The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Wednesday, April 14, 2021

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

6:10 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 1,412 new cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths due to the virus.

The province says 778 new variant cases have also been detected.

There are 420 people in hospital due to COVID-19, with 92 in intensive care.

The province currently has the highest rate of active cases in Canada.

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6 p.m.

The Alberta government says schools in Calgary will move to at-home learning starting next week for students in grades 7 to 12.

The change, due to COVID-19, is to last for two weeks. 

Alberta Education says it approved requests from public and Catholic schools in the city to make the move to online learning. 

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says in a statement that some schools boards are dealing with operational pressures due to rising COVID-19 cases.

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3:50 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 193 new cases of COVID-19.

The province says there has also been one additional death due to the virus – a person in their 70s in the southeast region.

There are 203 people in hospitals in Saskatchewan because of COVID-19 and 41 of them are in intensive care.

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2:40 p.m.

Yukon is reporting a new case of COVID-19, its second new case this week and the 76th in the territory since the start of the pandemic.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Brendan Hanley says case 76 and the other cases reported this month are linked to the P.1 variant, which first originated in Brazil.

He says these are the first confirmed cases of the variant in Yukon and all the cases involve a single family that travelled to the territory and is now self-isolating in Whitehorse.

He says there is no indication of community spread.

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2 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19 today and a total of 42 active cases.

Health officials identified one case in the Halifax area related to international travel and one in the eastern zone related to domestic travel outside of Atlantic Canada.

Officials also noted 18 previous cases, saying they have now been identified as being of the variant originally identified in the U.K.

They said most of those cases are now considered resolved, with 10 related to travel, seven confirmed as close contacts of previously reported cases, and one still under investigation.

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1:35 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting three new deaths related to COVID-19 and 86 new cases. 

Six earlier cases have been removed due to data correction, however, so the net increase is 80. 

The province is also expanding eligibility for vaccines among the general population by reducing the minimum age by one year.

Eligibility now starts at 39 for First Nations people and 59 for others.

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1:25 p.m.

Ontario’s solicitor general says a delay in Moderna shipments is causing vaccination clinics to cancel appointments.

Sylvia Jones says a 10-day delay in receiving the latest doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has had a “cascade” effect on public health units running the clinics.

She says the province has faced three delays in delivery of the Moderna shots since its vaccine rollout started.

Ontario said Tuesday that two shipments of the Moderna vaccine scheduled to arrive in April have each been delayed by a week.

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1:15 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 16 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say 14 of the new cases are in the hard-hit Edmundston area, which is under lockdown.

They say the two other cases are in the Saint John region.

The number of active cases is 141, and 19 patients are hospitalized with the disease, including 13 in intensive care.

New Brunswick has reported a total of 1,752 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 33 deaths linked to the virus.

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11:20 a.m.

Health Canada says the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will remain authorized for all adults in Canada after completing a safety review.

The department says a new and extremely rare blood clotting syndrome may be linked to the vaccine but the benefits still far outweigh the risks.

The conclusions are in line with findings issued in Europe and the United Kingdom last week.

The decision comes the day after Canada reported its first-ever case of a blood clot in a patient who received the AstraZeneca vaccine in Quebec.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization is reviewing this information and will decide if it needs to change its recommendation that the vaccine not be used on anyone under the age of 55.

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11:10 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,559 new COVID-19 cases today and seven more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Health officials say hospitalizations rose by 17, to 660, and 152 people were in intensive care, a rise of two.

The province says it administered 68,192 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Tuesday.

Quebec has reported a total of 331,031 infections and 10,763 deaths linked to the virus.

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11 a.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting three new cases of COVID-19, all of which are linked to travel.

Officials say the three people involved are in the eastern region of the province and all are self-isolating.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says several cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the region of Quebec which borders Labrador.

Fitzgerald says testing is available to anyone who visited restaurants in the area between April 5 and April 9 in the Fermont area, but she says the risk to the public is low.

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10:35 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 4,156 cases of COVID-19 and 28 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 1,254 new cases in Toronto, 593 in Peel Region, and 476 in York Region.

She also says there are 340 new cases in Ottawa and 248 in Durham Region.

The ministry of health says that 642 people are in intensive care.

Ontario says that more than 112,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Tuesday’s report.

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9 a.m.

Two health networks in Toronto say shortages of COVID-19 vaccine are forcing them to limit or close immunization clinics.

Scarborough Health Network says it will be closing its Centennial College and Centenary hospital clinics today.

University Health Network says it has had to pause registration for appointments for adults over 18 who qualify for vaccination based on their postal code.

Both organizations say they will reopen their clinics as soon as they receive more vaccines. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2021.

The Canadian Press