The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
7:14 p.m.
British Columbia has recorded it highest single-day death toll with 28 fatalities from COVID-19.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry calls that tragic, saying all but two of the deaths occurred in long-term care homes.
She also reported 723 new cases and is urging B.C. residents not to gather beyond households during upcoming religious observances such as Hanukkah, which begins at midnight.
Henry says the start of an immunization program next week with limited doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is good news, but the “storm” of the pandemic will take months to pass.
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5:45 p.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will cover the costs of COVID-19 vaccines and won't bill the provinces for them.
The total cost is estimated at more than $1 billion so far.
Which level of government would pay the hefty price for the tens of millions of vaccine doses the federal government has pre-ordered has been an open question for weeks.
The federal government has contracts with seven pharmaceutical companies to buy their vaccines if they prove safe and effective enough to get approval from Health Canada.
So far, one from Pfizer has made the grade, but others are under scrutiny.
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5:13 p.m.
Alberta is reporting 1,566 new cases and 13 new deaths in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, says the province has completed about 16,000 new tests — for a positivity rate of about nine per cent.
She says there are 20,163 active cases with 682 patients in hospital, 124 of them receiving intensive care.
There has been a total of 666 deaths in Alberta.
"My heart goes out to the family and friends of all those individuals who have lost a loved one to this virus or any other cause," Hinshaw said Thursday.
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4:14 p.m.
New Brunswick health officials have declared an outbreak at a hospital in Edmundston, near the province’s border with Maine.
In a release Thursday, officials say the outbreak includes three admitted patients and three health-care workers at the Edmundston Regional Hospital.
All hospital visitations are cancelled except for palliative care, maternity and pediatrics, and only urgent cases will be seen by the emergency department.
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3:14 p.m.
Nunavut says it has no new cases of COVID-19 to report today.
There are currently 42 active cases in the territory – all in the community of Arviat.
So far, 187 people have recovered from the illness.
Chief medical health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says no new cases does not mean it’s time to relax.
He says residents must remain diligent as officials work to limit spread of the virus.
Nunavut reported its first case in early November.
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2:41 p.m.
Saskatchewan is reporting 324 new cases of COVID-19 for a seven-day average of 283.
Health official says four people 80 and older who tested positive for the virus have died, bringing the province's pandemic death toll to 75.
The Ministry of Health says there are 138 people in hospital being treated for COVID-19 and 31 patients in intensive care.
Health Minister Paul Merriman says residents will have to wait until next week to learn what public health orders will be in place over the holidays.
He says the Saskatchewan Party government is ultimately responsible for any decisions made, but it works with the chief medical health officer, who presents them with recommendations.
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1:55 p.m.
Ontario will begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations on Tuesday at hospitals in Toronto and Ottawa.
Premier Doug Ford says the University Health Network in Toronto and the Ottawa Hospital will be the first sites to receive and administer the shots.
He says health-care workers providing care in long-term care homes and other high-risk settings will receive the vaccines.
Ford says the province expects to receive "a very small number" of doses.
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1:47 p.m.
Manitoba is reporting 292 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths.
Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin is again urging people to not gather over the holidays with people outside their household.
He says numbers will spike if people ignore that advice.
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1:46 p.m.
New Brunswick is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today, and now has 75 active cases.
Three cases are in the Edmundston area involving one person each in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
The other case is in the Saint John area and involves a person in their 30s.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says with a declining number of cases, the Saint John area will return to the less restrictive yellow phase of COVID-19 measures at midnight.
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1 p.m.
Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new case of COVID-19.
The new case is in the town of Harbour Breton, on the southern coast of the province, where there are now three active infections.
Harbour Breton has about 1,600 people and the town has been on partial lockdown since two cases were announced there over the weekend.
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12:50 p.m.
Nova Scotia is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 as its number of active cases falls to 64.
One case is in the eastern health zone and is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada, while three are in the Halifax area.
One of the Halifax cases is a close contact of a previously reported case, one is under investigation, while the other case is connected to Tallahassee Community School, a pre-primary to Grade 3 school in Eastern Passage.
The school is closed for cleaning, testing and contact tracing, and is expected to reopen to students on Wednesday.
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11:10 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 1,842 new COVID-19 cases today and 33 new deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.
Of the deaths, eight occurred in the previous 24 hours, 18 were reported in the five days before that and the others were on earlier or unknown dates.
The number of hospitalizations increased by four to 848, while those requiring intensive care went down by eight to 113.
The province has now reported 158,310 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,382 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
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10:45 a.m.
Ontario is reporting a record 1,983 new cases of COVID-19 today, and 35 new deaths due to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 515 cases are in Peel Region, 496 in Toronto, and 208 in York Region.
The province says it has conducted 61,809 tests since the last daily report.
In total, 829 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 228 in intensive care.
The province also says 132 people are on ventilators in hospital.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2020
The Canadian Press
