The latest developments on COVID-19 in Canada

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

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7:14 p.m.

B.C. has confirmed 125 new cases of COVID-19 in the past day and no one else has died from the illness, leaving the province’s death toll at 234.

There are 1,284 active cases, including 72 people who are in hospital, while 7,591 people who tested positive for the illness have recovered.

Public health workers are monitoring just over 3,200 people who were exposed to a known case and active outbreaks are ongoing at 14 long-term care or assisted-living homes and three acute-care facilities.

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6:30 p.m.

Yukon’s chief medical officer of health is giving some advice to trick-or-treaters in the territory.

In a statement, Brendan Hanley says children should wear a non-medical mask, face covering or a Halloween-themed cloth mask when they go trick-or-treating.

He says they should go out in their consistent social bubble and not gather on doorsteps.

They should also use a prop “like a broom or a sword” to ring doorbells.

He says people who are giving out candy should use a tool like tongs to hand out candy, which should be wrapped and store-bought.

And people should not leave candy in communal buckets.

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5:30 p.m.

Quebec police will be able to obtain telewarrants permitting them to enter people’s homes to enforce lockdown orders that enter into effect Thursday.

Premier Francois Legault told reporters today his government has set up a system allowing police to quickly obtain a judge-signed warrant if they suspect an illegal gathering.

Quebec has moved three regions, including the Montreal and Quebec City areas, into the highest pandemic alert level as COVID-19 infections rise.

Anyone in those regions caught hosting a private gathering of people from different addresses is liable to a $1,000 fine.

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4:49 p.m.

The number of downloads of the federal government’s COVID Alert app topped three million Wednesday.

More than 250,000 new downloads happened in the past week, including a spike of more than 100,000 people who downloaded the app in the two or three hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned it during a nationwide, televised address Sept. 23.

The app is currently operating in Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan, with the Manitoba and Quebec governments saying this week they will add it in their jurisdictions as well.

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3:12 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new confirmed case of COVID-19.

Health officials say the case involves a woman between 20 and 39 years old in the Labrador-Grenfell health region.

They say the case is travel-related, with the woman having travelled to the province from Saskatchewan after being granted a travel exemption as an essential health-care worker in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

The province says 269 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus and there are currently two active cases.

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11:30 a.m.

Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting one new case of COVID-19.

The new case in the province’s northern health zone was identified Tuesday and is related to travel outside Canada.

The province now has two active cases of COVID-19.

Nova Scotia has reported a total of 1,088 positive COVID-19 cases, 1,021 recovered cases, and 65 deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

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11:20 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 838 new COVID-19 cases and one more death attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Authorities said today the number of hospitalizations is up by 15, to 262.

Montreal and Quebec City reported the highest numbers of new COVID-19 infections, with 318 and 134 cases respectively.

Premier Francois Legault will hold a COVID-19 news briefing in Quebec City this afternoon.

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10:50 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 625 new cases of COVID-19 today, and four new deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

The province’s health minister says most of the cases are among people younger than 40 years old, continuing a recent trend.

The largest proportion of new cases are in the Toronto area, with significant increases also seen in the Ottawa, Peel and York regions.

The province is predicting daily case counts could exceed 1,000 within the next few weeks if current trends continue.

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10:30 a.m.

Erin O’Toole and Yves-Francois Blanchet are back at work on Parliament Hill today after recovering from COVID-19.

The leaders of the Conservative party and the Bloc Quebecois had both been in self-isolation after catching the respiratory illness.

Both their wives were also sick.

Blanchet says he’s lucky to have had a mild case, but the fact the virus could get to him shows how important it is for everybody to be very careful.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2020.

The Canadian Press