The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6:45 p.m.

Canada’s national COVID-19 case count has surpassed 700,000.

Seven provinces recorded more than 6,400 new infections today, pushing the country’s tally above 702,000 since the onset of the global pandemic.

It took less than two weeks for Canada to add 100,000 cases to the overall count, a timeframe that took months during the pandemic’s first wave.

Canada reached the 600,000-case threshold on Jan. 3.

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6:25 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 717 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional virus-related deaths today.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw tweeted that 765 people are in hospital with COVID-19, 122 of whom are in intensive care.

Hinshaw says the provincial test positivity rate is 5.6 per cent.

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5 p.m.

Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand is urging drugmaker Pfizer-BioNTech to get COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to Canada back on track.

She says in a series of tweets that she understands Canadians’ concerns about the company’s decision to delay international deliveries.

She says she’s been in touch with Pfizer-BioNTech, and that they’ve told her they’re trying to get things back on schedule.

Anand notes that the government does not expect vaccine distribution to be affected in the coming week.

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2:10 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 27 new cases of COVID-19 today and now has 267 active cases.

Public health says there are seven new cases in both the Moncton and Edmundston regions, four in both the Saint John and Fredericton areas, three in the Campbellton region and two in the Bathurst area.

All of the patients are self-isolating and the origin of their infections are under investigation, while there are three patients currently in hospital.

New Brunswick has had a total of 911 confirmed cases with 631 recoveries and 12 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

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1:45 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting two new COVID-19 deaths.

They were included in today’s provincial pandemic update, which says there were 180 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba as of this morning.

The update says Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rate is 10.2 per cent, although Winnipeg’s is lower at seven per cent.

The total number of people who have died in Manitoba from COVID-19 is 761.

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11:30 a.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today, including two cases involving university students.

Health officials say the one case in the eastern zone is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada — a student at Cape Breton University in Sydney who lives off campus and is self-isolating.

The three other cases are in the Halifax area, with one a contact of a previously reported case and the other two related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada, including a student at Dalhousie University who lives off campus.

The province now has 30 active cases of the virus, with no one currently in hospital.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 2,225 new COVID-19 cases and 67 further deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

The number of hospitalizations dropped for a second day, this time by 22 for a total of 1,474 patients, and four fewer patients in intensive care for a total of 227.

The province added 2,430 more recoveries, for a total of 210,364.

The province has now reported 240,970 confirmed infections and 9,005 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

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10:45 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 3,056 new cases of COVID-19 today along with 51 new deaths related to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliot says 903 of the latest diagnoses are in Toronto, with 639 in neighbouring Peel region and 283 in York Region.

The province says 1,632 COVID-19 patients are currently in hospital, with 397 in intensive care.

Elliott says the province had administered 189,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of 8 p.m. on Friday.

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10:30 a.m.

Ontario says a shipping delay from Pfizer BioNTech means residents who receive an initial dose of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine will have to wait longer than expected to receive their second one.

The government says long-term care residents and staff who have been inoculated already will wait up to an extra week before a second dose is administered.

Anyone else receiving the Pfizer vaccine were initially supposed to get a econd dose after 21 days, but will now see that timetable extended to a maximum of 42 days.

The government says it’s on track to ensure all long-term care residents, essential caregivers and staff, the first priority group for the vaccine, receive their first dose by mid-February.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2021.

The Canadian Press