The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

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

7:05 p.m.

British Columbia is reporting 740 new cases of COVID-19, along with four new deaths.

More than 1.78 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with nearly 40 per cent of eligible people having received their first dose.

Earlier in the day, B.C. unveiled its plan for person and vehicle checks to limit non-essential travel.

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said police would not conduct random checks.

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4:25 p.m.

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

Public health authorities say both positive cases, involving a person in their 20s and 50s respectively, were linked to travel outside the Atlantic region.

Authorities say there is a flight exposure notification related to the cases and anyone who travelled on Air Canada Flight 8302 from Montreal to Charlottetown on Wednesday should monitor closely for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested if they develop.

The province has 12 active cases of COVID-19 and has reported 181 infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

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3:50 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 264 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths.

The deaths include a person in their 40s in the Regina area.

Many of the new cases are in Regina and Saskatoon, but there are cases throughout the province.

There are 173 people in hospital, with 37 of those patients in intensive care.

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2:55 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 15 new COVID-19 cases today.

Health officials say the Fredericton, Saint John and Miramichi regions each have three new cases, while the Moncton and Edmundston areas have one new case each.

They say the Bathurst area has four new infections.

New Brunswick has 127 active reported infections.

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2:20 p.m.

Iain Stewart, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada, says 1,700 international air passengers have now tested positive for a variant of interest or a variant of concern, while at a quarantine hotel.

Earlier this week, Health Canada released data to The Canadian Press showing 557 positive tests for the three known variants of concern.

Stewart says another 1,400 people tested positive for COVID-19 in general, on the test required eight or 10 days after they leave the quarantine hotel.

He says that is out of 96,000 passengers tested.

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1:50 p.m.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Canada will soon receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from the United States, instead of Europe.

Starting next week, she says the doses will come from Kalamazoo, Mich., and no longer from Belgium.

Canada faced some bumps in its vaccination campaign earlier this year when a slowdown at the production plant in Belgium disrupted delivery plans.

At one point, Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered to drive a freezer truck to Kalamazoo himself, but at the time, the U.S. was not allowing any American-made doses to leave the country.

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1:10 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting eight new cases of COVID-19.

Officials say all but one of the new cases are linked to travel within Canada.

Contact tracers are still investigating the source of the remaining infection.

Public health says there are now 33 active reported infections in the province including two people in hospital.

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1:05 p.m.

Manitoba is expanding its COVID-19 eligibility. 

Anyone 18 and over who is pregnant, who receives community living disability services, or who works in any health-care setting including outpatient locations and the vaccine warehouse can now book an appointment. 

As well, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is now available for the first time to some people under 40. 

Newly eligible people are those 30 to 39 with underlying health conditions such as severe obesity, chronic liver disease and HIV.

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12:20 p.m.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says if it were up to him, he’d shut down Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and the province’s land borders.

He’s pushing the federal government to tighten travel restrictions amid a COVID-19 surge in his province.

Ford says some travellers are exploiting loopholes in federal border measures at land crossings.

Ford says he “will not let this issue go because too much is at stake.”

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12 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ontario is asking Ottawa to suspend the arrival of international students.

Trudeau says Ontario is the only province making such a request, and Ottawa will reach out to work “more narrowly” with Ontario on the issue.

The province is also asking the federal government to impose mandatory three-day quarantines in hotels for travellers entering Canada at land crossings.

Trudeau says there are already tight controls at land borders, including tests before and after crossing and mandatory two-week quarantines.

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11:45 a.m.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says risking COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations in Ontario’s Peel Region speak to the urgent need for better paid sick leave across the country.

Singh is criticizing the gaps in the federal sick-pay benefit, which forces employees to miss 50 per cent of their work week to qualify and pays them less than minimum wage.

He says front-line workers need an improved federal program that ensures they can stay home while putting food on the table and paying their bills.

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11:20 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,041 new COVID-19 cases today and 13 more deaths attributed to the virus, including three in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by 31 to 592, while the number of patients in intensive care declined by one to 164.

Quebecers 50 to 59 became eligible to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment today.

The province says appointments should be open to everyone18 and older by May 14.

Quebec administered 63,145 vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, for a total of 3,104,026.

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10:45 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 3,887 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and 21 new deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 1,331 new cases in Toronto, 871 in Peel Region, and 267 in York Region.

The Ministry of Health says 2,201 people are hospitalized with COVID-19,  883 are in intensive care, and 632 are on a ventilator.

Ontario says over 112,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Thursday’s report for a total of more than 5.1 million shots. 

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10:10 a.m.

Nunavut is reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 today, all in the capital city of Iqaluit.

The territory is also reporting five new recoveries, bringing its total active case count to 61.

That number includes four cases in Kinngait, a community of about 1,500, and two in Rankin Inlet.

Health officials say the B117 variant first identified in the United Kingdom is the only strain of the virus in the territory.

Both Iqaluit and Kinngait are under strict lockdowns, with schools and workplaces shut and travel restricted.

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9:45 a.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 67 new cases of COVID-19 today and a total of 589 active infections.

Numbers show 57 have been identified in the Halifax area, with four cases also in the province’s western health zone and three each in the eastern and northern zones.

The province has also expanded access to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine today to residents between 40 and 54.

Health officials say the decision to expand eligibility is based on recent guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the rise in COVID-19 case numbers.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2021.

The Canadian Press