The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Tuesday, March 9

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

6:30 p.m.

The number of daily COVID-19 variants of concern has jumped in British Columbia by 182 cases, for a total 576 cases, most of them related to the strain first found in the United Kingdom.

A joint statement from Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says there have been 550 new COVID-19 infections diagnosed and two more deaths.

The statement says it’s been one year since the first person in B.C. died as a result of COVID-19 and there’s now a total of 1,393 fatalities.

More than 343,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province.

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5:45 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 255 new infections of COVID-19 and 28 of them are more contagious variants.

That brings the variant case total in the province to 687.

There have also been six additional deaths due to the virus.

There are 263 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 37 in intensive care.

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3:20 p.m.

Saskatchewan is relaxing some of its COVID-19 restrictions.

The province says that starting today, it’s lifting a ban on household visitors and will allow up to 10 people inside a home at one time.

The Ministry of Health says guests should be from the same two or three households. 

It also says that starting March 19, worship services can have up to 150 people or 30 per cent capacity, whichever is less.

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1:50 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting one new COVID-19 death and 62 additional cases. 

The province says testing has confirmed five more cases involving the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom and eight more cases involving the B.1.351 variant first seen in South Africa.

Health officials say there is no sign of community transmission of the variants.

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12:50 p.m.

Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting another death related to COVID-19 in the province, as well as one new infection.

The death of a resident in their 70s at the Manoir Belle Vue long-term care home in Edmundston brings the number of deaths from COVID-19 in New Brunswick to 29.

The new case involves a person in their 60s in the Bathurst region and is travel-related.

There are 35 active cases in the province, with three people in hospital, including two in intensive care.

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12:45 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador public health officials are reporting one new case of COVID-19.

Authorities say the case involves a male under 20 who is a close contact of a previously identified infection.

There are now 80 active reported COVID-19 cases across the province, down from 203 active infections last Tuesday.

The province is still recovering from an outbreak that swept through the St. John’s metro area last month, and Newfoundland’s eastern region remains in lockdown.

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12:35 p.m.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says as more Canadians get vaccinated, guidelines on whether people need to mask or physically distance will evolve.

American officials are saying this week that in very specific situations, fully vaccinated people can engage with others without wearing masks.

Tam says Canada will look at making adjustments when it is safe to do so, noting that jurisdictions here are only just beginning to ease restrictive measures.

She says Canada still has significant community-level transmission and health officials don’t know how fully variants may take hold.

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12:25 p.m.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says recommendations to space out doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by as much as four months are being driven by real-time science.

Tam is addressing concerns being raised by some in the scientific community that use of the vaccines wasn’t studied that way when they were developed.

They say that carries risks, including that people won’t take the vaccine because they don’t trust it.

Tam says since a first dose of vaccines can provide strong protection and help slow mortality rates it is important to try to get that first shot to as many people as possible.

Tam says supply issues will resolve as more vaccines come online and that interval of four months could be scaled back.

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12:20 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there’s still no firm date for when Johnson & Johnson will send its COVID-19 vaccine to Canada.

Health Canada approved the vaccine for use last week but the company has reported production delays could threaten delivery dates in the European Union.

Trudeau says he is aware of those issues and as soon as Canada’s dates are confirmed, the government will share that information.

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11:55 a.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 today.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Heather Morrison says a travel-related case from last week has been confirmed to involve the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom.

Morrison says officials have identified four cases of the B.1.1.7 mutation on the Island.

There are now 28 active reported cases of COVID-19 in P.E.I.

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11:45 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam are marking Thursday’s one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the spread of the novel coronavirus a pandemic.

Tam says it is time for remembering the lives lost, but it is also clear the work is not done.

She says Canadians must commit to sustaining their efforts until the crisis of COVID-19 is behind us.

Trudeau is calling on all Canadians to use the newly created day of remembrance for those who died during the pandemic to remember and salute all who have sacrificed so much during the last year.

Over 22,000 Canadians have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began and there has been a total of nearly 895,000 cases in Canada.

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11 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 650 new cases of COVID-19 today and 12 more deaths, including four within the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by 14, to 576, and 110 people were in intensive care, a rise of two.

Officials say 16,357 doses of vaccine were administered Monday for a total of 581,028.

Quebec has reported 293,860 COVID-19 infections and 10,493 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The province has 6,765 active reported cases of COVID-19.

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10:40 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 1,185 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and six more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says that 343 of those new cases are in Toronto, 235 are in Peel Region, and 105 are in York Region.

More than 31,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Ontario since Monday’s report.

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10:35 a.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting five new cases of COVID-19 today involving contacts of previously reported infections.

Health officials say three new cases were identified in the health region including Halifax and the other two were reported in the western health region.

Officials are also reporting five new cases of novel coronavirus mutations, three of which involve the variant that first emerged in the United Kingdom and two involving the mutation first detected in South Africa.

They say there is no sign of community spread involving variants in the province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2021.

The Canadian Press