The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
3:45 p.m.
Nunavut is reporting three new COVID-19 cases in the Hudson Bay community of Arviat.
Arviat is the only community in Nunavut with active COVID-19 infections, with today’s count standing at 11.
Nunavut has had 311 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 299 of which are considered resolved.
The territory says it has administered 6,205 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine so far.
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2:15 p.m.
Manitoba officials are reporting five new deaths in people with COVID-19 and 79 additional cases of the virus.
They say 44 of the new cases are in the Northern health region, while much of the remainder of new diagnoses are in the Winnipeg area.
The province says Winnipeg’s five-day test positivity rate is 3.9 per cent, while the province-wide rate is higher at 5.2 per cent.
Manitoba’s daily COVID-19 update notes that with 1,580 COVID-19 tests that were performed on Saturday, the province has now completed 500,840 tests since early February 2020.
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12:50 p.m.
Health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 today after the daily case count shot up to 100 late last week.
Ten of the cases were identified in the St. John’s region, the site of a recent major outbreak in the province.
There are now 296 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Officials are also notifying rotational workers who’ve been to the Brucejack gold mine in British Columbia and have returned to the province in the last 14 days to isolate away from family and complete a full quarantine after an outbreak was identified at the mine.
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12 p.m.
The Ontario government has identified the next groups in line to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The province’s vaccine taskforce released the list in a memo sent to regional public health officers today.
Ongoing vaccine shipment delays forced the province to concentrate its inoculation efforts on long-term care residents in recent weeks.
But today’s memo says immediate priority should now be given to staff and essential caregivers in long-term care, high-risk retirement and First Nations elder care homes, and any residents of these settings that have not yet received a first dose of vaccine.
Hospital patients who have confirmed admission to a nursing home, high priority health care workers, and Indigenous adults in remote communities are also now cleared to start receiving initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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11:20 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 910 new cases of COVID-19 as well as 15 additional deaths linked to the pandemic.
Two of the deaths occurred in the last 24 hours while the rest happened earlier.
Hospitalizations dropped by seven to 805, with 132 people in intensive care, which is two more than the day before.
Two deaths previously attributed to COVID-19 were found to be unrelated and removed from the list, bringing the provincial total to 10,214 deaths and 276,790 cases since the pandemic began.
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11:15 a.m.
New Brunswick is reporting 2 new cases of COVID-19 today, a significant drop from the 16 reported on Saturday.
The two cases were identified in the Edmundston region bordering Quebec.
There are 150 active cases of the disease in the province.
Six patients are hospitalized, two of whom are in intensive care.
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10:50 a.m.
Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.
The case is related to travel outside the Atlantic region and the individual involved is in self-isolation.
The active case count in the province has dropped to nine cases from the 10 reported on Saturday.
Nova Scotia completed 1,429 COVID-19 tests yesterday.
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10:45 a.m.
Ontario is reporting 981 new cases of COVID-19 today and 42 more deaths linked to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 122 new cases in Toronto, 209 in Peel Region, and 171 in York Region.
The province says 48,701 tests were completed since the last daily update.
Meanwhile, health authorities in North Bay, Ont., say a case of the COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa has been identified among the city’s current infections.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2021
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
