The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
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6:28 p.m.
B.C.’s top doctor says the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province is not ticking upwards as rapidly as it had been recently.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the average daily number of infections stemming from each confirmed case has declined and is now close to one.
The latest epidemiological modelling comes as Henry reports that 358 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in B.C. since Friday.
She says four more people have died and 66 people are in hospital.
There has been one new community outbreak at a distribution facility in Delta, B.C., where the Fraser Health Authority has also suspended inpatient admissions at the local hospital due to an outbreak of COVID-19.
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5:34 p.m.
Quebec is officially recommending Quebecers download the federal smartphone application that notifies people who have come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Premier Francois Legault told reporters today his government is satisfied with the security features in the COVID Alert app and that it will help the province reduce infections.
The app is active in Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Quebec reported 1,191 new COVID-19 cases today, the highest single-day total since the beginning of the pandemic.
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5:30 p.m.
Alberta’s top doctor says she’s concerned about a surge in COVID-19 cases in Edmonton and alarmed that many people are going to work or socializing while sick.
The province recorded 982 active cases in the Edmonton Zone in today’s update, up from 851 last Thursday.
The Edmonton area now makes up 55 per cent of the Alberta’s total of 1,783 active cases.
Chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw says public health officials are having conversations with the city to see if any additional restrictions are needed to bring transmission down.
Hinshaw says it’s troubling that 11 per cent of active cases are attending work or going to social gatherings while symptomatic.
Alberta reported a total of 578 new cases between Friday and Sunday.
There have been eight new deaths over that time frame, bringing the provincial total to 280.
Sixty-two people are in hospital, including 14 in intensive care.
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2:25 p.m.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the first rapid COVID-19 tests from Abbott Laboratories will begin arriving in Canada next week.
Last week the federal government said it had ordered 7.9 million Abbott ID Now rapid tests.
The tests can produce a result in 13 minutes at the site where the test is taken.
About 2.5 million of them are supposed to arrive before the end of the year.
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2:10 p.m.
The Manitoba government is requiring bars and other licensed establishments in the greater Winnipeg region to close early, in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Starting Wednesday, alcohol sales will have to stop at 10 p.m. and closing time will be 11 p.m.
The government is reporting 51 new cases, 35 of which are in Winnipeg.
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1:30 p.m.
Quebec is making mask-wearing mandatory at all times inside high schools located in regions at the highest COVID-19 alert level.
Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said today that starting on Thursday, all high school students will need to wear masks outside on school grounds and inside the classroom.
He says students in Grades 10 and 11 will also begin attending school on a rotating schedule, one day out of every two.
The new measures apply to so-called “red” zones, including the Montreal and Quebec City areas, and they apply until at least Oct. 28.
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1 p.m.
Ontario is reporting 615 new cases of COVID-19 today, and five new deaths due to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 289 cases are in Toronto, 88 in Peel Region and 81 in Ottawa.
The province says it has a backlog of 68,006 tests, and has conducted 38,196 tests since the last daily report.
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12:40 p.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was tested for COVID-19 last month after getting “a tickle” in his throat, and the result was negative.
Trudeau says he asked his doctor whether he should be tested after he started feeling off, and followed the advice to seek a test.
He says he returned to work a few days after the result when he was feeling fully recovered.
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11:50 a.m.
Public Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting two new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to five.
One case involves a person between 20 and 29 years old in the Moncton region that is related to international travel and who is self-isolating.
The second case is a person between 60 and 69 years old in the Saint John region that is related to travel from outside of the Atlantic bubble and who is self-isolating.
New Brunswick has had 203 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus while 196 people have recovered and there have been two deaths.
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11:30 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 1,191 new COVID-19 cases today — the highest single-day total since the beginning of the pandemic.
Health officials reported two deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours and three that they said occurred between Sept. 28 and Oct. 3.
The province reported one additional death today that they said occurred at an unknown date.
Hospitalizations increased by 27 compared with the prior day, for a total of 361, while 62 people are in intensive care, a decrease of two.
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The Canadian Press
