COVID-19

Another record for monthly overdose deaths related to illicit drugs has been set in British Columbia, prompting the former provincial health officer to call for radical steps to reduce fatalities including access to pharmaceutical-grade heroin produced in Canada. Dr. Perry Kendall, now interim director at the BC Centre on Substance Use, said access to injectable diacetylmorphine needs to be ramped up after a sharp rise in overdose deaths four years after he declared a public health emergency.

Federal health officials are extending the U.S. ban on cruise ships through the end September as coronavirus infections rise in most U.S. states, including Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that it was extending a no-sail order that had been scheduled to expire July 24.

Gym owners warn that it won't be fitness as usual as many Ontario facilities implement new measures to keep members safe while they get back in shape after months of COVID-19 languor. Fitness centres in much of Ontario are set to reopen Friday as part of Stage 3 of the government's COVID-19 restart plan. However, exercise enthusiasts in regions stuck in Stage 2, such as Toronto and Peel, will have to sweat it out on their own for a bit longer.

Canada, Britain and the United States denounced Russian hackers on Thursday for trying to steal research on COVID-19 vaccines from organizations in all three countries and around the world. Thursday's joint declaration, led by Britain, said the hackers were almost certainly working for Russian intelligence and accused them of disrupting the global efforts to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

A response to the open letter

Eight COVID-19 cases have been identified among the several thousands of people who attended rallies in Calgary and Edmonton. Similar events were held around the world after the death of George Floyd, a Black man whose neck a Minneapolis police officer compressed with his knee for nearly nine minutes.

Although the Canadian border has been closed since March 21 to limit the spread of COVID-19, the number of international travelers counted at Canadian airports has increased considerably in recent weeks. Between June 29 and July 12, 91,300 travelers entered Canada, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. About 40,000 of the 91,000 passengers were neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents of the country.