The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

6:25 p.m.

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health is reporting 13 new COVID-19 deaths.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says in a series of tweets that the province has seen 573 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the previous 24 hours.

That’s out of a total of 10,894 tests, for a test-positivity rate of 5.3 per cent.

Hinshaw says there are 676 people in Alberta hospitals with COVID-19, 114 of whom are in intensive care.

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5:00 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting three new deaths of people with COVID-19, as well as 274 new cases.

The province’s daily pandemic update says 1,110 vaccine doses were given out Friday, and that 96 per cent of the doses Saskatchewan has received have now been administered.

Saskatchewan currently has 3,161 active COVID-19 cases.

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3:10 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting three additional deaths of people with COVID-19 as well as 216 new cases of the virus.

The province says a rapid testing centre is now taking appointments for all teachers and other school staff who work with students.

The Fast Pass centre is in Winnipeg and promises same-day results.

Eligible clients must be either symptomatic or live with someone who is symptomatic, or be identified as a close contact through an exposure at school.

Manitoba officials report there are 272 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 40 in intensive care.

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1:50 p.m.

Nunavut health officials are announcing a second active COVID-19 case in the Hudson Bay community of Arviat.

The territory had gone weeks without any new cases, but then reported one new case in Arviat on Friday.

Officials say in a news release that the second person is asymptomatic, doing well and isolating, noting contact tracing is underway.

Arviat, a community of about 2,800, had been the centre of Nunavut’s largest COVID-19 outbreak and at one point had 222 cases.

Nunavut’s chief public health officer says in the news release that there is no evidence of community transmission, and that the risk of the virus spreading is lower now than it was in November when the territory reported its first COVID-19 case.

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1 p.m.

Public health officials in New Brunswick are reporting 17 new cases of COVID-19 in the province today.

Ten of the new cases are in the Edmundston region, which will go into a lockdown first thing tomorrow.

There are now 328 active cases in the province with five patients in hospital, including three in intensive care.

New Brunswick has had 1,104 positive cases and 13 deaths since the pandemic began.

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12:40 p.m.

Public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador say there are no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report today.

The province has five active cases and one person is in hospital.

There have been 398 positive cases and four deaths since the pandemic began.

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12:30 p.m.

Public health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting no new cases of COVID-19 in the province today.

Nova Scotia currently has 20 active cases of the virus.

Premier Stephen McNeil says Nova Scotians can be proud of the work they’re doing to keep the case numbers low.

The province has had 1,570 positive cases and 65 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,685 new COVID-19 cases Saturday as daily counts continue to decline.

The province is also reporting 76 new deaths attributed to COVID-19, for a total of 9,437 since the onset of the pandemic.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped by 43, to 1,383.

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11 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 2,359 new cases of COVID-19 today and 52 more deaths related to the virus.

The numbers mark a slight decline from the 2,662 cases recorded a day ago. 

Meanwhile the province says it plans to expand an inspection blitz of big-box stores to ensure they’re complying with protocols meant to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

The Ministry of Labour says inspection efforts focused on the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas last weekend, but will concentrate on Ottawa, Windsor, Niagara and Durham Regions over the next two days.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2021.

The Canadian Press