The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

7:30 p.m.

B.C.’s Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says he is giving police and other provincial enforcement officers the ability to issue violation tickets to party buses and limousines in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health regions.

The order comes as COVID-19 infections continue to soar with 130 cases recorded in the Vancouver Coastal region and 424 in the Fraser health region. 

There were 617 new infections provincewide.

The province’s health officials are asking people who would normally be gathering to celebrate the South Asian holiday of Diwali this weekend to stay home and connect virtually with family members and friends.

Officials reported two new COVID-19-related deaths, bringing the province’s death toll to 290 over the course of the pandemic.

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3:15 p.m.

The Manitoba government is hiring a former health official from British Columbia to review a care home in Winnipeg that has seen a major COVID-19 outbreak. 

Dr. Lynn Stevenson, a former associate deputy minister of health in B.C., will look at what led to an emergency at Maples Long Term Care Home last week. 

Paramedics were called when many residents were deteriorating rapidly.  

Two died before paramedics arrived, three were transported to hospital and others were treated on site for hours.

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2:15 p.m. 

New Brunswick is reporting two new cases of COVID, bringing the province’s total to 20.

The cases include one person in their 20s in the Moncton area and one person under 20 in the Saint John area.

Both cases are under investigation and the individuals are self isolating.

There are 20 active cases in New Brunswick.

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1:35 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting 437 new COVID-19 cases and five additional deaths today. 

New restrictions were imposed across the province yesterday that require many non-essential businesses to close. 

The province’s chief public health officer is advising people to stay home as much as possible and to not socialize with people from outside their household

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12:48 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador has one new case of COVID-19, with a total of six active cases in the province.

The one new confirmed case is a man in his 20s and is travel-related.

The Newfoundland and Labrador resident returned to the central region of the province from Ontario.

Contact tracing by public health officials is underway, and anyone considered a close contact has been advised to quarantine.

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12:40 p.m.

The government of Saskatchewan is expanding its mandatory mask rule and putting a curfew on alcohol sales for 28 days in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health says starting Monday, masks must be worn in all indoor public spaces in communities where 5,000 or more people live.

Masks are currently mandatory in indoor public spaces in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

Also starting Monday, restaurants and bars will have to stop selling alcohol at 10 p.m.

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12:20 p.m.

Health officials say they have found issues with protective equipment, staffing and the tracking of resident feeding at a personal care home in Winnipeg that called in paramedics last weekend.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says their ongoing review of the Maples Personal Care Home has found breaches of rules related to personal protective equipment. 

The authority also says the home did not properly maintain documentation about the feeding and hydration of residents.

At least 106 residents at Maples, owned by Revera, have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 22 have died.

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12:09 p.m.

Canada’s chief public health officer says the country is projected to hit 10,000 new COVID-19 cases a day by early next month if the spread of virus continues at its current pace.

Dr. Theresa Tam says there are 45,000 active cases across the country.

Tam says public health labs tested an average of close to 55,000 people daily over the past week and six per cent test positive.

She says the number of severe cases continues to rise, with an average daily increase of 1,400 hospitalizations, including 280 in critical care, over the past seven days.

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11:55 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s told premiers that while his government will always be there to help, federal resources are not “infinite.”

Trudeau says he’s heard from premiers about the challenges they’re facing, but he says making tough choices now will reduce the chance of facing “impossible decisions” later.

He says his government is committed to collaborating on the distribution of a potential vaccine, though the fight against COVID-19 is far from over.

Trudeau says Canada reached a new daily high of 5,000 new COVID-19 cases yesterday.

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11:23 a.m.

Health officials in Nova Scotia have identified two new cases of COVID-19.

That brings the province’s total number of active cases to 19.

One of the new cases is in the province’s northern zone and is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada.

The other case is in the central zone and is under investigation, though officials say it is not linked to a recent cluster of cases reported in the west end of Halifax.

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11:15 a.m.

The Canadian Medical Association is sounding the alarm about an impending “crisis” as the rising tide of COVID-19 cases pushes parts of the health-care system to near or full capacity.

The association says medical workers are getting “the short end of the stick” in the face of insufficient measures to slow the spread of the virus.

The doctors’ group says the health of Canadians must take precedence over economic concerns.

The association called on political leaders to implement “difficult but necessary” measures that public health officials have recommended

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11:13 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,301 new cases of COVID-19 and 30 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, nine of which occurred in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say the number of hospitalizations remains stable today at 583 with 85 people in intensive care, a drop of one.

Quebec has reported a total of 121,195 infections and 6,586 deaths linked to the virus.

Authorities say one death previously attributed to COVID-19 has been determined to be unrelated.

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10:45 a.m.

There are 1,396 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, with 17 deaths related to the virus.

Today’s new case total is a decrease from Thursday’s record daily high of 1,575.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 440 new cases in Toronto, 440 in Peel and 155 in York Region.

Toronto is set to move to Ontario’s red zone of tiered restrictions tomorrow while imposing its own measures that will extend some restrictions that are already in place.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2020. 

The Canadian Press