returned from southern Africa.
The sixth lab-confirmed case was reported in the Halton region and is connected to someone who had recently travelled to Nigeria and is probable for the variant.
There is also another probable case in the region who’s connected to the traveller.
The four previous cases had all been reported in the Ottawa area. The first two Ottawa residents with Omicron, confirmed on Sunday, had travelled to Nigeria and arrived through Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport.
It is not clear how the other two cases had come in contact with the virus.
The province is also investigating two people in Hamilton who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have met the criteria for an Omicron infection, but are awaiting genomic sequencing results.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told reporters on Thursday that the province is expecting to report new cases of the variant in the near future.
Quebec reported its first and only case of the Omicron variant on Monday.
The woman had recently travelled to Nigeria, but the province could not release any more details due to privacy concerns.
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
After a final frame that saw the visiting Vancouver Canucks claw their way back and tie the game late, a point shot by Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard with 38 seconds left (until what seemed like certain overtime) iced the 3-2 victory for Edmonton to knot the series.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.
King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he assumed the throne, a vivid image that depicts him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar hues.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
The province has released more information on its plan to break up Alberta Health Services and replace it with four sector-based health agencies.
The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than US$1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said Tuesday.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.