The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
5:15 p.m.
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Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19.
Chief public health officer Heather Morrison said today a man in his 30s tested positive after returning from travel outside the Atlantic region.
The province has reported a total of 68 cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic; all have been travel related.
Morrison says the infected person and his six close contacts will remain in isolation for 14 days.
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3:15 p.m.
Manitoba is reporting nine new deaths attributed to COVID-19 — its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began.
The province has reported a total of 123 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.
Health officials said today the most recent deaths include a man and a woman in their 60s, four men and one woman in their 70s, and a man and a woman in their 80s.
The province is also reporting 431 new COVID-19 infections and an active case count of 5,676.
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2:10 p.m.
The chief public health officer in the Northwest Territories says there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Fort Smith, a community of about 2,500 people.
Kami Kandola says the individual contracted the virus while travelling outside the territory and is now in isolation with family.
Kandola says there is no risk to the community because the individual followed self-isolation rules.
It’s the territory’s 11th case of COVID-19 and the only one that is currently active.
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1:15 p.m.
An investigation into the source of a COVID-19 case announced Sunday in Newfoundland and Labrador has turned up two previously unidentified cases.
These two cases were announced today, affecting a man and woman in their 60s who returned to the province from work in Alberta and live in the same household.
The positive case announced Sunday was an inaccurate test result, stemming from a data manipulation error made in the provincial public health laboratory.
The province has seven active cases.
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1 p.m.
Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19.
Officials say the two cases were identified yesterday in the Central Zone and are close contacts of a previously reported case.
The province also says the cases aren’t linked to a recent outbreak of COVID-19 in the Clayton Park area.
Nova Scotia now has 20 active cases of the disease, bringing the total number of cases to 1,134.
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12:15 p.m.
The latest figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada say that the country has diagnosed an average of more than 4,000 COVID-19 cases a day over the past week.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the positivity rate on tests has recently hit 5.8 per cent.
Canada had more than 41,000 people with active COVID-19 cases at last count Tuesday night.
The numbers have kept rising over recent weeks and Tam is repeating her call for Canadians to cut their social contacts, wear masks and wash their hands.
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12 p.m.
Nunavut’s chief public health officer is reporting a case of COVID-19 in Rankin Inlet.
Michael Patterson said today his department is working to identify anyone in the western Nunavut community of about 2,800 who might have been in contact with the infected person.
The new case brings the total number of infections in the territory to three.
Patterson is asking residents to remain at home as much as possible, to limit contact with others and to strictly follow public health measures.
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11:15 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 1,378 new COVID-19 cases and 22 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, six of which occurred in the past 24 hours.
Health officials said today hospitalizations increased by 39, to 573, and 84 patients were in intensive care, a rise of two.
The province says 843 more people recovered from COVID-19, for a total of 100,564.
Quebec has reported a total of 118,529 COVID-19 infections and 6,515 deaths linked to the virus.
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10:50 a.m.
Ontario is reporting a new daily record of 1,426 COVID-19 cases today as well as 15 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 468 new cases in Peel Region, 384 in Toronto, and 180 in York Region.
Elliott says there are also 63 new cases in Durham and 62 in Hamilton.
The province says it has conducted 36,707 COVID-19 tests since the last daily report.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2020.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.
Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”
The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.
King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”
SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.
The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.
Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.
Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”
He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.
In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
