The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
6:20 p.m.
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Alberta recorded 727 new COVID-19 cases today, as well as six additional deaths. The province says on its website that due to technical issues, the new figures are preliminary and are subject to reconciliation. Alberta has seen 363 overall deaths from COVID-19.
The province’s total case count since the pandemic began now stands at 33,504.
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5:45 p.m.
Nunavut’s chief public health officer has confirmed a second positive COVID-19 case in the territory. Dr. Michael Patterson says in a news release that the case is in the Hudson Bay community of Sanikiluaq, where Nunavut’s first case was confirmed Friday. Patterson says the person is part of the same household as the first case, and is asymptomatic and doing well. Patterson says there is no evidence of community transmission, and asks residents of Sanikiluaq to “stay vigilant and follow public health orders.”
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2:50 p.m.
Saskatchewan is reporting 159 new COVID-19 cases today. The province also reported one new death. Officials say it was a person in their 80s from the Saskatoon zone, raising the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 28.
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2:35 p.m.
Nova Scotia’s premier says he’s concerned that residents are too complacent about COVID-19 in the provincial capital.
Stephen McNeil released a statement saying he’s worried about the growing number of potential exposures to the virus in and around Halifax.
Early Sunday, public health officials advised people who were at a Halifax martini bar on Monday night to urgently seek tests for COVID-19. Similar warnings have been issued for sports venues and the city transit system in recent days.
Nova Scotia had 20 active COVID-19 cases in the province as of Sunday.
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2:15 p.m.
Manitoba is reporting 441 new COVID-19 cases today.
Government figures show the province also recorded three new deaths linked to the virus.
The three people that died were all women in the Winnipeg health region.
One of the women was over 90 , and her death was linked to an outbreak at the Seine River Retirement Home.
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1:30 p.m.
The Manitoba government is ordering an independent investigation of two private long-term care homes in Winnipeg that have seen outbreaks of COVID-19.
Health Minister Cameron Friesen says the province will hire an independent investigator to look at what caused spikes in cases and deaths at Parkview Place and Maples Personal Care Home.
Both homes are owned by Revera.
Recently, seven COVID-19-linked deaths were reported at the Maples home within 48 hours, and paramedics were called in Friday night to tend to residents.
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11:20 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 1,397 new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health officials say two of those deaths occurred in the past 24 hours, while seven took place between Nov. 1 and 6.
The province has now recorded 114,820 total cases and 6,440 deaths since the pandemic began.
Hospitalizations went up by four, for a total of 527, of which 77 people are in intensive care — a decrease of one compared to the previous day.
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10:30 a.m.
Ontario has reached another one-day high for new COVID-19 cases.
The province recorded 1,328 new diagnoses in the past 24 hours, along with 13 new deaths.
Today’s figures surpass the new record established just the day before when Ontario recorded more than 1,132 new cases.
Numbers have been soaring in several parts of the province even as the government implements a colour-coded assessment system that effectively relaxes public health restrictions in several hot spots.
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10:00 a.m.
Public health officials in Nova Scotia are urging people who visited a Halifax martini bar on Monday night to get tested for COVID-19 as soon as possible.
They say potential exposure to the coronavirus occurred sometime between 9 p.m. and closing at the Bitter End bar on Argyle Street in the city’s downtown core.
It’s the latest in a flurry of recent warnings about potential COVID-19 exposure in the city.
As of Saturday, the province was only reporting 20 active cases of the virus.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2020.
WINNIPEG – Police in Winnipeg say one person has died and three more were injured after a pickup truck smashed into a bus shelter on Portage Avenue during the morning commute.
Police say those injured are in stable condition in hospital.
It began after a Ford F150 truck hit a pedestrian and bus shelter on Portage Avenue near Bedson Street before 8 a.m.
Another vehicle, a power pole and a gas station were also damaged before the truck came to a stop.
The crash forced commuters to be rerouted and knocked out power in the area for more than a thousand Manitoba Hydro customers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – A 35-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after his mother’s body was found near her Kamloops, B.C., home a year ago.
Mounties say 57-year-old Jo-Anne Donovan was found dead about a week after she had been reported missing.
RCMP says its serious crime unit launched an investigation after the body was found.
Police say they arrested Brandon Donovan on Friday after the BC Prosecution Service approved the charge.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
