The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6 p.m.

Alberta’s COVID-19 case numbers continue to soar, with the province’s chief medical health officer reporting over 2,000 new cases for a third-straight day.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says in a series of tweets that there have been 2,433 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, and that the province’s test-positivity rate is now 12 per cent.

Hinshaw reports there are now 646 people in the province’s hospitals with COVID-19, with 152 of those in intensive care.

She reported one new death.

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4 p.m.

Quebec is reporting a third case of a rare blood clot linked to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Health Department says the unidentified person remains hospitalized but is in stable condition.

Late last month, 54-year-old Francine Boyer died of a cerebral thrombosis in a Montreal hospital after receiving the AstraZeneca shot on April 9.

Thrombosis is a possible complication of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but is reported in about one per 100,000 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, Quebec has administered more than 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.

Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s director of public health, says the risks related to COVID-19 illness far outweigh those related to the vaccine.

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3:45 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 262 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths.

Two of the deaths were in the Regina zone — a person in their 40s and another in their 60s.

The third death was a person in their 70s in the Saskatoon zone.

The province currently has 2,452 active infections, along with 167 patients in hospital and 38 in intensive care.

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2 p.m.

Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting 18 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Twelve of the cases are in the Edmundston region where a lockdown was lifted in part of the area earlier this week.

There are two new cases in the Moncton region, three cases in the Saint John region and one case in the Fredericton region.

There are 141 active cases in the province and five people are hospitalized, including two in intensive care.

Since the onset of the pandemic, New Brunswick has logged 1,933 cases of COVID-19 and 36 related deaths.

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1:55 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 273 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths.

Health officials say in today’s pandemic update that seven cases have been removed due to data correction, for a net number of 266 new infections.

Both of the people who died were in their 60s — one was in the Northern health region, while the other was in the Southern region and was linked to an outbreak at the Emerson Health Centre.

The five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is 7.3 per cent, and 8.3 per cent in Winnipeg.

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12:50 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting five new cases of COVID-19.

The latest numbers bring the province’s active case count to 33, while there are three people in hospital with the virus.

Meanwhile, public health is issuing a flight advisory.

Passengers who travelled on Air Canada Flight 8016 that departed Montreal and arrived in St. John’s on Thursday, April 29 are asked to arrange COVID-19 testing.

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12 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 148 new cases of COVID-19 today.

There are 129 cases in the province’s Central Zone, 17 cases in the Eastern Zone and two cases in the Western Zone.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority lab is experiencing a backlog due to the volume of testing in the province, and Premier Iain Rankin says the large number of cases was expected as the lab catches up.

As of today, Nova Scotia has 713 active cases of COVID-19.

There are 30 people in hospital, including five in intensive care.

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11:10 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,101 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths attributed to the virus, including one in the past 24 hours.

Health authorities say the number of patients in hospital dropped by 14 to 578, with the number in intensive care declining by five to 159.

The province administered 62,406 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.

About 36.3 per cent of the population have received a first dose.

Quebec has now reported 350,874 confirmed infections and 10,933 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

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10:45 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 3,369 new COVID-19 cases today as the number of admissions to provincial intensive care units continues to climb.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says the bulk of the new infections remain concentrated in the long-standing hot spots of Toronto and the neighbouring regions of Peel and York.

The province is also reporting 29 new virus-related deaths today.

There are currently 2,152 COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals, with 900 in intensive care and 637 on a ventilator.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2021.

The Canadian Press