The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6:55 p.m.

Alberta’s daily COVID-19 case count has dropped a bit more to 643 and the active case count has also gone down to 9,987.

The Alberta Health Services website shows that 691 people are in hospital with the infection and 115 of those patients are receiving intensive care.

A dozen deaths bring that tally to 1,512.

There has been a total of 119,757 cases in the province since the pandemic began.

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6:30 p.m.

B.C. is reporting 508 new cases of COVID-19, pushing active infections to 4,479.

Nine more people have died due to the illness, bringing the death toll in the province to 1,128.

There have been 110,566 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in B.C., including 2,202 second doses.

The province is reporting new outbreaks at two hospitals — one in Kamloops and the other in New Westminster — as well as at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam.

Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement the risk from the virus in B.C. remains high and B.C. is not at point where public health rules can be lifted.

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2:45 p.m.

Health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are reporting one new case of COVID-19.

Authorities say the case involves a man between 20 and 39 years old and his infection is related to international travel.

There are seven active reported cases in the province and one person is in hospital due to the virus.

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2:35 p.m.

Health officials in Saskatchewan are announcing 312 new cases of COVID-19.

Eight more residents have also died.

The Ministry of Health says 177 people are in hospital, with 30 people in intensive care.

More than 31,000 vaccine shots have also been given in the province.

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2:15 p.m.

The New Brunswick government has announced that it will impose a full lockdown in the province’s Edmundston region, effective midnight Saturday.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says the number of active cases in the area of northwestern New Brunswick has grown to 129 today from just seven two weeks ago.

Health officials are reporting 30 new cases across the province today — 19 of which are in the Edmundston area — bringing the total of active cases to 331, with five people in hospital and three in intensive care.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard says that under the lockdown, the first in the province since last spring, schools will shift to remote learning and only essential businesses will be allowed to remain open.

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2 p.m.

B.C. Premier John Horgan says the federal government shouldn’t be blamed for shortages of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Horgan says the delays are due to issues in Europe and blaming the federal government will not speed up the process of acquiring vaccines.

Pfizer announced a delay in vaccine productions last week, due to production issues at a plant in Belgium.

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1:40 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today, while health officials say the results of two tests conducted in December confirm two variant cases of the novel coronavirus.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang says one of the cases was confirmed to be the U.K. variant while the other was confirmed as the South African variant.

Strang says both cases were related to international travel and there is no evidence of community spread from either case.

The province currently has 22 active cases of novel coronavirus.

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1:40 p.m.

B.C. has rolled out its timeline for residents to receive vaccinations over the coming months, with an aim of immunizing roughly 4.3 million people by the end of September.

B.C.’s oldest residents will be able to pre-register to receive a vaccine starting in March after the most vulnerable groups have been immunized. 

Those aged 75 to 79 will be able to start being vaccinated in April, and the process will continue backwards in five-year increments.

The province says it will use everything from stadiums and convention halls to mobile clinics in transit buses to vaccinate communities across B.C.

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1:35 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 171 additional COVID-19 cases and two deaths. 

The province’s north continues to see higher numbers per capita than other regions. 

The Manitoba government announced this week it is easing some restrictions on store openings and social gatherings as of Saturday in all areas except the north.

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1:10 p.m.

Manitoba has stopped booking appointments for people getting the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at its two supersites in Brandon and Winnipeg.

The provincial government says it has been told by Ottawa of another reduction in supplies of the vaccine. 

It says that during the week of Feb. 1, Manitoba will receive 2,340 doses instead of the 5,850 doses originally planned.

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12:55 p.m.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says there have been 90 reports of adverse events for a patient in Canada who received one of the COVID-19 vaccines.

She said those include all health problems after the vaccine was given and may not all be related to the vaccine. 

Twenty-seven of those events, or one in 22,000 doses injected, were serious, including allergic reactions.

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12:50 p.m.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says there have now been 31 cases of the COVID-19 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, and three of the one first found in South Africa. 

Tam says the fact that the variants are now circling in the community without a known connection to travel is concerning.

The news comes just after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there is some evidence that the U.K. variant may be more deadly than the original virus.

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11:53 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government is considering mandatory quarantine in hotels for travellers returning to Canada from abroad.

He says it’s not the time to travel. 

Trudeau says the government is considering a number of options that will make it harder for people to return to Canada, as new variants of COVID-19 are circling.

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11:40 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is sending two federal mobile health units to the Greater Toronto Area.

COVID-19 is putting incredible strain on local hospitals in the region. 

The units will bring an additional 200 hospital beds to help free up space for people who need intensive care. 

The units will include vital medical equipment and supplies.

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11:35 a.m. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the CEO of Pfizer has promised “hundreds of thousands” of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine will be shipped to Canada in mid-February and in the following weeks. 

Trudeau reiterated that Pfizer will ensure Canada gets its four million promised doses by the end of March.

Trudeau says the next few weeks will be “challenging” on the vaccine delivery front as Pfizer upgrades its plants and slows deliveries to Canada and other countries.

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11:27 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,631 new COVID-19 cases and 88 deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including 18 in the past 24 hours.

Health officials said today hospitalizations decreased to 1,426 and 212 people were in intensive care.

The province says 2,040 more people have recovered from COVID-19, for a total of 223,367.

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10:40 a.m.

There are 2,662 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario and 87 more deaths related to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 779 new cases in Toronto, 542 in Peel Region and 228 in York Region.

Ontario says more than 11,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since the province’s last report.

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9:42 a.m.

Nunavut is reporting one new COVID-19 case in Arviat, the community of about 2,800 that saw the territory’s largest outbreak with 222 cases.

It’s the first new case of COVID-19 in the territory since Dec. 28.

The territory’s chief public health officer says the positive result was found in follow-up testing after the outbreak.

Dr. Michael Patterson says there is no evidence of community transmission at this time.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan 21, 2021.

The Canadian Press