The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada on Tuesday, July 20, 2021

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

7:45 p.m.

Yukon is reporting five new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of active infections to 65.

Acting chief medical health officer Dr. Catherine Elliott says in a statement that two of the new cases are in rural communities while locations for the others are still being identified.

She says the territory has seen 527 cases since March 22, 2020, with 458 of them being since June this year.

There have been a total of six deaths related to COVID-19 with four recorded over the past two months.

—

6:15 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 69 new COVID-19 cases today and two additional deaths.

The province now has 606 active cases.

Ninety-eight of those people are in hospital, with 27 of those patients being treated in intensive care units.

There has been a total of 2,318 deaths in Alberta due to the disease.

—

6 p.m.

British Columbia has reached a new vaccination milestone, with 80 per cent of eligible people aged 12 and over getting their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Just over 54 per cent of people in that group have been fully immunized.

The province is reporting 76 new cases of the virus, and there are 692 active cases, with 12 people in intensive care.

Nearly 147,000 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.

—

5:55 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 22 new cases of COVID-19 today, and no new deaths.

After 42 more people have recovered, the province has 242 active cases.

The province is also reporting 55 people in hospital, including 10 in intensive care.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in the province has dropped to 25, its lowest mark since Oct. 12, 2020.

Provincewide, 74 per cent of those aged 12 and older have now received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Of those 12 and older, 59 per cent are fully vaccinated. 

—

1:55 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 36 new COVID-19 cases. 

The five-day test-positivity rate stands at 3.6 per cent provincially and 3.2 per cent in Winnipeg.

—

12 p.m.

The federal government is seeking to assure Canadians who mixed and matched vaccines that they will not have a problem crossing borders.

Canadian health authorities have allowed mixing and matching but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been reluctant to sanction the practice, saying it should only be done in “exceptional situations.”

The different view raises questions about how easily Canadians who mixed and matched will be able to cross into the United States once it opens its land borders to its northern neighbour.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he believes data sharing and conversations between nations will lead to an “evolution” and “adjustment” of the more conservative approach of some countries.

—

11:50 a.m.

New Brunswick is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say there are seven active cases in the province and no one is hospitalized with the disease.

Officials say about 59.7 per cent of New Brunswickers aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 80.7 per cent have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

—

11:45 a.m.

Health officials say Prince Edward Island is free of COVID-19.

Officials are reporting no active cases on the Island.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Heather Morrison says the last new case of COVID-19 was reported June 30.

She says more than 191,000 applications have been received for a P.E.I. Pass, which allows people travel to the Island, adding that 46 per cent of applications are from Atlantic Canadians.

—

11 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 76 new cases of COVID-19 today and no additional deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

The Health Department says hospitalizations dropped by one, to 77, and 21 people were in intensive care, a drop of two.

Authorities say 82,153 doses of vaccine were administered Monday, and Quebec’s public health institute says 83 per cent of residents over 12 have received at least one dose of vaccine and 56.1 per cent are adequately vaccinated.

The institute says there have been no reported deaths linked to the novel coronavirus in the province since July 15.

—

10 a.m.

The Nunavut government says Iqaluit’s COVID-19 outbreak is officially over after nearly a month with no new cases.

It has been 28 consecutive days without cases, which meets the threshold for the outbreak to be declared over.

Iqaluit’s first case of the pandemic was reported on April 15 and swelled to 253 cases in the northern city of about 8,000 people. 

— 

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

The Canadian Press