The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Tuesday, June 22, 2021

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

8 p.m.

Yukon is recording eight new COVID-19 cases.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Brendan Hanley says in a news release there are now 92 active cases in the territory and recoveries are expected.

Since June 4, screening results show all cases are positive for the Gamma variant first identified in Brazil.

Hanley says COVID-19 is primarily affecting unvaccinated people.

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6:10 p.m.

B.C. health officials say more than one million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says she’s confident both mRNA vaccines are safe to use.

She says B.C. currently has more supply of the Moderna vaccine.

It comes as B.C. recorded 56 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths.

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5:45 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 57 new cases of COVID-19 and one more death.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says 38 of the new cases involve the more contagious variants of concern.

She says the positivity rate is at 1.4 per cent.

There are 1,773 active cases, which is the lowest number since the beginning of October.

Hinshaw says 200 people are in hospital, with 54 of those patients in intensive care.

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3:45 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 36 new cases of COVID-19 today, and no new deaths.

Eighty-seven more people have recovered, leaving the province with 639 active cases.

The province is also reporting 79 people in hospital, including 12 in intensive care.

The province has now administered more than one million total doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

For the third day in a row, Saskatchewan is reporting that 69 per cent of those aged 12 and older have had their first COVID-19 vaccine.

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3:40 p.m.

The Manitoba government is expanding a program to help businesses affected by public health restrictions put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.  

Finance Minister Scott Fielding says the Manitoba Bridge Grant Program will provide an estimated $5 million more to businesses in the province. 

It will be expanded to seasonal businesses and others that weren’t able to apply when it was initially implemented last year.

The program makes up to $5,000 available for eligible small and medium-sized businesses, not-for-profits and charities. 

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1:35 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 69 new infections of COVID-19 and four more deaths. 

One of those who died was a man in his 20s linked to the Alpha variant of concern. 

New case numbers have been steadily dropping in recent days after a delayed third wave put significant pressure on the health-care system and prompted strict public health orders last month. 

There are still 224 Manitobans hospitalized with COVID-19, including 14 who are in intensive care units in other provinces.

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1:25 p.m.

Nova Scotia is opening its provincial boundaries on Wednesday to travellers from the Atlantic provinces, but with modified rules for those coming from New Brunswick.

The province says New Brunswick travellers can enter for any reason but will have isolation requirements based on their vaccination status and testing.

The move comes after New Brunswick was the first province in the region to reopen its borders to Canadian travellers last week.

New Brunswick travellers who have had two doses of vaccine at least 14 days before their arrival in Nova Scotia will have to self-isolate until they receive a negative test.

Those with one dose will have to isolate for at least seven days and will need two negative test results before being released from quarantine, while travellers without a vaccination will have to self-isolate for 14 days and will need to be tested at the beginning and end of their quarantine period.

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1 p.m.

Quebec will be moving all regions into the green, least-restrictive pandemic-alert level on Monday, including Montreal and Quebec City.

Under green-zone rules, health orders are relaxed considerably, notably for indoor and outdoor gatherings, both in private homes and in restaurants and bars.

Quebec has now partially vaccinated about 80.4 per cent of its population, and 20 per cent of residents are considered fully vaccinated.

But Premier François Legault says regions like Montreal and Laval remain below the provincial average for vaccinations and authorities want to see inoculation numbers increase for people in the 18-to-39 age range.

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12:45 p.m.

More than 31,000 New Brunswickers registered for appointments Monday for a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine — a new single-day record in the province.

New Brunswickers can book a second-dose vaccine appointment if at least 28 days have passed since their first dose.

Health officials are reporting one new travel-related case of COVID-19 today, involving a person in their 20s in the Saint John region.

There are now 49 active reported cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick and five patients in hospital with the disease, including two in intensive care.

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12:40 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the new case involves a woman in her 60s in the western health region who is a contact of a previously reported infection.

The province has 13 active reported cases of COVID-19.

There are no COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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12:35 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting two new COVID-19-related deaths today and two new cases of the virus.

Health officials say the deaths include a man in his 60s in the Halifax area and a man in his 50s in the province’s western health zone.

The two new cases include one in the Halifax area who is a close contact of a previously reported case and one in the western zone related to travel.

Nova Scotia has 74 active cases of novel coronavirus with two people in hospital as a result of the virus.

As of Monday, 790,514 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with 96,781 people having received their second dose.

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11:15 a.m.

Construction is complete on a new vaccine-manufacturing plant in Montreal that will be able to produce about 24 million doses a year.

Federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne made the announcement today regarding the Biologics Manufacturing Centre, which is located on the National Research Council of Canada’s Royalmount site.

The National Research Council of Canada says it is working with Novavax Inc. to produce a COVID-19 vaccine at the facility.

The site is not yet fully licensed and operational, and equipment at the new factory is still being installed.

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11 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 84 new COVID-19 cases today and four more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, one of which occurred in the previous 24 hours.

Health authorities say hospitalizations dropped by seven, to 161, and 40 patients were in intensive care, a rise of one.

The province’s public health institute says 80 per cent of Quebecers 12 and up have received at least one dose of vaccine and 20 per cent of them are considered fully vaccinated.

Premier François Legault, Health Minister Christian Dubé and Dr. Horacio Arruda, the province’s public health director, will hold a COVID-19 briefing this afternoon.

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10:30 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 296 new COVID-19 cases and 60 deaths today, but the province says the numbers include older infections and deaths that are just now being counted.

The province says 54 of the deaths reported today are from previous months but are now being recorded after a data review.

It also says approximately 80 cases reported today are from last year, following a data review by Toronto Public Health.

Ontario has been updating its case management system for much of 2021, leading to data cleanup adjustments.

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10:25 a.m.

Nunavut is announcing eight recoveries of COVID-19 today, bringing the territory’s active case count to zero.

All eight recoveries are in Iqaluit, where an outbreak has been ongoing since mid-April.

There have been 262 cases in Iqaluit since April 14.

Iqaluit’s COVID-19 outbreak will be declared over if there are no cases over the next 28 days.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2021.

The Canadian Press