The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

6:40 p.m.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says some COVID-19 public health measures will be eased on indoor fitness centres, school sports, and restaurants and bars.

The changes are to start Feb. 8.

Kenney says hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have dipped below 600 and, while Albertans need to continue to be cautious, some rules can be relaxed.

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6:15 p.m.

British Columbia provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says all long-term care residents and those who care for them have now been offered a COVID-19 vaccine shot.

Henry says the uptake for those wanting the vaccine was very high, but specific figures would be released later.

On top of the limited supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Henry says next week’s supply of the Moderna vaccine is also being reduced by about 20 per cent due to difficulties at the processing plant.

B.C. reported 514 new cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths for a total of 1,189 fatalities since the pandemic began in the province.

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3:10 p.m.

Quebec is welcoming the new travel restrictions and tougher screening measures announced today by the federal government.

Deputy Premier Genevieve Guilbault says it’s a good first step and is along the lines of what the provincial government had been asking for.

The Legault government had been calling for a ban on non-essential travel and for tougher quarantine measures to protect the province from new COVID variants.

Guilbault says Quebec is ready to help enforce the new measures, adding that police in the province will be able by Sunday to distribute fines to those violating the federal travel order.

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2:50 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 328 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths due to the virus.

There are 218 people are in hospital, including 33 in intensive care.

Earlier today, the government asked the province’s ombudsman to investigate the Extendicare Parkside care home in Regina.

An outbreak at the centre in December led to more than 200 infections of staff and residents, and 38 residents died.

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2:20 p.m.

Ontario will make all international travellers take a COVID-19 test on arrival starting Monday.

A senior government source says the province will move forward with the traveller testing despite a similar federal program announced today that’s set to ramp up in the coming weeks.

The source says Ontario’s chief medical officer will use authority granted to him under public health legislation to impose the mandatory tests.

The testing order will come into effect Monday at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, and will also apply to the province’s land border crossings to the United States.

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1:35 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 16 new cases of COVID-19 and one more COVID-related death.

Health officials say the death involved a person in their 80s in the Edmundston region.

They say the province has 313 active reported cases and that four people are in hospital with the disease, including two in intensive care.

New Brunswick has reported a total of 1,218 cases and 17 deaths linked to the pandemic.

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1:35 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting an additional 152 COVID-19 cases and three deaths. 

Most cases continue to come from the northern health region, which has seen outbreaks in some remote communities.

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12:15 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting one new case of COVID-19 as the number of total active infections across the province dropped to nine.

Health officials say the new case is in the province’s eastern zone and is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada.

Officials say 14,589 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered as of Thursday.

Of those, 2,714 Nova Scotians have received their second dose as required.

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12:10 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador health officials are reporting four new cases of COVID-19 in the province.

One of the cases announced today is connected to a growing cluster of infections whose source is still puzzling contact tracers.

Authorities say there are now five cases in that cluster, and all those involved are self-isolating.

There are now 13 reported active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

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11:45 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will be getting fewer doses than expected from its next shipment of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

He says Canada will receive 180,000 doses next week, which is 78 per cent of what was expected.

He says Canada is still on track to receive two million doses of the Moderna vaccine before the end of March.

The Prime Minister says he also had another call with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who said that Canada will still receive its promised four million doses of the company’s vaccine by the end of March.

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11:30 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s air carriers have agreed to suspend service to the Caribbean and Mexico beginning this Sunday.

The restriction will remain in place till April 30.

Trudeau says this involves flights with Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat.

All international flights will also only be allowed to land at four airports: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.

Passengers entering Canada must undergo a mandatory PCR test for COVID-19 upon arrival at the airport and then self-isolate at an approved hotel – at their own expense – for up to three days as they await their test results.

Anyone with a negative test can then go home and self-isolate, while those who test positive for COVID-19 will need to quarantine at a government facility.

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11 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,295 new COVID-19 cases and 50 more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus, including nine in the previous 24 hours.

Health authorities say hospitalizations dropped by 47, for a total of 1,217, and the number of patients in intensive care also dropped by three, to 209.

Quebec says it administered 3,071 vaccine doses Thursday and says it has used 236,057 of the 238,100 doses it has received.

The province has reported a total of 259,993 infections, 9,717 deaths linked to the virus and 235,516 recoveries from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

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10:30 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 1,837 new cases of COVID-19 today and 58 more deaths related to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says that there are 595 new cases in Toronto, 295 in Peel Region, and 170 in York Region. 

There are 51 confirmed cases of the U.K. variant of the coronavirus in Ontario.

The province is also reporting that 2,900 more cases have been resolved.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2021.

The Canadian Press