The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

7:30 p.m.

The B.C. government has extended its state of emergency for another two weeks to ensure health and emergency officials in the province have the powers they need to respond to the pandemic.

Premier John Horgan says in a statement it’s time to focus on the actions that helped keep residents safe this spring, including handwashing, physical distancing, wearing a mask and staying home when sick.

The original declaration of the state of emergency was made on March 18 and Tuesday’s extension lasts until Nov. 24.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says the province will ensure enforcement officials have the tools to address the selfish actions of a small number of people taking needless risks during the pandemic.

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6:55 p.m. 

British Columbia has reported 525 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the number of active infections to 5,133, while the number of people in hospital has grown to 142.

Three more people have died, bringing the death toll in B.C. to 284.

In a joint statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are urging people to honour veterans through virtual ceremonies for Remembrance Day. 

They say 9,781 people are under public health monitoring after exposure to a known case and health-care outbreaks are ongoing at 33 long-term care homes and six acute-care facilities.

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4:20 p.m.

Nova Scotia Health Public Health is warning of a possible exposure to COVID-19 on an Oct. 28 Air Canada flight from Montreal to Halifax.

Officials say passengers in seats A, B and C sitting in rows 20 to 26 on Air Canada flight 7558 departing Montreal at 1:45 p.m. are more likely to have been exposed.

Those passengers are asked to call 811 for advice and to continue to self-isolate.

Officials say anyone exposed on this flight could develop symptoms up to and including Nov. 11.

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4 p.m.

WorkSafeBC is stepping up inspections and consultations at workplaces in B.C.’s two most populous regions as COVID-19 cases rise.

The agency is urging employers in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health regions to review and update their COVID-19 safety plans.

It says workplaces that carry the highest risk for COVID-19 transmission are being prioritized for inspections, including sites where it’s difficult to maintain safe distances apart and where workers interact with large numbers of people or come into contact with shared surfaces and tools.

Vancouver Coastal Health is warning of two possible exposures to COVID-19 in Whistler at Earls Kitchen and Bar during operating hours between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6 and Buffalo Bill’s Bar and Grill on Oct. 31.

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2:50 p.m.

Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting three new cases of COVID-19.

The province is now dealing with 18 active cases, 15 of which were reported in the past week.

The small but sudden spike has prompted the province to impose tougher restrictions on the 14-day isolation period for people who enter Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic region.

One of the new cases is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada but the other two are linked to a cluster of new cases in Clayton Park, in the west end of Halifax.

Nova Scotia has recorded 1,132 cases of COVID-19 and 65 deaths, and 1,049 people have recovered.

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2:30 p.m.

Yukon officials say they do not have the space or staff to accommodate a full-time return to class for students in grades 10 to 12 in Whitehorse.

Education Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee says current health and safety guidelines to fight COVID-19 would require classes in multiple locations other than schools and the territory would have to hire up to 60 more people.

She says students will remain on a modified schedule for the rest of the school year.

Yukon’s chief medical health officer Dr. Brendan Hanley says students will now have to maintain a one-metre distance from each other in classrooms and masks will not will be not just recommended but required in common areas including hallways, cafeterias, libraries and corridors.

Yukon reports no current cases of COVID-19.

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2:05 p.m.

Manitoba health officials are reporting 383 new cases of COVID-19, five additional deaths and a record number of people in hospital with the coronavirus.

The province says 207 COVID-19 patients are in hospital, 30 of them in intensive care.

Manitoba’s recent surge of cases has prompted the government to impose a wide range of restrictions, including the closure of in-store shopping at non-essential retail outlets, that will take effect Thursday.

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1:55 p.m.

Quebec Premier François Legault says he’s maintaining partial lockdown orders affecting most of the province until at least Nov. 23.

Legault said today the slight uptick in daily infections across the province justifies keeping bars, gyms, entertainment venues and restaurant dining areas closed across most of Quebec.

He says while Montreal and Quebec City are stable, the situation in five regions — including Saguenay and Lanaudière — are especially worrying.

The premier is also warning managers of long-term care homes they will be held responsible if they cannot keep COVID-19 outbreaks under control inside their residences.

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1:15 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19.

The new case is a woman in her 20s who is a close contact of a previously identified case.

Health officials say the province now has three active cases and all three people are self-isolating and experiencing mild symptoms.

Prince Edward Island has had 67 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, and all have been travel-related.

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12:45 p.m.

Public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are advising rotational workers in the province about an outbreak at the Seymour Pacific Developments work site in Manitoba.

Officials say any workers from the province returning from the site must self-isolate away from family members for a full 14 days upon arrival.

Public health authorities also say the source of a COVID-19 infection announced Sunday is still under investigation.

Newfoundland and Labrador has seven active cases of COVID-19, with 297 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic.

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12 p.m.

The Manitoba government is forcing non-essential stores to close and banning social gatherings in an effort to stop a surge of COVID-19 cases.

Starting Thursday, non-essential retail outlets will be limited to curbside pickup and delivery, and churches will not have in-person gatherings.

Social gatherings with anyone other than household members will be forbidden, and restaurants, museums, theatres and recreational activities must close.

Schools will remain open as the province’s chief public health officer says officials are not seeing much transmission within schools.

Premier Brian Pallister says the province is at a critical point in its fight against the virus.

Manitoba leads all provinces in per-capita active cases.

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11:50 a.m.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand says her department is searching for suppliers that can help find a way to physically distribute doses of a future COVID-19 vaccine to provinces and territories.

She says the logistics of distributing a COVID-19 vaccine are complex, especially given the need to transport and store the doses at specific temperatures.

She says Ottawa is moving quickly to ensure that when a vaccine is ready, so is Canada.

Anand also says the federal government has signed a new agreement with Ontario company Becton, Dickinson to receive about 7.6 million rapid antigen tests.

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11:45 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is begging provincial governments to ask for more help if they need it to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

He says cases are surging across the country, and he insists that no leader should loosen anti-pandemic restrictions because they’re worried about the economic impact of keeping those restrictions.

Trudeau says that’s how we end up with a worse pandemic, more people sick and more businesses harmed.

The federal government is spending $61 million more for anti-COVID-19 efforts on First Nations in Manitoba, which are seeing sharp increases in cases.

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11:30 a.m.

The British Columbia body that has the power to set and enforce workplace health and safety standards is stepping up COVID-19 inspections in two regions where cases of the virus are spiking.

WorkSafeBC says it will conduct enhanced COVID-19 inspections at workplaces in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions — covering the central and south coasts, Fraser Valley and all of Metro Vancouver.

Priority inspections will happen at workplaces where it is difficult to maintain physical distance, where large numbers of people interact, and where workers share surfaces, tools and equipment.

B.C. recorded five deaths and 998 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, with close to 4,900 active infections.

But of the nearly 19,000 cases in the province since the start of the pandemic, data shows fewer than 10 per cent have been reported outside the Fraser or Vancouver Coastal health regions.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,162 new COVID-19 infections and 38 more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus, nine of which occurred in the past 24 hours.

Health officials said today hospitalizations decreased by six, to 534, but 82 people were in intensive care, a rise of six patients.

The province says 981 more people have recovered from the disease, for a total of 99,721.

Quebec has reported 117,151 COVID-19 cases and 6,493 deaths linked to the virus.

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10:50 a.m.

Ontario is reporting a record high of 1,388 new COVID-19 cases today, and 15 new deaths due to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 520 cases are in Toronto, 395 in Peel Region, and 100 in York Region.

Elliott says there are also 72 new cases in Halton Region and 50 in Niagara Region.

The province says it has conducted 29,125 tests since the last daily report.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2020.

The Canadian Press