The latest news on the novel coronavirus and the illness dubbed COVID-19 (all times Eastern):
12:47 p.m.
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Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann says the government is evaluating whether to allow the world figure skating championships to go ahead next week in Montreal.
Her comments today come after the International Ice Hockey Federation on Saturday cancelled the women’s world hockey championship scheduled to take place in Nova Scotia from March 31 to April 10.
McCann said provincial public health and public security officials are involved in the analysis of the March 16-22 figure skating event, with input from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
She says cancelling the competition has not been ruled out, and a decision will be made as quickly as possible.
11:28 a.m.
Canada’s top public-health doctor now recommends Canadians avoid travelling on all cruise ships to protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Dr. Theresa Tam previously advised Canadians to think twice about cruises but toughened her warning in a Monday morning news conference.
Tam says the ships may voyage to areas with confirmed or undiagnosed cases of the coronavirus and its associated respiratory disease, COVID-19.
There are six cases of the virus in Canada linked to a previous voyage of the Grand Princess cruise ship out of San Francisco.
Other Canadians, stuck on the ship’s current voyage, are being brought back to quarantine in Ontario.
10:47 a.m.
Ontario health officials have announced three new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total in the province to 34.
One patient, a man in his 50s, recently travelled to Germany, and the other two cases are a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s who were recently in Iran.
All four of the patients have been released into self-isolation.
10:38 a.m.
The federal government is asking premiers to identify any critical gaps in supplies or capacity to deal with the novel coronavirus so that Ottawa can help as the number of Canadians with COVID-19 rapidly increases.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has written the provincial and territorial leaders asking them to inform the federal government of their state of readiness and any shortages by the time first ministers meet Friday in Ottawa.
Freeland says the objective is to ensure a “whole-of-country effort” to be “as prepared as we can be” for the challenges ahead.
In her letter, Freeland notes that the federal government is already leading a bulk procurement of personal protective equipment.
10:21 a.m.
Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann says the province has designated a first clinic to screen potential COVID-19 patients.
She says the new clinic will open its doors in Montreal today, while two others will open in the Quebec City region and on Montreal’s South Shore in the coming week.
The province currently has two confirmed cases as well as two presumptive cases, which still need to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
10:12 a.m.
The S&P/TSX composite index nose-dived in initial trading as the price of oil collapsed and the loonie plunged against the U.S. dollar.
The collapse at the start of trading triggered circuit breakers on the stock market that temporarily put a halt to trading.
The drop in markets followed similar moves on stock markets in Europe and Asia that came after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major oil producers failed to agree on cutting output to prop up prices.
The move rattled already volatile stock markets that have been falling amid concerns about the impact COVID-19 on the global economy.
