The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6:30 p.m. 

B.C. is reporting 500 new cases of COVID-19 today, for a total of 62,412, as the provincial health officer says the case count is trending in the “right” direction.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says keeping the number of COVID-19 cases down will lead to an easing of safety restrictions.

The province is also reporting 14 COVID-19-related deaths, bringing B.C.’s death toll to 1,104.

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5:30 p.m.

Alberta’s chief medical health officer says the stricter COVID-19 restrictions Albertans have been living under since the end of November appear to be working.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says she is encouraged by a positivity rate of 4.5 per cent in the last 24 hours, down from a high of more than 11 per cent at the start of December.

Alberta is reporting 669 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 deaths.

Hinshaw says there are 744 people in hospital and 124 in intensive care.

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4:55 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 234 new COVID-19 cases today and four more deaths for a total of 229.

The deaths all involved people 60 or older.

Some 3,702 cases are considered active. 

The number of hospitalizations is not available today.

The province says 2,658 doses of vaccine were administered on Tuesday for a total of 24,575 inoculations.

Pfizer-BioNTech has announced that Canada will receive zero doses next week, but Saskatchewan health officials say the shipment received this week will permit for limited vaccinations to continue.

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4 p.m.

A case of COVID-19 on a flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit today has turned out to be a false positive.

Nunavut’s chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says the passenger was retested twice and both results came back negative.

All passengers have been cleared.

There are no active cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut and 265 people have recovered.

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3 p.m.

The federal government is extending current restrictions on non-U.S. international travel into Canada until at least Feb. 21.

In a tweet, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the government will not hesitate to take the strong action needed to keep Canadians safe from COVID-19 while maintaining essential trade with international partners.

Air travellers five years or older are required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test result to their airline before boarding international flights bound for Canada.

Everyone entering Canada must follow mandatory isolation or quarantine requirements.

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1:50 p.m.

Public health officials in New Brunswick are reporting 21 new cases of COVID-19 today.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says there are currently 317 active COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick, with two people in hospital and one in intensive care.

Following a recent confirmed case of COVID-19, public health officials have declared an outbreak at Manoir Belle Vue, a special care home in Edmundston.

There have been 1,025 confirmed positive cases in the province since the start of the pandemic.

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1:45 p.m.

Manitoba health officials say no vaccine appointments are being cancelled, but the delays in supplies from Pfizer mean the province will receive 50 per cent fewer doses than expected over the next four weeks. 

As a result, the aim of doing 2,500 doses per day across the province in February is being reduced to 1,496 per day.

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1:40 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 153 additional COVID-19 cases and six deaths. 

Daily numbers have been dropping in most areas except the north.

The province is considering easing some restrictions on store openings and public gatherings in southern and central regions by the end of the week.

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1:10 p.m.

Indigenous Services Canada says COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in nine long-term care facilities in First Nations communities in Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

In a news release, the department says there have been 89 COVID-19 cases, including 15 deaths, in long-term care homes in Indigenous communities on-reserve.

The number of COVID-19 active cases in First Nations communities reached a new all-time high this week with 5,571 reported cases as of Tuesday.

The department says COVID-19 vaccine rollout has already started in 169 Indigenous communities in all provinces and territories except Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

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1 p.m.

A COVID-19 advisory group is recommending that Ontario improve working conditions in long-term care homes to protect residents from the virus.

In a new report, the group says infections and deaths among long-term care residents are speeding up, mirroring the spread in the community at large.

The report says there’s a strong association between community spread and long-term care outbreaks, suggesting staff are bringing the virus into the facilities before showing symptoms.

It says improving working conditions by making temporary measures such as pay raises and training programs permanent would help retain staff and prevent the virus from entering the homes.

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1 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 and now has 23 active cases.

Health officials say one case is in the northern zone and is a close contact of a previously reported case, while another is in the Halifax area and is related to travel outside Atlantic Canada.

The remaining case is under investigation in the eastern zone and involves a worker on a Marine Atlantic ferry which runs between Cape Breton and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Officials say that as of Tuesday, 9,175 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and of those, 2,507 Nova Scotians have received their second dose.

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1 p.m.

A passenger on an inbound flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit has tested positive for COVID-19.

Nunavut chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says the person was tested on Jan. 18 and results came back today after the flight had already departed.

A second COVID test has been issued to rule out a false positive and all passengers on the flight must stay at the Iqaluit airport until the results come back.

Patterson says the person is now in isolation at Iqaluit’s Qikiqtani General Hospital and is asymptomatic.

The individual was in Ottawa for medical travel.

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11:12 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,502 new cases of COVID-19 and 66 more deaths linked to the virus, including 10 that happened over the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations related to the illness dropped to 1,467 and 216 patients were in intensive care.

Quebec has reported fewer than 2,000 daily infections for the past four days.

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10:35 a.m.

Ontario says there are 2,655 new cases of COVID-19 in the province today and 89 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 925 of the new cases are in Toronto, 473 are in Peel Region and 226 are in York Region.

Nearly 14,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Ontario’s last daily update.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said there have been nine deaths from COVID-19 in long-term care facilities located on-reserve.