The latest news on COVID-19 in Canada

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

6:30 p.m.

British Columbia has reached another unwanted record for positive COVID-19 cases at 589.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has called an last-minute news conference for Saturday, but it’s unclear what measures she’ll announce.

The Fraser Health authority has been the epicentre of the latest outbreak, where 402 cases were reported on Friday.

Two more people have died and there have been outbreaks at six more health-care facilities, putting 31 long-term care and assisted-living facilities and four acute-care facilities under restrictions.

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4 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting two new positive cases of COVID-19.

Chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says the individuals are men — one is in his 20s, the other is in his 50s — who recently travelled outside of the Atlantic region.

One of the men travelled from Montreal to Charlottetown on Air Canada Flight AC8356 on Nov. 1 and passengers are being advised to monitor for symptoms of the virus.

The Island has had a total of 66 positive cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, all of which have been travel-related.

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2:35 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19.

There are now 16 active cases of novel coronavirus in the province.

Health officials say the new cases are in the central health zone, with one a close contact of a case reported Thursday and the other under investigation.

There has been a total of 1,121 positive cases, with 1,040 cases now resolved, and there have been 65 deaths.

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2 p.m.

Manitoba health officials are increasing restrictions in the Southern health region, following a similar move recently in the Winnipeg region. 

Restaurants and bars will have to close except for takeout and delivery, and capacity limits will be reduced for religious services and other gatherings. 

Provincewide, Manitoba is reporting 242 new cases and five additional deaths.

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1:35 p.m.

Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador returning from work at Manitoba Hydro’s Keeyask Generating Station are being asked to self-isolate, following news of an outbreak at the site.

Health officials are asking workers to self-isolate away from family members for a full 14-day period.

They must also call 811 to arrange for a COVID-19 test.

Newfoundland and Labrador has five active cases, with a total of 294 cases confirmed since the onset of the pandemic.

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1:25 p.m.

Nunavut’s chief public health officer has confirmed the territory’s first case of COVID-19.

Michael Patterson says in a news release that the confirmed case is in the Hudson Bay community of Sanikiluaq, where about 850 people live.

Patterson says his department has started contact tracing and a rapid response team has been sent to the community.

To contain a potential spread, he said, all Sanikiluaq residents should remain at home and limit contact with others, including family members not living in the same household.

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12:20 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the strain of surging COVID-19 case numbers should make us think of loved ones and relatives we all must protect.

Trudeau says he’s thinking of his godfather and uncle Tom Walker, who has been in and out of hospital and had to be readmitted last night.

He says “this situation is serious” and now is not the time to let our guard down.

He notes increasing evidence that aerosol spread is a vector of transmission and that winter weather will soon force many Canadians indoors into less well-ventilated areas.

He says we must do everything we can now to reduce outbreaks.

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12:15 p.m.

Public health officials in New Brunswick have reported one new case of COVID-19 today.

The case was found in the Campbellton region in north New Brunswick and the person is currently self-isolating.

The newest case brings the province’s total number of active cases to 24.

The Campbellton region moved back into the yellow stage of recovery today after a downward trend in the number of cases and infection risk, according to public health authorities.

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11:45 a.m.

The federal government is promising another $155 million in aid for high-tech and research-oriented companies that generally don’t qualify for the federal pandemic wage subsidy.

The wage-subsidy program requires companies looking for support to show that their revenues have shrunk in the COVID-19 pandemic, so it leaves out firms that don’t have revenue because they’re still working on bringing products to market.

The new money is being offered through what’s called the Innovation Assistance Program, which was boosted with $250 million in April once the government recognized the gap in the wage-subsidy program.

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11:30 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,133 new cases of COVID-19 today and 25 additional deaths associated with the novel coronavirus.

Provincial health authorities say 539 people are currently in hospital, an increase of one from the previous day, and of those 77 are in intensive care, a decline of five from the previous day.

The Health Department says 28,807 tests were done on Nov. 4, the most recent date for which data is available, the highest number of tests done in a single day in the province in more than a week.

There have now been a total of 112,189 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Quebec and 6,403 deaths associated with the novel coronavirus.

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11 a.m.

The federal Indigenous Services Department says there were 254 new cases of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities in the last week of October.

At last count, there were 542 active cases on First Nations.

The department says the increase is mostly attributable to large gatherings in both public and private places, where participants didn’t wear masks or stay a safe distance apart.

One large group event in Saskatchewan led to 11 separate outbreaks in the province.

The government says it’s working particularly closely with First Nations and the provincial government in Manitoba to try to get outbreaks there under control.

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10:45 a.m.

 Ontario is reporting 1,003 new cases of COVID-19 today, and 14 new deaths due to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 300 cases are in Toronto, 280 in Peel Region and 125 in York Region.

The province says it has conducted 41,268 tests since the last daily report, and has a backlog of 47,074 tests.

In total, 380 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 86 in intensive care.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2020.

The Canadian Press