Toronto 
Credit: NIAID-RML, This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19.
With the global cases of COVID-19 topping 100,000 with more than three thousand deaths, Government of Canada has increased coronavirus research funding to $27 million from 7 million. On February 10, 2020, the Government of Canada had launched a rapid research funding competition and funded 47 research projects that will provide new evidence on how to address COVID-19.
The Government of Canada is providing the funding for this research through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) through the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and Genome Canada (GC).
The investment will support 47 projects across two research areas Medical countermeasures research and Social and policy countermeasures research to ensure a balanced research response. The research will help inform clinical and public health responses, develop and evaluate diagnostic tools and vaccines, as well as create strategies to tackle misinformation, stigma, and fear.
Currently in Canada, the total positive COVID-19 cases stand at 51, with 21 cases in British Columbia, 1 in Alberta, 26 in Ontario and 3 in Quebec. Of these 51, 8 cases, 4 each in B.C. and Ontario were fully resolved, with each of those patients having two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
