This image provided by Pfizer in October 2021 shows the company's COVID-19 Paxlovid pills. (Pfizer via AP)
Health Minister Christine Elliott says the first shipment of an antiviral COVID-19 treatment has arrived in Ontario.
The oral antiviral drug Paxlovid is meant to protect against hospitalization and death.
Elliott has previously said Ontario was set to receive 10,000 courses of treatment in January, and she says today that the province has secured an additional 400 doses for First Nations communities in the north.
The drug is initially being prioritized for adults at highest risk, including immunocompromised patients.
Ontario is reporting 4,114 people in hospital today with COVID-19 and 590 people in intensive care units.
That's up from 4,061 hospitalizations reported the previous day and a slightly lower number of people in ICU, down from 594.
The province also reports another 62 deaths related to COVID-19.
Ontario is reporting 7,165 new cases of COVID-19, though Public Health Ontario has said the number is likely higher because of a current policy restricting who can access tests.
More than half of the long-term care homes in the province have active COVID-19 outbreaks.
About 88 per cent of Ontarians aged five and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 83 per cent have received two.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2022.
The 18-year-old gunman who killed 21 people at a Texas elementary school walked in unimpeded through an apparently unlocked door, a law enforcement official said Thursday. The gunman was apparently inside the building for at least three-quarters of an hour before U.S. Border Patrol agents stormed a classroom and killed him.
Multiple Toronto schools were in lockdown after a male was shot near an elementary school in Scarborough’s Port Union area on Thursday afternoon, first responders and an eyewitness said.
In the wake of a horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signalled that the Canadian government will be moving ahead on new gun-control measures 'in the coming weeks.' In previous Parliaments, the Liberals have made changes to Canada's gun laws, but in the 2021 federal election, Trudeau promised to go further.
Quebec says it is ready to vaccinate people who have come into close contact with monkeypox as soon as Friday.
Ray Liotta, the actor known for his roles in 'Field of Dreams' and the Martin Scorcese mob classic 'Goodfellas,' has died.
A massive Russian plane that was grounded at Toronto Pearson International Airport back in February is racking up a substantial parking bill.
By now it's as predictable as the calls for thoughts and prayers: A mass shooting leaves many dead, and wild conspiracy theories and misinformation about the carnage soon follow. Within hours of Tuesday's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, another rash began as internet users spread baseless claims about the man named as the gunman and his possible motives.
Health experts say that the monkeypox virus isn’t likely to have a similar impact to SARS-CoV-2, mainly because it isn’t a new virus and doesn’t spread the same way.
The number of job vacancies across Canada reached an all-time high in March, ending a five-month decline, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
Quebec says it is ready to vaccinate people who have come into close contact with monkeypox as soon as Friday.
Montreal police were on site at John Rennie High School Thursday after threatening images were posted to social media, which may have featured a firearm, near the school.
Kahnawake says it will suspend all political engagement with the Quebec government until the province can provide a "substantive solution" on its controversial overhaul to the French language charter passed earlier this week.
Multiple Toronto schools were in lockdown after a male was shot near an elementary school in Scarborough’s Port Union area on Thursday afternoon, first responders and an eyewitness said.
An attempt to run across the 401 and a struggle with police has resulted in multiple charges for a London, Ont. man.
A man from London is facing multiple charges Thursday after police seized more than $400,000 worth of drugs and approximately $300,000 in cash after executing a search warrant.
The driver of a tractor trailer is facing multiple charges after the vehicle struck a concrete barrier on the Conestoga Parkway in Kitchener.
One of the men convicted for first-degree murder in the death of Shawn Yorke has been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
Wilfrid Laurier University has announced that it will be extending its mask mandate into June.
Ontario Provincial Police have identified the two victims who drowned in the Montreal River on Tuesday morning after their boat capsized.
An impaired driver tried to cross the swing bridge in Little Current this week while it was closed for repairs, injuring one person who was working on the bridge.
Multiple Toronto schools were in lockdown after a male was shot near an elementary school in Scarborough’s Port Union area on Thursday afternoon, first responders and an eyewitness said.
Five days after a devastating storm hit Ottawa with wind gusts of 190 km/h, 43,000 homes and businesses remain without power.
The public will hear from Ottawa's former police chief next week for the first time since he resigned at the height of the 'Freedom Convoy' occupation of downtown Ottawa.
The owner of an Ottawa massage therapy clinic has been charged with sexual assault after an alleged incident in mid-January.
The Liberal candidate in Chatham-Kent-Leamington is withdrawing from the provincial election.
The Downtown Windsor Business Revitalization Association and the Downtown Windsor BIA announced a number of art projects for Phase I of their long-awaited “Art Alley”.
It’s an end of an era for COVID-19 updates with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Police in Owen Sound are investigating after reports of a passenger in a car firing a gun at another vehicle as the two travelled through a residential area.
A transport truck driver faces charges after being stopped along Highway 400 south of Barrie following a concerned call to police.
Provincial police report laying more than 9,000 traffic charges during a six-day campaign.
A retired senior Mountie has described to an inquiry his dismay that it took five hours before anyone told him about eyewitnesses who had encountered a mass killer while fleeing the 2020 shootings in Nova Scotia.
Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting a decrease in new deaths, cases and hospitalizations in the province's weekly COVID-19 update.
A series of weather fronts off a low-pressure system moving towards the St. Lawrence River Valley will cross the Maritimes Friday into Saturday, bringing periods of rain and a risk of thunderstorms.
Fire officials and police are investigating the cause of a blaze in a mobile home park in southeast Calgary that resulted in the death of a senior.
A man who admitted to terrorism-related acts with the militant group Islamic State has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Ray Liotta, the actor known for his roles in 'Field of Dreams' and the Martin Scorcese mob classic 'Goodfellas,' has died.
The Manitoba government is planning to allow more private alcohol sales, including a pilot project that could involve grocery and convenience stores.
Winnipeg police say a man driving an SUV tried to grab a child off the street, and are now searching for information to identify him.
A man told court Thursday he was ready to accept punishment after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his three-year-old daughter.
Three people have been hospitalized following an ammonia leak in a Kamloops, B.C., industrial park Thursday morning.
Staffing shortages and the workplace culture at a B.C. hospital were heavily criticized by two MLAs Thursday who say immediate action needs to be taken before the situation gets even worse.
An argument between dog owners in Coquitlam turned into an assault earlier this month, local Mounties said Thursday.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has two weeks to provide a new plan to the province, after the justice minister accused him on Thursday of "not providing or maintaining adequate and effective policing services."
A 31-year-old man is dead after he crashed his SUV on Thursday morning.
A 40-year-old-man who was airlifted to hospital after he was shot by an RCMP officer in central Alberta has been charged in the incident.
