The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
6:30 p.m.
COVID-19 continues to spread in an outbreak in Nunavut.
The territory says there are four new cases in Arviat, the only community where there are active cases.
Arviat, which has a population of about 2,800, has had 337 COVID-19 cases, 25 of which are currently active.
All schools and non-essential businesses in Arviat have been closed for months and travel has been restricted.
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6 p.m.
Alberta’s chief medical health officer says there are an estimated 300 new COVID-19 cases, but says firm information isn’t available today due to a system upgrade.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw says on Twitter that the new cases include 54 that involve variants of concern.
Information was not available Sunday on the number of hospitalizations or new deaths.
Hinshaw says about 8,100 COVID-19 tests were completed in the previous 24 hours, and that the positivity rate was approximately four per cent.
She says the system upgrade work is nearly complete and that online updates will resume Monday.
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4 p.m.
Health authorities on Prince Edward Island are reporting two new cases of COVID-19.
Officials say both involve men in their 20s who are now self-isolating.
One case is connected to a previously known diagnosis, and the other tested positive after he was at a public exposure site more than a week ago.
With 26 active reported cases, chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says there are more active infections in the province now than at any other point in the pandemic.
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3 p.m.
Saskatchewan is reporting two new deaths among people who tested positive for COVID-19, one of whom was under 20 years old.
The exact age of that person was not released, but the government’s daily pandemic update says the patient was from Saskatchewan’s North West zone.
The other person who died was in the 40-to-49 age group and was from the Far North West zone.
The province is reporting 116 new COVID-19 cases today.
The government says a shipment of 7,022 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is expected to arrive Tuesday and will be divided between Saskatoon and Regina.
Another 7,020 doses of that vaccine are expected Wednesday and will go to North Battleford, Yorkton and Prince Albert.
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2:45 p.m.
Public health officials in New Brunswick are reporting two new cases of COVID-19.
Authorities say one case is related to travel and the other is connected to a previously known infection.
Effective midnight tonight, officials are loosening public health restrictions across the entire province.
In the new provincewide “yellow” alert level, residents can expand their contacts from 10 to 15 people and team sports activities may resume.
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2:10 p.m.
Manitoba health officials are reporting two new deaths of people with COVID-19.
The province’s daily pandemic update says both deaths were in the Winnipeg health region and are linked to outbreaks at care facilities.
The province says there were 56 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba as of this morning.
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1:20 p.m.
Newfoundland and Labrador health authorities are reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.
Officials say the person involved is a man between 20 and 39 years old, and his infection is related to international travel.
The province has now seen 10 consecutive days of single-digit case counts following an outbreak in St. Jon’s last month.
Public health says there are 87 active reported COVID-19 cases in the province, including three people in intensive care.
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1 p.m.
Nova Scotia health authorities are reporting two new cases of COVID-19.
Officials say one infection is travel-related, while the other is a close contact of a previously known case.
There are now 29 active reported COVID-19 infections in the province.
Authorities say two patients are in hospital and one is in intensive care.
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11:10 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 707 new cases of COVID-19 and seven new deaths linked to the pandemic.
Two of the deaths occurred in the last 24 hours while the rest happened earlier.
Hospitalizations declined by nine to 592, with 107 people in intensive care, which is two fewer than a day prior.
The province administered 15,329 doses of vaccine on Saturday.
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10:40 a.m.
Ontario is reporting 1,299 new cases of COVID-19 today and 15 more deaths linked to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 329 new cases in Toronto, 192 in Peel Region, and 116 in York Region.
Today’s data is based on 46,586 completed tests.
The province also says 30,192 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Saturday’s update.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2021
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
