The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6:15 p.m.

British Columbia recorded 974 new COVID-19 cases over the long weekend amid a decline in virus-related hospitalizations

The province also reported 12 new deaths linked to COVID-19.

Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say they’re asking residents to continue to follow COVID-19 health restrictions until Tuesday, when the province is due to unveil its restart plan.

More than 2.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C. so far.

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6:10 p.m.

Active COVID-19 cases are falling in Alberta, but the province is reporting seven new deaths linked to the virus.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says in a series of tweets that there are currently 13,608 active cases.

That’s down from seven days ago, when the total number of active infections was 21,288.

Hinshaw says there are 569 people with COVID-19 in Alberta hospitals, including 169 in intensive care.

She says there have been 452 new cases in the past 24 hours.

They were identified from 5,085 tests, for a test-positivity rate of 8.8 per cent.

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4:10 p.m.

Saskatchewan says it reached the Step 2 threshold on the province’s Re-Opening Roadmap today, with over 70 per cent of residents age 30 and older having received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The province’s daily pandemic update says that means Step 2’s relaxation of restrictions will begin June 20.

That means easing capacity thresholds on retail, personal care services, restaurants and bars, although they must still maintain physical distancing among occupants or have barriers in place.

Step 2 rules also raise caps on private indoor gatherings to 15, while capacity limits jump to 150 for both public indoor gatherings and all outdoor assemblies, whether public or private. 

Premier Scott Moe says in the update that once 70 per cent of the entire adult population is vaccinated, Saskatchewan can move to Step Three and remove almost all of the remaining public health orders.

Today’s pandemic update notes there are 103 new cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan and no new virus-related deaths.

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2:40 p.m.

Manitoba’s online pandemic dashboard shows 353 new COVID-19 cases and four additional deaths.

The province isn’t sending its usual daily pandemic update today due to the Victoria Day holiday, but has updated some of its COVID-19 data on its website.

There are 74 people in Manitoba intensive care units who have COVID-19.

The province’s test positivity rate is 14.3 per cent.

The number of active COVID-19 cases dropped slightly on Monday, falling by 11 to 5,061.

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2:15 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 49 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the province’s active infection count to 894.

The province says 72 patients are currently in hospital due to the disease, including 19 in intensive care.

Officials say the median age for hospitalized patients in the third wave is 53 for non-ICU patients and 58 for those in intensive care.

Chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang says though the case count is lower today, testing numbers are also down and residents are encouraged to go out to testing facilities across the province.

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2 p.m.

Public Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting 15 new COVID-19 cases in the province today.

They say 11 of the new infections are in the Fredericton region, while the remaining four were identified in the Moncton area.

Officials are also announcing a case of the disease at Connaught Street School in Fredericton, and Public Health has directed students, staff and their families to self-isolate and get tested.

The province’s active case count now stands at 134 infections, with seven patients in hospital.

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11:10 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 433 new cases of COVID-19 today as well as 11 additional deaths due to the pandemic.

Hospitalizations rose by three to 424, while the number of people in intensive care declined by one to 102.

The province gave its smallest number of vaccines in at least a week on Sunday, with 66,592.

The province has vaccinated 55.2 per cent of the population with at least one dose.

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9:15 a.m.

Officials in Newfoundland and Labrador have extended restrictions across a northeastern swath of the province to curb a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases in the area.

Chief medical officer Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says effective immediately, communities along the Trans-Canada Highway from Gambo to Badger in Newfoundland, as well as communities along some other nearby provincial highways, will be under Alert Level 4.

That’s the second-highest level under the provincial pandemic response framework.

The move comes after officials placed the area of Lewisporte to Summerford under the same alert level on Friday.

Fitzgerald says 32 cases are now associated with the cluster in the area.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2021.

The Canadian Press