WATCH LIVE @ 3:30 P.M.
The two people who died in a major fire in Old Montreal on Friday were a mother and her seven-year-old daughter, sources told Noovo Info.
China's capital Beijing is experiencing an "explosive" COVID-19 outbreak connected to a bar, a government spokesman said on Saturday, as the commercial hub, Shanghai, conducted mass testing to contain a jump in cases tied to a hair salon.
The warning followed a new tightening of COVID curbs in Beijing since Thursday, with at least two districts closing some entertainment venues after a flare-up in a neighbourhood full of nightlife, shopping and embassies.
While China's infection rate is low by global standards, it maintains a zero-COVID policy, citing the need to protect the elderly and the medical system, even as other countries try to live with the virus.
So far, the country of 1.4 billion has seen just 5,226 reported deaths from COVID-19.
Beijing authorities said on Saturday that all 61 new cases uncovered in the city on Friday had either visited the Heaven Supermarket Bar or had links to it.
"The recent outbreak ... is strongly explosive in nature and widespread in scope," Xu Hejian, spokesperson of the Beijing municipal government, told a news briefing.
The capital had registered 46 new local cases on Saturday as of 3 p.m., all people already in isolation or under observation, health official Liu Xiaofeng said.
The city did not announce new curbs at the briefing, but later the Beijing sports administration said all off-campus and "offline" sports activities for teens would be canceled from Sunday.
So far, 115 cases and 6,158 close contacts linked to the bar have been reported, throwing the city of 22 million back into a state of anxiety.
Beijing only relaxed curbs less than two weeks ago that had been imposed to fight a major outbreak that began in April.
The sprawling Universal Beijing Resort - a theme park on the city's outskirts - on Friday rescinded a plan to reopen. City authorities said three of its workers had visited the Heaven Supermarket bar. Read full story
Many neighborhoods in the capital have been put under lockdown, with residents told to stay home.
In Shanghai, officials announced three new confirmed local cases and one asymptomatic case detected outside quarantined areas on Saturday, as nearly all the city's 25 million residents began a new round of COVID tests.
Authorities ordered PCR testing for all residents in 15 of Shanghai's 16 districts this weekend, and five districts barred residents from leaving home during the testing period. A city official said residents should complete at least one PCR test a week until July 31.
China's most populous city only lifted a grueling two-month COVID-19 lockdown on June 1. Read full story
"I am a little bit worried because if there are positive cases in the compound, it will be put into a sealed situation," said Shanghai resident Shi Weiqi. "I will also stock up on some supplies properly in case the previous situation happens again."
Shanghai authorities said they had also reprimanded and dismissed several district-level officials for lapses at a hotel that was used to quarantine arrivals from overseas, pinpointed as one of the sources of Shanghai's wave of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
They also said they had warned or dismissed some executives at a state-owned firm that owned the Red Rose beauty salon, where three cases were found among workers this week.
The salon's employees had not followed guidelines to undertake PCR testing daily, they said.
On Saturday, Shanghai reported seven new local symptomatic cases for the previous day, a rise of one, of which six were detected outside of quarantined areas.
The city also recorded nine new local asymptomatic cases, up from six the previous day.
In total, mainland China reported 210 new coronavirus cases for June 10, of which 79 were symptomatic and 131 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said.
That was up from 151 new cases a day earlier, 45 of them symptomatic and 106 asymptomatic.
As of Friday, mainland China had confirmed 224,659 cases with symptoms.
(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith, Ryan Woo, Brenda Goh and the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill, David Holmes and Kevin Liffey)
The two people who died in a major fire in Old Montreal on Friday were a mother and her seven-year-old daughter, sources told Noovo Info.
Tropical Storm Milton has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. It is located 220 miles (355 kilometres) north-northeast of Veracruz, Mexico.
The sentencing of the man who pleaded guilty in the deadly hit-and-run in Kitsilano two years ago began on Friday.
New data raises questions about the drinks people consume and the potential risks associated with them, according to researchers at Galway University in Ireland, in partnership with Hamilton鈥檚 McMaster University.
A 30-year-old northwestern Ontario woman has been charged with arson following a structure fire Thursday night, police say.
Ontario Provincial Police have laid stunt charges against a driver caught speeding 75 km/h over the speed limit on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end.
Travelling on a budget can be stressful, but there are ways you can ensure you're getting the best deal on flights as the holiday season approaches.
A French judge in the trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose now former husband had repeatedly drugged her so that he and others could assault her decided on Friday to allow the public to see some of the video recordings of the alleged rapes.
Being an armchair detective has turned into an American obsession, fueled by an abundance of true-crime content in podcasts and television series. But some of those projects have sparked actual legal developments.
Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.
From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.
A husband and wife have been on the road trip of a lifetime and have decided to stop in Saskatchewan for the winter.
The grave of a previously unknown Canadian soldier has been identified as a man from Hayfield, Man. who fought in the First World War.
A group of classic car enthusiasts donated hundreds of blankets to nursing homes in Nova Scotia.
Moving into the second week of October, the eastern half of Canada can expect some brisker fall air to break down from the north
What does New Westminster's t蓹m蓹sew虛tx史 Aquatic and Community Centre have in common with a historic 68,000-seat stadium in Beijing, an NFL stadium and the aquatics venue for the Paris Olympics? They've all been named among the world's most beautiful sports venues for 2024.
The last living member of the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team, Kaye Kaminishi, died on Saturday, Sept. 28, surrounded by family. He was 102 years old.
New data from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley shows a surge in supply and drop in demand in the region's historically hot real estate market.