As of Nov. 26, 2021, there have been five SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC) that have surfaced and undergone transmission across the globe.
The most recently-discovered variant of coronavirus, Omicron, carries at least 50 mutations, making it a variant of concern — the most serious category assigned by the World Health Organization for coronavirus tracking.
Omicron has 30 mutations on the spike protein, and 26 unique mutations. In comparison to 10 unique mutations found in the Delta variant.
As of Nov. 29, 2021, no data is available to show the extent Omicron can evade immunity from the infected or the vaccinated.
On Nov. 28, 2021, WHO said that while researchers are trying to understand the transmissibility and severity of Omicron on individuals, “vaccines remain critical to reducing severe disease and death.”
So far, Omicron has been found in multiple countries, including Canada, Japan, France, Scotland, Portugal, and the U.S.
COVID-19 variant of concern timeline (Jasna Baric / CTV News)
Graphic by Jasna Baric
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue released her interim report examining foreign election interference on Friday. Here are five elements of the issue that Hogue says she needs to further probe before she can make conclusions or recommendations.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Skyrocketing airfare prices are linked to heightened competition and rising food and fuel, according to the CAA.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
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Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
A Manitoba man who pleaded guilty to keeping the funds raised from an ice-fishing fundraiser for the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba has been handed a sentence of 18 months house arrest.
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
A Manitoba man who pleaded guilty to keeping the funds raised from an ice-fishing fundraiser for the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba has been handed a sentence of 18 months house arrest.
The jury deciding the fate of a man responsible for a fatal firebombing in Sudbury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder Friday afternoon.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
A new pilot program which will notify the public of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people is set to be implemented in Manitoba.
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York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Spain scrapped an annual bullfighting award on Friday, prompting a rebuke from conservatives over a backlash against a centuries-old tradition they see as an art form but which has run into growing concern for animal welfare.
A zebra that escaped from a trailer east of Seattle last weekend remained on the lam Friday, as authorities closed off trailheads at a nature area in hopes of keeping people away and easing her capture.
An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the U.N. humanitarian office said on Friday, as the World Health Organization announced contingency plans for an incursion.
Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was seized with worry about the potential political damage from a tape that showed Trump bragging about grabbing women sexually without their permission, longtime Trump adviser Hope Hicks testified Friday at his hush money trial.
Police ordered pro-Palestinian protesters to clear out of a tent encampment at New York University early Friday, a move that follows weeks of demonstrations and police confrontations at college campuses nationwide that have resulted in more than 2,300 arrests.
They're lounging, biting each other and generally making a ruckus in numbers not seen in more than a decade. And don't even think about stealing their anchovies.
Foreign interference by China did not affect the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 general elections won by Justin Trudeau's Liberals, a federal commission of inquiry has found.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue released her interim report examining foreign election interference on Friday. Here are five elements of the issue that Hogue says she needs to further probe before she can make conclusions or recommendations.
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
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Google's preeminence as an internet search engine is an illegal monopoly propped up by more than US$20 billion spent each year by the tech giant to lock out competition, U.S. Justice Department lawyers argued at the closings of a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit.
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China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
Quebec singing legend Celine Dion has praised a Montreal DJ for creating a mashup featuring one of her songs with U.K. producer Majestic.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
One of the organizers of a month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores says she met with the grocer's president and CEO Per Bank on Thursday afternoon.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Ontario is set to clamp down on bad employers with big fines. Labour Minister David Piccini says his government will introduce legislation next week that will see fines increased for violations of the Employment Standards Act.
Two registered nurses from Ottawa and Kingston have been an integral part in the delivery of a baby on board a flight heading to Dubai.
Italy's Ministry of Health has banned the popular wellness trend of "puppy yoga" amid concerns that the puppies used in the practice could be exploited and mistreated.
A Montreal astrologer and horoscope writer just got a boost on his retirement budget, after winning Loto-Quebec’s Grande-Vie prize, which comes in the form of $1,000 a day for life.
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
The Los Angeles Lakers fired head coach Darvin Ham on Friday after two seasons and a 90-74 regular-season record.
Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks and Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators are the finalists for this season's Jack Adams Award.
Drivers in Saskatchewan will now lose their licence for a week and their vehicle for a month if they are caught committing certain high-speed and dangerous offences on the road.
Auto sales last month totalled 164,000 units, higher than April 2023, which was the weakest month for sales last year.
Rolls-Royce is vastly expanding its factory in Chichester, England. The BMW subsidiary is adding five new buildings with construction planned to start next year.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
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Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
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The suspect in a pair of stabbings in White Rock last week has been charged with second-degree murder.
A California man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for attempting to smuggle a ghost gun across the Canadian border last year, authorities announced Friday.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Two baby bald eagles have hatched in Toronto, just weeks after a bald eagle nest was spotted in the city for the first time ever.
An Okotoks resident has been charged in relation to a shooting Wednesday at a residence in Sheep River Court.
A gallery on the fifth floor of the National Music Centre (NMC) has been transformed into a Holocaust memorial with the exhibition called Violins of Hope.
Alberta is expanding the screening process for all newborns in the province and supporting more research related to women's health.
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The federal government says repairs on the damaged LaSalle Causeway in Kingston, Ont. could take approximately two more months to complete.
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Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
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Fishery officers seized nearly 30 kilograms of elvers at a Yarmouth County, N.S., holding facility on Wednesday, arresting three people in the process.
Winnipeg police say they have arrested two people in their 20s after a large amount of explosives were found in a home outside of Winnipeg, Man.
A Manitoba man who pleaded guilty to keeping the funds raised from an ice-fishing fundraiser for the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba has been handed a sentence of 18 months house arrest.
A judge has decided the trial of a man accused of killing four women in Winnipeg will still be heard by a jury.
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Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party has received millions of more dollars in donations compared with rivals ahead of this year's election.
The North Central Family Centre (NCFC) has launched a capital campaign to help aid in the completion of a major project they are in the midst of building.
More than 100 teachers at the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) are learning they have been declared surplus will likely be out of a job as of Aug. 12.
Kaitlyn Braun, the Brantford, Ont. woman who previously admitted to deceiving doulas and is facing similar charges again, is not seeking bail at this time, her lawyer said Friday.
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A lesser known fixture of Saskatoon's skyline is coming down for repairs and renovations.
The Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners announced Deputy Chief Cameron McBride as the new Chief of Police for the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS).
Richelieu Hardware Canada Ltd. was fined a hefty $260,000 for a workplace safety violation leading to a serious worker injury.
The jury deciding the fate of a man responsible for a fatal firebombing in Sudbury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder Friday afternoon.
A New Hamburg family is feeling deflated after buying a new Toyota hybrid truck.
Three men from southern Ontario and a man from Texas have been fined a total of $16,700 for illegal hunting and fishing in September 2021.
Neighbours east of Dorchester are demanding action after an alleged attack by dogs.
The Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia says it has recorded benzene levels 424 times above acceptable levels coming from a nearby chemical plant.
Three people were found guilty on Friday afternoon of sex-trafficking related charges involving teenaged females.
A trial date has been set for an Ontario senior facing allegations of historical sexual offences involving children.
On Thursday night, 30 firefighters battled a destructive fire that broke out in a facility in Bracebridge Ont.
Police are investigating a failed home invasion involving two armed suspects in the area of Bathurst Street and Mulock Drive in Newmarket.
Essex County OPP investigators are asking for help in identifying an individual involved in a shooting incident in a Leamington parking lot.
Essex County OPP officers are warning residents about scam calls circulating in the Town of Essex.
A recent survey by AutoTrader found consumer demand for an EV is down for a second straight year.
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A family claims it’s concerned for their loved one in a Nanaimo-based long-term care facility as they work with staff and Island Health to resolve some of their complaints.
The first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel for Canada's Pacific fleet will officially be commissioned in a ceremony featuring Princess Anne, the sister of King Charles.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
An emaciated dachshund is now recovering thanks to a Good Samaritan who found the pup near a biking trail in Kelowna, according to the BC SPCA.
Search and rescue crews have been called in after a vehicle belonging to a missing senior was located near a rural intersection outside of Kelowna Tuesday.
Lethbridge police say impaired driving is to blame in a fatal crash that killed a 25-year-old man on Thursday.
The bell at Erle Rivers High School in Milk River, Alta., will ring for the last time on June 26, as the 114-year-old school is scheduled to be torn down to make way for a new K-12 school.
Years of hard work paid off for Tanner McLachlan after he heard his name called at the NFL draft last Saturday.
The Chi-Cheemaun ferry arrived at Manitoulin Island on Friday morning to kick off its 50th season on the Georgian Bay.
Phase 1 of the reconstruction of Queen Street in downtown Sault Ste. Marie is getting underway, although it will be scaled down from the original plan.
Social services agencies across the north are sounding the alarm after funding cuts on homelessness programs were recently published.
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.
Tributes continue to pour in for Bob Cole as his family has confirmed a funeral will be held for the legendary broadcaster Friday in St. John's, N.L.
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