Health

CALGARY — On a frigid December night in Calgary, a street outreach worker approaches a man walking with a well-kept German shepherd wearing a plaid jacket and asks if the dog has enough food. "He's got more food than I do," the man replies.

HALIFAX — Emergency room closures due to staffing shortages in Nova Scotia have doubled year over year, a situation the province's health minister says shows that hospitals are being pushed to their limits.

ZHUOZHOU, China (AP) — China only counts deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 death toll, a Chinese health official said, a narrow definition that limits the number of deaths being reported as the virus surges followi

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Francisco Palacios waited for four hours with his wife and 3-year-old daughter at a border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego early Wednesday before going to a nearby hotel for a three-hour nap.

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, according to final figures released Thursday. The official number was 106,699, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it will release doses of prescription flu medicine from the Strategic National Stockpile to states as flu-sickened patients continue to flock to hospitals and doctors' offices around the count

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Wednesday that his office is suing Kroger, Albertsons and Rite Aid, arguing their pharmacy chains failed to act as the “final barrier” against opioid over-prescription.

CALGARY — The Alberta government is hoping to improve ambulance response times by having community shuttles and wheelchair-accessible taxis transport some patients.

MONTREAL — The new plan to reduce overcrowding in Quebec emergency rooms is paying off, the province's health minister said Wednesday, but a major nurses union said that while the measures are laudable, the situation remains critical.

OTTAWA — As Canada faces an ongoing shortage of children's medications, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he doesn't know if ramping up domestic production of pharmaceuticals is the right approach to addressing the problem.