The latest developments on COVID-19 in Canada on Feb. 18, 2021

The latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada (all times eastern):

6:45 p.m.

There have been 617 new cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia and four additional deaths related to the virus.

The province says 180,691 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far, and 29,952 of those are second doses.

B.C.’s total number of COVID-19 infections stands at 75,327, and there are 4,348 active cases.

There have been 1,321 deaths related to COVID-19 in British Columbia.

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5:30 p.m.

Alberta has reported 415 new COVID-19 cases in its latest update.

Chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw says 4.2 per cent of the more than 10,000 tests done in the past day have come back positive.

Seven more people have died from the novel coronavirus in the province.

There are 362 in hospital, including 55 in intensive care.

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3:40 p.m. 

Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says the case involves a man in his 20s who recently travelled outside Atlantic Canada.

She is asking anyone who travelled on Air Canada Flight AC8302 from Montreal to Charlottetown on Feb. 16 to get tested for COVID-19 if they haven’t already done so.

P.E.I. has two active reported cases of COVID-19.

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2:55 p.m.

Transport Canada has issued fines to two passengers who knowingly boarded a flight to Canada from Mexico on Jan. 23 after having tested positive for COVID-19 a few days earlier. 

The passengers have been fined $10,000 and $7,000 respectively, for presenting a false or misleading COVID-19 test and for making a false declaration about their health status.

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2:45 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 146 new cases of COVID-19.

The province says there have been no additional deaths linked to the virus.

There are 174 people in hospital with COVID-19, and 23 of them are in intensive care.

Premier Scott Moe is touring a mass vaccination clinic today in Regina that is to open in April.

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1:40 p.m.

Nunavut is reporting six new cases of COVID-19 today.

All the new cases are in Arviat, which is the only community in Nunavut with active COVID cases.

Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson encouraged Arviat residents who haven’t already been vaccinated to contact their health centre to do so.

To date, 6,850 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered in Nunavut.

There are 27 active cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut, all in Arviat.

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1:40 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 138 additional COVID-19 cases and two deaths. 

Northern areas, on a per capita basis, continue to be the hardest hit. 

Provincial government data shows large case numbers in Cross Lake, Thompson and the Island Lake district.

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1:10 p.m.

Health officials in New Brunswick are saying that people who are less at risk for severe complications from COVID-19 can wait longer for a second dose of vaccine.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says the shorter, two-dose schedule will continue for the most vulnerable, but others will get their second dose within 90 days.

Officials are reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today, all in the Edmundston region in the northwest of the province, which will be moved to the lower, “orange” pandemic-alert level at midnight tonight.

New Brunswick says it has 111 active reported cases of COVID-19 and five patients in hospital with the disease, including one in intensive care.

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12:40 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador health authorities are reporting 48 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Officials say there are also 46 presumed positive cases awaiting confirmation through further testing.

All of the 48 new cases are in the eastern health region, which includes the metro area of St. John’s, where an outbreak has been growing since last week. 

Six people have recovered since yesterday and there are now 380 active reported infections across the province, with two people in hospital as a result of the disease.

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12 p.m.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontario is carefully considering a plea from health officials in Toronto and Peel to delay loosening pandemic restrictions in their regions.

Elliott says the province’s top doctor will be looking at new data today that will inform his recommendation on what should be done for the two COVID-19 hot spots. 

Toronto and Peel are among the Ontario regions that have yet to move back to the province’s colour-coded framework.

The two local medical officers have asked that the current stay-at-home order stay in place in their regions until at least March 9.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 900 new cases of COVID-19 today and 10 more deaths linked to the virus.

Four of those deaths occurred within the past 24 hours.

Health officials say the number of hospitalizations dropped by 19, to 747, and 129 people were in intensive care, a drop of one.

The province says it administered 2,234 doses of vaccine yesterday, for a total of 302,118.

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10:55 a.m.

Ontario’s fiscal watchdog says the province lost more than 355,000 jobs last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Financial Accountability Officer says in a report today that the job losses represent the single largest annual decline on record.

The report says that in addition to job losses, more than 765,000 Ontario residents worked fewer hours because of the pandemic.

The FAO says young workers were the hardest hit group, as youth unemployment jumped to 22 per cent.

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10:30 a.m.

The Manitoba government is now letting people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine carry proof with them. 

A government website allows people to view their vaccination data and print it. 

It’s a temporary measure until formal vaccination cards are available, similar to ones in British Columbia.

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10:15 a.m.

Ontario says there are 1,038 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and 44 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says that 376 of those new cases are in Toronto, 142 are in Peel Region and 122 are in York Region.

Another 12,383 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the province since the last update.

Ontario has now given out more than 500,000 vaccine doses to date.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2021.

The Canadian Press