The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

5:55 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 1,633 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths.

The new cases were identified from 15,509 tests, for a test-positivity rate of 10.3 per cent.

There are 668 people with COVID-19 in Alberta hospitals, with 155 patients in intensive care.

Variants of concern now make up 44.5 per cent of Alberta’s active COVID-19 cases.

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4:15 p.m.

Saskatchewan is setting May 30 as the target date for the first step of its COVID-19 “Re-opening Roadmap.”

An announcement from the province says restaurants and bars will open with a maximum of six to a table, distanced between other tables.

Places of worship will be able to hold services with 30 per cent capacity, or a maximum of 150 people, and group fitness classes can resume with three-metres distance between participants.

Gathering limits will rise, although current protocols for schools and post-secondary institutions will remain in place, and the province-wide mask mandate will stay in effect.

Premier Scott Moe says the province is able to move forward with the re-opening plan because so many people have been getting vaccinated, adding residents are also following public health orders.

The province says more than 70 per cent of Saskatchewan residents age 40 and older have received their first shot of Covid-19 vaccine, surpassing the threshold for Step One of the Re-Opening Roadmap.

Details of the plan came as Saskatchewan reported 177 new COVID-19 cases in the province and no new virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours. 

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2:15 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 165 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Of those, 138 cases are in the central zone in and around Halifax, 16 are in the eastern zone, six are in the western zone and five in the northern zone.

One case in the central zone is a homecare staff member with Northwood in Halifax.

Nova Scotia Health says it has created a team that is immediately calling all positive patients to advise them of their test result and determine whether they need supports.

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2 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting new daily COVID-19 cases over the 500 mark once again, with officials logging 532 new infections in the past 24 hours.

There are also three additional deaths, which the province says were all linked to the variant of concern first identified in the United Kingdom.

Manitoba’s daily pandemic update notes the five-day test-positivity rate is 10.9 per cent provincially and 13 per cent in Winnipeg.

There are 3,499 active COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, with 210 people in hospital and 52 patients in intensive care.

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1:10 p.m.

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

Three of the cases are in the Eastern Health region, and all are people in their 40s.

The fourth new confirmed case is a man in the Central Health region in his 60s and the fifth is a woman in her 70s in the Western region.

There are 67 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

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12:55 p.m.

Public Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting six new cases of COVID-19 today, including one at the Kennebecasis Valley High School in Quispamsis.

There are also three cases in Moncton, with two of those people in their 20s.

The province is also reporting two cases in the Fredericton area.

The total number of active infections in the province currently stands at 141.

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11:30 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 960 new cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths linked to the pandemic, including one in the last 24 hours.

Hospitalizations declined by eight in the previous 24 hours to 539, while the number of people in intensive care dropped by six to 124.

The province gave 74,694 doses of vaccine on Saturday, and has currently administered at least one shot to almost 42 per cent of the population.

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10:45 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 3,216 new COVID-19 cases today and 47 deaths from the virus.

The province says 1,640 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.

That number includes 848 people in intensive care and 580 on ventilators.

The data is based on 38,540 completed tests.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2021.

The Canadian Press