The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

3:15 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting three additional deaths among people who tested positive for COVID-19 and 193 new cases.

The province says in its daily pandemic update that the seven-day average of new daily infections has dropped to 150, which it says works out to 12.2 cases per 100,000 people.

It says that’s Saskatchewan’s lowest seven-day average in three months.

Today’s update says 1,602 cases are considered active in the province, while 171 COVID-19 patients are currently in hospital.

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2:50 p.m.

The Nunavut government says there are six new COVID-19 cases in Arviat, the community with the territory’s only active infections.

Arviat, which has a population of about 2,800 residents, has had 294 cases but 263 have recovered.

That leaves 30 cases that remain active as of today.

Nunavut has had 338 COVID-19 cases and one related death since the pandemic began.

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2:30 p.m.

Public health officials in Quebec City say they have closed an elementary school after discovering a suspected case of a COVID-19 variant.

Regional Public Health Director Dr. Andre Dontigny says the school will remain closed until public health authorities have a better idea of the situation. 

All staff and students have been asked to get tested for COVID-19 over the weekend.

Dontigny says public health has taken more aggressive measures over fears that the case is linked to a more transmissible variant of the novel coronavirus.

Authorities say there are no confirmed cases of variants in the Quebec City area. 

There have been 22 confirmed cases of variants of concern in the province and an additional 286 cases are under investigation.

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2:15 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting three new deaths linked to COVID-19 today and 95 new cases of the virus.

Two of the deaths are associated with an outbreak at Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks Hospital, while the third is connected to an outbreak at Actionmarguerite St. Boniface, a care facility elsewhere in the city.

The province says in its daily pandemic update that Manitoba’s five-day test positivity rate is 5.3 per cent, and that the rate is four per cent in Winnipeg.

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1:45 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 and now has 18 active cases.

Three of the new infections are in the Halifax area with one a close contact of a previously reported case, one under investigation and one case related to travel outside Atlantic Canada.

The remaining case is in the western zone and is also related to travel outside the region.

Health officials say one person is currently in hospital and is in intensive care.

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1:20 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting 38 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today.

All are in the eastern health region, which includes St. John’s.

Health officials are also reporting three presumptive positive cases in the eastern region, which still need to be confirmed.

The province currently has 434 active cases of the novel coronavirus.

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12:10 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say all three are in the Edmundston region in the province’s northwest.

They involve a person under 19, a person in their 80s and an individual in their 90s.

The province currently has 87 active cases, with three patients hospitalized and one of those patients in intensive care

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 769 new cases of COVID-19 today and 14 additional deaths linked to the disease, including four within the past 24 hours. 

The Health Department says the number of hospitalizations declined by 23 to 700. 

It says 120 people are in intensive care, a decline of seven.

Health authorities say 15,386 doses of vaccine were administered on Friday for a total of 329,324.

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10:45 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 1,228 new cases of COVID-19 today along with 28 new virus-related deaths. 

The new case count represents a slight increase over the 1,150  new infections reported on Friday. 

Health Minister Christine Elliott says Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region continue to report the highest daily case counts, logging 331 and 228 respectively over the past 24 hours. 

York Region, which is set to return to the province’s colour-coded pandemic response framework at the red level on Monday, is reporting 132 new cases today. 

Toronto, Peel and the North Bay Parry Sound health unit are all set to remain under a stay-at-home order for the next two weeks.    

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

The Canadian Press