The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

5:45 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 1,646 new cases of COVID-19.

The province says 1,020 cases of variants have also been detected in the last 24 hours.

Five additional deaths linked to the virus were reported.

There are currently 416 people in hospital because of COVID-19, and 86 are in intensive care.

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5:30 p.m.

British Columbia is reporting another new record for hospitalizations due to COVID-19 at 409, while the number of people in intensive care reached a new peak at 125.

The province is reporting 1,205 new infections, pushing active cases over 10,000.

Three more people have died for a total of 1,524 deaths linked to COVID-19 in B.C.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says 55 to 60 per cent of new daily cases involve variants of concern, the vast majority of which are those first identified in Brazil and the United Kingdom.

Henry says there has been a “slight blunting” in the curve of the outbreak in the last week after a dramatic increase in new infections around the third week of March.

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3:55 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 293 new cases of COVID-19.

The province says there are also two more deaths linked to the virus.

There 188 people in hospital, with 41 in intensive care.

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3:20 p.m.

Health officials on Prince Edward Island are reporting two new cases of COVID-19 today.

The cases involve two people in their 60s who recently travelled outside of the Atlantic region and tested positive through routine testing.

P.E.I. currently has seven active cases of COVID-19 and has had 167 positive cases since the onset of the pandemic.

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3:15 p.m.

Quebec’s health minister says the province is considering expanding access to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to more age groups.

Christian Dube says the province is short on vaccines, and he’s hoping public health officials will have an announcement in the coming days.

The province is currently offering AstraZeneca to anyone aged 55 to 79 after its use was suspended in younger people over concerns about rare but serious blood clots, and Dube did not specify which other age groups could be added.

He’s encouraging anyone who’s eligible for the vaccine to get it at walk-in clinics across the province.

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2 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is confirming two new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the first case involves a man between 30 and 39 in the western health region and is related to travel within Canada.

The second case is a man in his 60s in the eastern health region and is related to international travel.

The province has 15 active cases and one person is in hospital.

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1:55 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting eight new cases of COVID-19 today.

Four of the cases are in the Edmundston region, two are in the Moncton area, while the Saint John and Bathurst regions each have one new case.

There are 18 patients hospitalized with the disease, including 12 in intensive care.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard says the province is extending a lockdown order on a portion of the Edmundston region for another seven days.

Meanwhile, another part of that region will move from the red pandemic-alert level to the orange level at midnight tonight.

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1:35 p.m.

Manitoba health officials have confirmed the first case of the COVID-19 P.1 variant in the province. 

The variant, first detected in Brazil, was discovered in the case of a person from the Interlake-Eastern health region. 

Manitoba is also reporting one new death linked to COVID-19 and 153 new cases. 

Four earlier cases have been removed due to data correction, bringing the net increase to 149.

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12:45 p.m.

Canada’s deputy chief public health officer says more than 8.8 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Canada, with 84 per cent of people over 80 receiving a first dose and 69 per cent of those between 70 and 79 getting a first shot.

Dr. Howard Njoo says there have been 3,444 adverse events following vaccinations, including any mild event such as soreness or a slight fever. 

He says just 464 of these reports were considered serious, such as a severe allergic reaction.

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who is overseeing logistical planning for Canada’s vaccine distribution, says 12.7 million doses of vaccine have been delivered to provinces and territories to date.

He says distribution of the one million doses receive from Pfizer and BioNTech this week is complete, and the companies will continue to receive one million doses weekly of the vaccine through the end of May and two million weekly in June.

Fortin says Moderna shipped 855,000 doses this week and distribution to provinces and territories is expected to be completed today.

Delivery of 1.2 million doses of this vaccine is expected at the end of April, and 2.8 million doses are expected in May.

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12:40 p.m.

Nunavut’s capital city is now under a strict lockdown after logging its first case of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

All schools, non-essential businesses and government offices in Eqaluit are closed and contact tracing is underway.

Canadian North, Nunavut’s main airline, confirmed that the infected individual is one of their employees in Iqaluit.

The territory’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, says the infected person is an exempted worker who has been in Nunavut for 16 days and only started showing symptoms two days ago.

He says a sample of the positive test is being sent to a southern lab to test for virus variants of concern, but results won’t come back for a week.

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12:30 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the province’s total number of active infections to 42.

Health officials say all three of the latest cases have been identified as the B.1.1.7 mutation first identified in the United Kingdom.

The patients are provincial residents who are not in Nova Scotia, but are included as part of cumulative provincial data.

Officials say the cases have no known close contacts in Nova Scotia.

The province has administered 182,867 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, with 31,998 people having received their required second dose.

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11:10 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,513 new cases of COVID-19 today and 15 more deaths attributed to the virus, including four in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations rose by one to 661, while the number in intensive care rose by seven to 159.

The province says it administered 67,708 doses of vaccine on Wednesday, and says slightly more than 25 per cent of Quebecers have received at least one dose.

Quebec has reported a total of 332,544 COVID-19 infections and 10,778 deaths linked to the virus since the onset of the pandemic. 

There are currently 14,018 active reported cases.

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11 a.m.

Ontario is reporting a record-high 4,736 new cases of COVID-19.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 1,188 new cases in Toronto, 983 in Peel Region, 526 in York Region and 342 in Ottawa.

The province also says there were 29 more deaths linked to the virus.

There are 1,932 people in hospital with COVID-19, with 659 patients in intensive care and 419 on a ventilator.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2021. 

The Canadian Press