The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

7:55 p.m.

Yukon has recorded three new cases of COVID-19, bringing the territory’s total to 29. 

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Brendan Hanley says the three cases have been linked to a previous case, with contract tracing underway.

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5:40 p.m.

Alberta has reported 1,155 new COVID-19 cases in the second record-breaking day in a row. 

The province also reported 11 more deaths for a total of 462.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said 6.5 per cent of the roughly 17,000 tests done in the last 24 hours came back positive. 

There are 310 people in hospital, including 58 in intensive care.

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4 p.m.

Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region will be moving into lockdown starting on Monday.

The Ontario government says that means no indoor organized public events or social gatherings except with members of the same household.

Non-essential retailers will be limited to curbside pickup, indoor dining at restaurants will be banned and indoor sports facilities will be closed.

Grocery stores, pharmacies and big-box retailers will be deemed essential and remain open, with capacity limits.

Schools and child-care centres will remain open.

The lockdown will last a minimum of 28 days and the province says it will fine people $750 for violating public health rules.

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3 p.m.

Iain Stewart, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada, confirmed Friday afternoon that Canada expects six million doses of two COVID-19 vaccines before the end of March.

There are four million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine and two million of Moderna’s in the mix, but neither will be delivered until they complete their final clinical trials and Health Canada approves them for use in Canada.

Stewart said there are negotiations right now with the provinces and territories about how the vaccines will be divided between them, but noted that for personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests, the distribution has been done partly based on population and partly on other factors, including need.

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2 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing its total active case count up to 13.

Officials say one of the cases is travel-related and involves a man who returned to the province from Nova Scotia.

Another case is a close contact of a previously reported infection in the Grand Bank area, while the source of the third case is currently under investigation.

All of the individuals are now self-isolating and contact tracing by public health is underway.

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1:45 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 437 new COVID-19 cases and nine additional deaths. 

The province’s chief public health officer says the 10-day test positivity rate in Steinbach, the province’s hot spot, is now at 40 per cent. 

Dr. Brent Roussin is again asking people to stay home as much as possible, and says he noticed the streets on his drive to work this morning were much more full than in spring.

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12:15 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Canada-U.S. border will remain closed until Dec. 21.

Visits such as vacations, day trips and cross-border shopping excursions have been forbidden since March to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The mutual restrictions have been jointly extended on a monthly basis by the two countries ever since they were first imposed.

Trudeau says that with COVID-19 cases rising across the country, he will be working from home as much as possible and will again hold news conferences from outside his Rideau Cottage residence.

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12:11 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says now is the time for Canadians to further limit personal contacts and cancel social plans.

Trudeau urges people to stay home, and asks businesses to let employees work from home amid a spike in COVID-19 infections.

Trudeau says getting the virus under control is the best way to protect the economy, even if that means going into lockdown, as some regions have done.

He also referenced new measures to support businesses passed by the Senate Thursday, including commercial rent relief and an extension of the federal wage subsidy.

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12:06 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting five new cases of COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases to 28.

The new infections are all in the central health zone, which includes Halifax.

One case is at Auburn Drive High School, while another is linked to a previous case, while the other three are under investigation.

Nova Scotia has had a total of 1,160 cases with 1,067 now resolved and 65 deaths.

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11:08 a.m.

A COVID-19 outbreak has left a Winnipeg long-term care home so short-staffed that it has asked relatives to come in and sit by residents’ bedsides.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says 42 of the 81 residents at Golden Links Lodge have tested positive.

On Thursday, the home called in paramedics and had two stay at the home overnight.

The authority says the home has asked residents’ families to send one person to sit with loved ones to monitor any change in their condition.

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11:06 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,259 new COVID-19 infections and 32 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Nine of those deaths occurred in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have decreased by 27, to 624, and 96 people are in intensive care, a drop of five.

The province says 1,526 more people have recovered from the virus, for a total of 111,326 recoveries

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11:02 a.m.

Nunavut is reporting 10 new cases of COVID-19.

That brings the total number of cases in the territory, which confirmed its first case just two weeks ago, to 84.

The worst outbreak remains in the community of Arviat, which now has a total of 58 cases.

The territory has closed all non-essential businesses, schools and other services.

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10:45 a.m.

Ontario has surpassed 100,000 total cases of COVID-19.

The province is reporting 1,418 new cases today and eight deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

That brings Ontario to a total of 100,790 cases and 3,451 deaths.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 400 new cases in Peel Region, 393 in Toronto and 168 in York Region.

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9:37 a.m.

Canada’s chief public health officer says there’s “urgency” to bring COVID-19 infections down as new forecasts from officials show case counts have surpassed levels seen in the first wave. 

Dr. Theresa Tam says COVID-19 cases could rise to 60,000 per day by the end of the year if Canadians continue to increase their contact rates.

The forecasts predict that Canada’s case total could climb as high as 378,600 while the death toll could reach 12,120 by the end of the month, if current rates continue.

The modelling predicts Canada is careening toward more than 20,000 new cases per day by the end of December.

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9:30

Health Minister Patty Hajdu says Canadians need to reduce their personal contacts now to protect each other. 

She says this will mean tough choices for Canadians over the December holidays.

Hajdu spoke to the rapid growth of COVID-19 infections at a news conference where officials shared new projections about the spread of the illness across the country. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2020.

The Canadian Press