The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6:30 p.m. 

B.C. is reporting another 998 cases of COVID-19 over two days for a total of 18,714 cases.

The number of people in hospital has increased to 133 and five more people have died for a death toll of 281 people.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry clarified her restrictions for the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions, saying the main goal is to stop the chain of transmission that has prompted the steep increase in cases.

There are 4,891 active cases in the province and more than 9,000 people have been told to self-isolate because they’ve had contact with someone who tested positive.

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4:05 p.m.

Winnipeg health officials say a private long-term care home did not disclose the extent of a staffing shortage last Friday when paramedics were called to treat sick and dying residents. 

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says Revera initially told them 13 health care aides were on duty for the evening shift at Maples Personal Care Home.

In reality, only seven were on duty for much of the shift.

The health authority says there will be more oversight of long-term care homes to ensure a proper level of care.

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3:45 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 190 new cases of COVID-19, another single-day record for the province. 

New daily infections began surpassing the triple digit mark last week.

The province says a person in their 80s has also died, bringing the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 29. 

Premier Scott Moe says he will meet with top health officials to discuss the situation but he’s not considering new restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. 

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1:45 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 365 new COVID-19 cases today as the province continues to lead the country in per-capita active cases.

Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin says the numbers are putting an increasing demand on the health system and the province is at a critical point in time. 

He says he has talked with Premier Brian Pallister about imposing further restrictions and nothing is off the table.

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1:30 p.m.

Health officials in New Brunswick reported one new case of COVID-19 today.

The case involves a temporary foreign worker in their 30s who is in isolation in the Moncton area.

The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick now stands at 355, of which 328 have recovered and six have died.

The number of active cases is 21, two of which are in hospital.

Eleven of those active cases are in the Fredericton region, where most of cases are either travel-related or linked to an individual who recently travelled outside the Atlantic bubble.

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12:50 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador public health officials are still investigating the source of a COVID-19 infection announced yesterday.

Officials say they are working to identify potential sources of the transmission and close contacts will be notified by Public Health and asked to quarantine.

The case is a woman between 20 and 39 years old in the western region of Newfoundland.

Her case is the first in several months that was not immediately found to be related to travel, or to be a close contact of a travel-related case.

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12:30 p.m.

The Manitoba government is setting up a new resource centre, and hiring 100 teachers, to support remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen says the province will spend $10 million from a recent federal fund to set up the centre, which will include educational assistants and other workers. 

Goertzen says the facility will be a help centre for teachers and students involved in remote learning, as well as students who are home-schooled.

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11:10 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,169 new cases of COVID-19 as well as 15 additional deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

The Health Department says today that of the deaths, five were reported in the past 24 hours and most of rest occurred last week.

The new numbers today bring the total number of infections in the province to 115,989, along with 6,455 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of people in hospital increased by 13 to 540 patients, while one less patient was in intensive care, for a total of 76.

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11:00 a.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting one new case of COVID-19.

The province now has 16 active cases, though no one is receiving hospital treatment.

The latest case involves a person in the central zone who is a close contact of a previously reported case.

As of today, the province has recorded 1,129 positive COVID-19 cases, 65 deaths and 1,048 cases that are considered recovered.

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11 a.m.

There are 1,242 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario today, and12 new deaths related to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 483 new cases in Toronto, 279 in Peel Region, 107 in York Region, 74 in Ottawa and 57 in Hamilton. 

The province says there are 84 people in intensive care, with 54 on ventilators.

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10:50 a.m.

Problems faced by people and their pets during the COVID-19 pandemic will be studied in a joint research project by Dalhousie University and the Vancouver Humane Society.

A statement from the society says pets are a key part of mental health support but during the pandemic many owners are having to decide whether to give up, or euthanize, their animals.

Dr. Haorui Wu, assistant professor at the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University, says the research could lead to better support for pets and pet owners.

It’s hoped the study will also find solutions to handle similar emergencies in future.

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10:20 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says news that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Pfizer seems very effective in clinical trials is encouraging but it’s not an immediate solution to the pandemic.

In a news conference in Ottawa, Trudeau says an eventual vaccine is no use now to anyone who catches the virus that causes the illness.

So he says that there might be light at the end of the tunnel, but Canadians have to keep up good safety and hygiene practices until the vaccine arrives.

Canada has bought the rights to 20 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, if it proves effective and Health Canada approves it for use here.

The company says in a news release that early results from a large-scale trial show its vaccine is 90 per cent effective at combating the virus.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2020.

The Canadian Press