Zain Chagla

The last of Canada's COVID-19 border restrictions will disappear at the end of this month with the expiry of a cabinet order affecting mandatory vaccinations, testing and quarantine of international travellers.

A pill to treat COVID-19 appears to be the country's best hope, outside of vaccines and strong public health measures, to keep hospitals from being overrun with cases of the virus now and in the future, doctors say.

Health Canada approved Pfizer's antiviral treatment for COVID-19 on Monday, January 17, 2022, which could help cut pressure on the health-care system by preventing high-risk patients from ending up in the hospital.

The president of the African Community Association of Calgary says its members feel hurt and believe it's important for the federal government to address what they say is subtle racism behind Canada's new COVID-19 travel rules.

An Ontario infectious disease specialist says there is evidence testing all travellers before and after they arrive in Canada will identify most cases of COVID-19 coming into the country.

As Canada confirms its first cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, scientists say banning travellers from southern African countries in an effort to curb its importation is wishful thinking that could do more harm than good.

Both cases of the variant were found in the Ottawa area in people who had recently been in Nigeria, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a joint statement with the province's top public health official, Dr. Kieran Moore.

A fourth wave of COVID-19 now surging across the United Kingdom doesn't have to become a reality in Canada as long as people keep getting vaccinated as quickly as possible, some infectious disease experts say.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, COVID-19 experts say, even if it's hard to see it while more contagious virus variants plunge parts of Canada into the third wave of the pandemic.