COVID-19: Latest News – Winnipeg Free Press

Needles are seen filled with the vaccination for COVID-19 at a truck stop along highway 91 North in Delta, B.C., Wednesday, June 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Appeal Court tosses case brought by B.C. health executive fired for vaccine refusal

The Canadian Press 3 minute read 3:26 PM CST

VANCOUVER - The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by a fired B.C. health executive to seek employment insurance benefits, nearly five years after he lost his job for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds.

Donald Sturgeon was the Interior Health authority's executive director of medical affairs, but was fired in November 2021 due to his refusal to be vaccinated.

Sturgeon's bid for benefits has gone through several layers of appeals, including from the Social Security Tribunal, the Federal Court and now the Appeal Court.

He argued his bid for benefits wasn't a challenge to the health authority's vaccination policy, but rather the tribunal's apparent "failure" to interpret how misconduct is weighed against religious freedom that is guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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Newfoundland’s COVID-19 travel restriction a justifiable Charter infringement: court

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Newfoundland’s COVID-19 travel restriction a justifiable Charter infringement: court

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 13, 2026

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the constitutionality of a pandemic-related restriction that curbed travel to Newfoundland and Labrador for public health reasons.

A 2020 order from the province’s chief medical officer limited the circumstances in which non-residents could enter the province due to COVID-19.

In May 2020, Nova Scotia resident Kimberley Taylor requested an exemption to attend her mother’s burial in Newfoundland.

Taylor’s initial application was denied May 8 but a reconsideration request was approved eight days later, allowing her to enter the province.

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Friday, Feb. 13, 2026

The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, is pictured from Gatineau, Que., on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Olympians who got COVID in 2022 are using masks, sanitizer and vitamins for the Milan Games

Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Olympians who got COVID in 2022 are using masks, sanitizer and vitamins for the Milan Games

Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

MILAN (AP) — Figure skater Amber Glenn didn’t even get the chance to try to qualify for the 2022 U.S. Olympic team because she tested positive for COVID-19. Clearly, that sticks with her.

This time around, with the American preparing to contend for an individual medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Games next week, she is relying on “an insane amount of hand sanitizer” — defined by Glenn as “a handbag-full” — to make sure that sort of thing doesn’t sideline her again.

She and other athletes whose Beijing Olympics were waylaid by the pandemic four years ago are still dealing with those memories and those worries.

“We have certain B vitamins, vitamin C, that kind of stuff, that’s cleared with the (U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee), that we take. Anything that will keep me from getting sick, I’m like, ‘Give it to me now!’ I’m drinking all these green juices,” said Glenn, a 26-year-old from Plano, Texas, who is the first woman to claim three consecutive U.S. Figure Skating titles since Michelle Kwan two decades ago.

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Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

Amber Glenn, of the U.S., performs during a figure skating training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Coach credits Finland’s resilience in helping women’s hockey team overcome stomach virus at Olympics

John Wawrow, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Coach credits Finland’s resilience in helping women’s hockey team overcome stomach virus at Olympics

John Wawrow, The Associated Press 4 minute read Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

MILAN (AP) — Don't under-estimate Finnish resilience.

Difficult as the week was for Finland’s national women’s hockey team in dealing with a stomach virus that sent 13 of 23 players into quarantine, coach Tero Lehtera had a good feeling his players would show up ready for their first game at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

“Yeah, it was tough, but you know in the Finnish DNA, it’s kind of like there is some sort of a survival gene or something,” Lehtera said after a 5-0 tournament-opening loss to the United States on Saturday. “So, not that bad. We’ll manage.”

It was “game on” for Finland, as well as Switzerland, after both teams had to deal with a norovirus affecting its players.

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Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

FILE - An outside view of the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

Free from ‘sports prison,’ Winter athletes get chance to enjoy Olympics without a COVID lockdown

Eddie Pells And Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Free from ‘sports prison,’ Winter athletes get chance to enjoy Olympics without a COVID lockdown

Eddie Pells And Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026

In some ways, the goals Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris set for the Milan Cortina Olympics are the same ones he set in his three previous appearances at the Games.

“Landing when it matters, landing how I want to, landing my hardest tricks and walking away with some hardware,” he said.

But this time, McMorris listed one other element that no Olympian on the ground four years ago in China will ever take for granted again: “To enjoy it with my friends.”

The last time the Winter Olympians convened, the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging. The Games were forced into sterilized bubbles with athletes facing daily tests; in most cases, at checkpoints where workers stuck swabs up their noses. Every swab brought with it the specter of a positive test, with could mean days or weeks of quarantine that would wipe out an athlete's ability to compete.

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Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026

FILE - A member of the medical staff wears a protective mask as she watches a women's normal hill ski jumping training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 4, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)

COVID shot reduces risk of severe illness, premature birth in pregnancy, study says

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

COVID shot reduces risk of severe illness, premature birth in pregnancy, study says

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Monday, Dec. 15, 2025

TORONTO - A new study says the COVID-19 vaccine protects pregnant women from getting severely ill or giving birth prematurely.

Researchers with the Canadian Surveillance of COVID-19 in Pregnancy (CANCOVID-Preg) program, led by the University of British Columbia analyzed public health and clinical records of 19,899 pregnant people diagnosed with COVID between April 5, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022.

That time period covered infections with both Delta and Omicron variants in eight provinces and one territory.

Dr. Deborah Money, senior author of the paper published Monday in JAMA, said having such a large study "robustly" confirms the benefit of COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women.

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Monday, Dec. 15, 2025

A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in Dallas, Thursday, May 18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, LM Otero

Threat of equine virus looms over major rodeo event in Las Vegas

Jessica Hill, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Threat of equine virus looms over major rodeo event in Las Vegas

Jessica Hill, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Declaring Las Vegas a “cowboy town,” dozens of riders on horseback have traditionally kicked off the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo by galloping into the arena and then lining up their horses side by side as the riders tip their hats to cheers.

But an equine virus outbreak this year has loomed over one of the world's most prestigious rodeos and the threat was apparent from the start: Riders walked out during the grand entry on foot. Their horses were safely kept away with strict health precautions in place.

Other riders weren't able to bring their own horses to the event at all.

The equine herpesvirus 1, or EHV-1, has made its rounds in the past. But the outbreak was of particular concern this year, with cases in the U.S. on the rise as it coincided with the 10-day event that ends Saturday and draws thousands of horses and their riders. Horse hotels say their profits are down since fewer horses are participating, and some rodeo events were canceled.

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Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

Jeff Todd holds horses before loading them up in a horse trailer at the Fly Again Ranch Horse Boarding and Hotel,Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

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Bolsonaro’s conviction brings vindication for some Brazilians who lost loved ones to COVID-19

Gabriela Sá Pessoa And Eléonore Hughes, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Bolsonaro’s conviction brings vindication for some Brazilians who lost loved ones to COVID-19

Gabriela Sá Pessoa And Eléonore Hughes, The Associated Press 7 minute read Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025

SAO PAULO (AP) — Simone Guimarães, a retired 52-year-old teacher in Rio de Janeiro, lost at least five relatives to COVID-19: her husband, sister, two brothers-in-law and the godfather of her grandchild. She also lost friends and neighbors.

She woke to the news on Saturday that Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the preemptive arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom she blames for her losses. A judge claimed Bolsonaro was intent on escaping days before he was set to begin a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“It’s a small beginning of justice starting to be served," she said. “Impunity has to end at some point. And in his case, we endured a lot."

Social media filled with posts Saturday remembering people lost to COVID-19, which also happened in September when the Supreme Court convicted Bolsonaro, even though the legal case had nothing to do with the former president's pandemic response.

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Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025

Simone Guimarães holds a photo of herself with her husband, who died from COVID at her home in Sao Goncalo, Rio de Janeiro state, Wednesday, Nov 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

‘Too little, too late:’ Former UK government slammed for its initial COVID-19 response

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

‘Too little, too late:’ Former UK government slammed for its initial COVID-19 response

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025

LONDON (AP) — A public inquiry released Thursday slammed the U.K.'s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic in the early months of 2020 as “too little, too late,” saying the failure to lock down the country earlier “led to an unacceptable loss of life.”

The inquiry, chaired by former judge Heather Hallett, found that chaos at the heart of the then Conservative government and a failure to take COVID-19 seriously potentially cost 23,000 lives in England alone the first wave of the pandemic.

Hallett’s report on the government response to COVID-19 — the second of four topics on the pandemic that she is assessing — found that the prime minister at the time, Boris Johnson, presided over a “toxic” culture in Downing Street and regularly changed his mind, while leading cabinet members as well as key scientists all failed to act with the urgency needed to tackle the virus.

After weeks of rising cases and days after most other European nations had gone into lockdown, Johnson announced a U.K.-wide lockdown on March 23, 2020, arguably the biggest decision of any British prime minister since the end of World War II.

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Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025

FILE - In this March 17, 2020 file photo British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a news conference about the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak inside 10 Downing Street in London. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool)

UK commits to ensuring ‘poignant’ COVID memorial wall in London will be preserved

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

UK commits to ensuring ‘poignant’ COVID memorial wall in London will be preserved

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025

LONDON (AP) — The British government said Thursday that a memorial wall in London created by those who lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic will be preserved.

In a statement, it said that the 8-foot-high (2 1/2-meter-high) Portland stone wall on the south side of the River Thames, directly opposite the Houses of Parliament, will remain to commemorate the 240,000 or so virus-related deaths in the U.K., as well as honor the sacrifice of key workers, particularly in the health and care sectors.

The National COVID Memorial Wall was established without official authorization on a half-kilometer (more than a 1/4-mile) stretch of the Albert Embankment in March 2021. It came a year after the first virus-related death in the U.K., meant as a visual representation of the scale of loss in the country during the pandemic. It can take 10 minutes to walk from one end of the heart-festooned memorial wall to the other.

Each life lost is represented by a carefully painted heart that volunteers freshen up on a weekly basis with long-lasting masonry paints. Created by the campaigning groups COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and Led by Donkeys, it's now maintained and cherished by a group of volunteers known as The Friends of the Wall.

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Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025

FILE - Volunteer Fran Hall, who lost her husband Steve Mead to COVID-19, re-paints faded hearts on the COVID-19 memorial wall in Westminster in London, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine sales tumble after government guidance on the shots narrows

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine sales tumble after government guidance on the shots narrows

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025

The fall COVID-19 vaccine season is starting slowly for Pfizer, with U.S. sales of its Comirnaty shots sinking 25% after federal regulators narrowed recommendations on who should get them.

Approval of updated shots also came several weeks later than usual, and Pfizer said Tuesday that hurt sales as well.

Many Americans get vaccinations in the fall, to protect against any disease surges in the coming winter. Experts say interest in COVID-19 shots has been declining, and that trend could pick up this fall due to anti-vaccine sentiment and confusion about whether the shots are necessary.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for anyone, instead leaving the choice up to patients. The government agency said it was adopting recommendations made by advisers picked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025

FILE - A healthcare worker prepares a shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in La Paz, Bolivia, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)

Boris Johnson denies UK failure in planning COVID school closures but apologizes for mistakes

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Boris Johnson denies UK failure in planning COVID school closures but apologizes for mistakes

The Associated Press 3 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025

LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied on Tuesday that his government failed to properly prepare for the “horror" of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he apologized for government mistakes.

Johnson told the U.K. Covid-19 Inquiry that officials were overwhelmed by the acceleration of the virus but he believed his Education Department was considering school closings. His education secretary, however, has testified that he was given one night to develop a plan to close schools in March 2020.

“I was very much hoping that we wouldn’t have to close schools," Johnson testified. "I thought it was a nightmare idea.”

It was the second time Johnson has appeared before the inquiry he agreed to establish after being pressured by bereaved families who were particularly angry at his own actions. Two years ago, he defended himself from suggestions that his indifference and failure to heed scientific advice led to thousands of unnecessary deaths in Britain.

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Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025

Former prime minister Boris Johnson leaves Dorland House in London after giving evidence for module 8 (children and young people) in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, on Tuesday Oct. 21, 2025. (Lucy North/PA via AP)

Firm linked to UK lingerie tycoon must repay $163 million for breaching COVID contracts

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Firm linked to UK lingerie tycoon must repay $163 million for breaching COVID contracts

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

LONDON (AP) — A British High Court judge ruled Wednesday that a company linked to a lingerie tycoon must repay the government more than 121 million pounds ($163 million) for breaching a contract to supply 25 million surgical gowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

In an 87-page ruling, Justice Sara Cockerill found that PPE Medpro had “breached the contract” and that the Department of Health and Social Care was “entitled to the price of the gowns as damages,” though not to the cost of storing the gowns.

The judge said the gowns, which had been manufactured in China to supposedly European standards, “were not, contractually speaking, sterile, or properly validated as being sterile” and that as a result they “could not be used as sterile gowns.”

PPE Medpro, which was established as the pandemic erupted in the spring of 2020, was a consortium led by Doug Barrowman, the husband of Michelle Mone, who had made her fortune though her lingerie brand Ultimo.

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Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

FILE - Michelle Mone poses for a picture on June 28, 2014. (Philip Toscano/PA via AP, File)

How to get a COVID-19 shot and ensure its covered by your insurance

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

How to get a COVID-19 shot and ensure its covered by your insurance

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

Drugstores are ready to deliver updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall and insurers plan to pay for them, even though the shots no longer come recommended by an important government committee.

On Friday, vaccine advisers picked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declined to specifically recommend the shots but said people could make individual decisions on whether to get them.

The recommendations from the advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention require sign off by the agency's director, but they are almost always adopted.

Those recommendations normally trigger several layers of insurance coverage and allow drugstores in many states to deliver the shots. But insurers and government officials have said coverage will continue, and several states have allowed for vaccine access through pharmacies, the most common place to get shots.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a COVID-19 vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

For some, a COVID-19 vaccine means jumping through hoops or hitting the road

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

For some, a COVID-19 vaccine means jumping through hoops or hitting the road

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

Michelle Newmark has tried — and failed — a couple times to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

First, she was told she needed a prescription. Then she learned that her local CVS drugstore won't have shots for a couple more weeks. The Reston, Virginia, resident was considering a drive to Maryland to get vaccinated before a friend told her of a closer CVS that was booking appointments.

What was once a simple process has become “a whole different beast this year,” Newmark said.

“It’s very frustrating that I can’t get a vaccine that I feel should be widely available like it always has been in the past,” she said.

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Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

Co-owner Marc Ost at Eric's Rx Shoppe holds a box of COVID-19 vaccines as he unpacks a shipment in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Why getting a COVID-19 vaccine is more complicated

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Why getting a COVID-19 vaccine is more complicated

Tom Murphy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Will you get a COVID-19 vaccine? That has become a complicated question for many people.

The answer may depend on your age, insurance coverage, health and finding a health care professional who will give you the shot.

A once-straightforward seasonal vaccine process has become muddled this year because of new federal guidance on who the shots are approved for. It raises questions about whether pharmacists will provide the shots and if insurers will cover them.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has OK'd new shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, but the approvals came with some new caveats. And it's not clear yet how that will play out.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

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