National News

VANCOUVER — A plastic barrier sits on a table between Debbie Drew and her father during their visits in the reception area of a long-term care home where the first Canadian died of COVID-19.

A variant of COVID-19 that has ravaged the U.K. is now in Canada, health officials said Saturday as they announced an Ontario couple had been diagnosed with the contagious new strain.

IQALUIT — There are more than 60 words to describe sea ice in Inuktitut. For Nunavut's hunters, the words are critical when travelling across a frozen ocean highway by snowmobile or dog team.

No winning ticket sold for the $12 million jackpot in Friday night's Lotto Max draw. The jackpot for the next draw on Dec. 29 will be approximately $17 million. The Canadian Press

In her annual Christmas message, the Queen spoke about hope and kindness, praising nurses, front-line service workers and Good Samaritans.

The most wonderful time in a not-so-wonderful year has arrived and Canadians from coast to coast aren't letting the pandemic put a damper on their Christmas spirit.

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (All times Eastern): 1:30 p.m. A Windsor, Ont., hospital is taking the lead on managing a long-term care home weathering a deadly COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened more than 150 people.

EDMONTON — To Terri Suntjens, symbolism means everything. That's why she decided to get involved with the City of Edmonton's initiative to rename its wards.

EDMONTON — The City of Edmonton approved a bylaw earlier this month to change the names of its 12 wards to Indigenous ones. Here are the new names and their meanings: Nakota Isga (Ward 1): (NAH'-koh-tah EE'-ska). Of Sioux origin meaning "the people.

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:45 a.m. ET on Friday Dec. 25, 2020. There are 528,354 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 528,354 confirmed cases (75,305 active, 438,452 resolved, 14,597 deaths).