The latest news on COVID 19 developments in Canada on Dec. 30

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

6:25 p.m.

British Columbia’s top doctor has issued an order for all premises to stop selling alcohol at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in an effort to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says her order is aimed at decreasing the late-night consumption of alcohol leading to a greater risk of spreading the virus.

She says it is based on past experience at gatherings during long weekends.

She says 485 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in B.C and 11 more people have died, for a total of 893 deaths.

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5:55 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 1,287 new cases of COVID-19, surpassing more than 100,000 total infections.

The province also says 18 more people have died from the virus.

There are 921 people in hospital, and 152 of those are in intensive care.

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5:45 p.m.

Alberta says it has administered its first Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

The shot was given to a long-term care resident earlier today in Medicine Hat.

The government said Tuesday that 16,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine had arrived in the province.

The doses have been delivered to supportive living facilities throughout Alberta.

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5:20 p.m.

Saskatchewan says it has received the first shipment of Moderna’s vaccine.

Health Minister Paul Merriman says it will be sent to northern Saskatchewan to start inoculating long-term care residents, staff and other frontline workers.

He says nearly 3,000 health-care workers in Saskatoon and Regina have already been given their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Merriman says the province wants further clarification from Ottawa about when more vaccine shipments will be arriving to help administer its delivery program.

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5:10 p.m.

The Northwest Territories will release its COVID-19 vaccination plan next week.

The territory received 7,200 initial doses of the Moderna vaccine on Monday.

Chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola says priority groups will start getting vaccinated on Jan. 11 or earlier.

Kandola says elders, people with chronic illness, front line workers and remote Indigenous populations will receive the vaccine first.

So far, 18 logistics staff and 43 nurses in NWT have been deployed to help administer the vaccine.

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3:30 p.m.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he found out his finance minister was travelling abroad roughly two week ago, and should have pushed then for his immediate return.

Ford says Rod Phillips “never told anyone” he was going to St. Barts on Dec. 13, but the premier learned of the trip shortly after it began.

Ford said he will have a serious conversation with Phillips on Thursday upon the minister’s return.

The premier’s comments come as Opposition legislators are calling for Phillips to be removed from cabinet over his international vacation.

They say the minister contravened the government’s own health guidelines by travelling abroad, and it’s not believable he would do so without telling the premier.

Phillips said in a statement Tuesday that he left on a trip to St. Barts after the end of the legislative session.

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2:55 p.m.

Saskatchewan says there are 147 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Health officials also report three more people have died, one of whom was in their 30s.

The other two were 60 and older.

There are 151 people in hospital and 32 receiving intensive care from the virus.

The Ministry of Health says more than 2,900 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been given to health-care workers in Regina and Saskatoon.

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2:15 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 and now has 25 active cases.

All of the cases are in the Halifax area and are close contacts of previously reported cases.

Health officials say two of the cases are based at two schools in Dartmouth — Prince Andrew High School and Eric Graves Memorial Junior High School.

The schools are currently closed for the holiday break and will be cleaned again before staff return on Monday.

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1:40 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 130 new COVID-19 infections.

The province also says two more people have died from the virus.

There are 337 people in hospital, and 36 of them are in intensive care.

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12:55 p.m.

Nunavut’s first doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in the territory today.

A total of 6,000 doses arrived today, with 3,000 landing in Iqaluit and 3,000 in Rankin Inlet.

Premier Joe Savikataaq said front-line workers and elders will receive the vaccine first.

Savikataaq said as the territory receives more shipments of the vaccine, it will be rolled out to adults in all 25 communities.

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12:45 p.m.

The federal government says it plans to require travellers to test negative for COVID-19 before landing in Canada.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says cabinet ministers decided this morning to quickly enact the new requirements.

All passengers on flights entering Canada will require a negative PCR test three days before their arrival.

LeBlanc didn’t say when the requirements will be in place.

The announcement comes in the wake of criticisms that federal travel restrictions and quarantine rules have been too lax.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting a record 2,511 new cases of COVID-19 and 41 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Health authorities said today that hospitalizations rose by 80 compared with the prior day, to 1,211.

Of those patients, 152 people are in intensive care, a rise of four.

Another 2,739 vaccine doses were administered Tuesday, for a total of 25,315.

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11:10 a.m.

Public Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

The case is an individual in their 30s in the Fredericton region.

The individual is self-isolating and the case is under investigation.

There are now 27 active cases in the province and two patients are hospitalized with one of them in intensive care.

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11:10 a.m.

Nunavut is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 today.

There are three active cases in the territory, one in Arviat and two in Whale Cove.

The territory expects to get an initial shipment of 6,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

The territory has not yet released its vaccine distribution plan.

To date, 262 Nunavut residents have recovered from COVID-19.

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11 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 2,923 new cases of COVID-19 today, the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.

The province also logged 19 new deaths related to the novel coronavirus since the last report.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 998 of the new cases reported today are in Toronto, 441 in Peel Region, 408 in York Region, 158 in Durham and 144 in Windsor-Essex County.

Meanwhile, some 50,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Ontario today.

Retired Gen. Rick Hillier, who is leading the province’s COVID-19 vaccination program, says the drug will be distributed to long-term care and retirement homes.

He says immunizations are slated to start there within days of the delivery.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2020.

The Canadian Press