The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
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7:10 p.m.
British Columbia announced 91 new cases of COVID-19 today as health officials say the number of infections across the province continues to be too high.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say thousands of residents are being forced to deal with the stress of self-isolating as a result of others not following proper COVID-19 safety precautions.
They say everyone needs to follow the proper safety guidelines to ensure businesses and communities can remain open during the pandemic.
B.C. has had a total of 8,395 cases of COVID-19.
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6:55 p.m.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says this was not the first month he was expecting in his new job.
He says he gave his first speech as leader in the middle of the night after delay in the leadership race results and tonight delivered his second – a response to a national address by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – from his front porch as he recovers from COVID-19.
O’Toole says Canadians need to remain vigilant against the spread of the novel coronavirus but also for the future of the country, which he says the Liberals have left divided during their time in government.
He says he wants Trudeau to do more about Western alienation and that resource revenues from those provinces have helped build the rest of the country.
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6:30 p.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says families won’t likely be able to gather for Thanksgiving, but it’s not too late to save Christmas.
In an address to Canadians on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, he says the actions we take now will determine the course of the virus in Canada through the fall.
He says a second wave is underway in four provinces, with national daily case counts having tripled the last few weeks, and the fall could be much worse than the spring.
He says we got the pandemic under control then and we can do it again if we keep wearing masks, use the government’s exposure-alert app and obey other public health instructions.
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5:30 p.m.
Jury deliberations for a murder trial in Winnipeg have been put on hold so a juror can be tested for COVID-19.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Vic Toews told the remaining 11 jurors this morning that the man was exhibiting symptoms and was not allowed to enter the courthouse.
The other jurors were sent home and advised to self-isolate until the man’s test results come back.
The case is that of Kane Moar, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of foster home manager Ricardo Hibi.
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4:30 p.m.
Twenty-six cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at a busy hospital in Calgary and more than a hundred staff are isolating.
Alberta Health Services says the infections include 17 patients and nine staff at the Foothills Medical Centre.
The cases are in two cardiac care units and one general medicine unit and the health agency has said it does not appear the outbreaks are connected.
Three deaths have been linked to the outbreaks.
Alberta Health Services says 114 staff are in isolation and the hospital is using overtime and reassignment to cover shifts.
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3 p.m.
The Liberals are promising to create more than one million jobs and massively expand or introduce benefit programs and support for nearly every sector of society as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
They’re unveiling what they describe as an “ambitious plan for an unprecedented reality” in today’s throne speech.
They say they’re going to help boost testing capacity, and will expand the employment insurance system.
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2:45 p.m.
Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19, for a total of 58 in the province.
Health officials say the new case involves a woman in her 20s who arrived to the Island on September 20 from outside the country.
The province says the woman came to the province for work that is not related to the health-care sector and has been isolating since her arrival, so the risk of transmission is very low.
Officials are asking anyone on flight AC128 from Vancouver to Toronto and flight AC7460 from Toronto to Charlottetown to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19.
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2 p.m.
Manitoba has announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 in the province, saying the number of people testing positive in the capital city continues to surge.
Thirty of the cases are in the Winnipeg health region and the province announced possible exposures at restaurants, bars and during a trivia night at a pub.
The province also announced confirmed cases in three more schools, but said the infections were not acquired in the classroom and the risk for transmission there is low.
There are 11 people in hospital and five are in the intensive care unit.
There have been 1,674 cases in Manitoba and 18 people have died.
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1:45 p.m.
New Brunswick is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.
Health officials say the new case is an individual between 60 and 69 years old in the Miramichi region.
They say the case is related to travel from outside of the Atlantic bubble and the individual is self-isolating.
The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick is 197 and 191 people have recovered, while there have been two deaths and four cases are still considered active.
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1:10 p.m.
The Ontario provincial government says it is partnering with multiple pharmacies to provide more options for COVID-19 testing.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says testing will be offered starting at 60 pharmacies starting Friday, and will be available to people without symptoms.
The tests will be by appointment only.
The announcement comes after Ontario dealt with a spike in testing wait times, with many people lining up outside centres hours before they opened.
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12:20 p.m.
Canada’s chief public health officer says the country saw an average of 1,123 new COVID-19 cases each day over the past week, compared to 380 cases reported daily in mid-August.
Dr. Theresa Tam says that increase is cause for concern as Canada is now on track for what she describes as a “big resurgence” in several provinces.
Tam says while the new cases continue to be primarily among young adults, everyone is affected.
Tam did say the number of daily laboratory tests has increased to almost 70,000 over the past week, with 1.4 per cent of people testing positive for the illness.
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11:40 a.m.
A hospital in Kitchener, Ont., says it has closed its drive-through COVID-19 testing centre for the day over concerns for the safety of its staff and the public.
The Grand River Hospital says vehicles began to line up at 2:30 a.m. this morning, five hours before opening time.
Spokeswoman Cheryl Evans says that by 7:30 a.m., traffic was backed up on all the nearby side streets and the centre was already at capacity.
She says some people in line were getting impatient and displayed some “aggressive behaviours,” which contributed to the decision to temporarily shut down.
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11:10 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 471 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health officials said one of the deaths was reported in the past 24 hours while three others occurred between Sept. 16-21.
Hospitalizations increased by ten patients for a total of 178, with 30 of those in intensive care.
The province has now reported 69,088 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,809 deaths linked to the virus.
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10:55 a.m.
Ontario is reporting 335 new cases of COVID-19 today, along with three new deaths related to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 102 cases reported in Toronto, 79 in Peel Region and 65 in Ottawa.
She says 69 per cent of the new cases are in people under the age of 40.
The province is reporting an additional 258 cases as resolved today.
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10:55 a.m.
Quebec will not send police into homes without a warrant to break up house parties or private gatherings that don’t respect COVID-19 rules.
Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault said today the province is not looking at giving police such powers at this time.
On Tuesday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said the government had not ruled out allowing police to intervene without a warrant, but it would be a last resort.
The province is into a second wave of COVID-19 cases with much of the transmission in the community being driven by private events and gatherings.
The Canadian Press
