The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Nov. 17, 2020

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

8:25 p.m.

Yukon has recorded another COVID-19 case, bringing the total in the territory to 25 since the pandemic started.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Brendan Hanley says the latest case is linked to a previous infection.

Hanley says in a statement a public exposure notice has been issued in Whitehorse.

The statement says anyone who was at Save-On-Foods in Whitehorse on Nov. 6, the A&W restaurant on Nov. 8 and Listers Motor Sports on Nov. 10 should contact their health centre for assessment.

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6:15 p.m.

British Columbia has reached new COVID-19 highs with 11 more deaths and 717 new cases.

It’s the first time new cases have surged over 700 and it has pushed the total case count to 23,661.

The 11 deaths is also the largest daily toll and brings the total number of deaths in the province to 310.

Almost 11,000 people are under active public health monitoring because they’ve had contact with someone who tested positive, while 16,469 people are considered recovered.

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4:10 p.m.

The Saskatchewan government is mandating the wearing of masks in all indoor public spaces provincewide to strengthen its COVID-19 prevention measures.

The province is also suspending all visits to long-term care homes unless there are compassionate grounds and is limiting private indoor gatherings to no more than five people.

The province says if an immediate family has five or more members, it cannot have any visitors in the home.

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3 p.m.

Saskatchewan is reporting 240 new cases of COVID-19. 

Health officials say nearly 100 of these infections come from in and around Saskatoon, where there are 635 active cases of the virus, the most anywhere in the province.

The Ministry of Health says 71 people are in hospital and 15 of them are receiving intensive care. 

The rise in cases comes as Premier Scott Moe and the province’s chief medical health officer prepare to provide an update on public-health measures. 

Hundreds of doctors and a nurses union are calling for more aggressive interventions, including a short shutdown of non-essential business, like bars, nightclubs, bingo halls and gyms.

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2:17 p.m.

Nunavut’s cases of COVID-19 have more than doubled overnight with 34 new cases declared today.

There are now 60 active cases of COVID-19 in the territory. 

A news release from Nunavut’s health department says an additional 26 cases have been confirmed in Arviat, a community of about 2,800 in western Nunavut.

Nunavut will enter a territory-wide lockdown tomorrow, with schools and businesses closing for two weeks.

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2:15 p.m.

Manitoba’s chief public health officer is considering further restrictions on gatherings and business openings as the province’s COVID-19 numbers remain high.

Dr. Brent Roussin also says the Christmas school break may be extended by a couple of weeks so that students do not return to school right after the holidays.

Roussin says no decisions have been made, but the changes are possible because hospitals are running close to capacity and the health system is strained.

The province announced 270 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths today.

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2:10 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting five new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing its total number of active cases to 24.

The new cases were identified yesterday and are in the central zone — two of which are the school-related cases the province announced Monday evening at Graham Creighton Junior High School in Cherry Brook and Auburn Drive High School in Cole Harbour.

Officials say the other three cases are close contacts of previously reported cases.

No one with the disease is currently hospitalized.

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12:50 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting two new cases of COVID-19, one of which is under investigation.

The new cases announced today are a woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s, both in the eastern region of the province.

Officials say the source of the woman’s infection is under investigation, while the man’s case is related to travel.

The province has nine active cases, with one person in the hospital.

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12:25 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all Canadians should avoid international travel, even as some remain set on heading south for the winter.

Trudeau says the pandemic is resurgent across large swaths of the United States, including in the south, and says Canadians are safest at home.

However, he says the choice is in the hands of individuals, and suggests those who do make the trip get comprehensive health and travel insurance and make sure that regional health-care facilities in the places they’re going to are not overwhelmed.

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12:15 p.m.

The Manitoba government is hiring a private security firm to help enforce its COVID-19 restrictions.

Premier Brian Pallister says G4S Canada will provide more than 90 people to help hand out fines for infractions such as gathering in groups larger than five.

The private security firm will join police, provincial conservation officers and others who are already enforcing the rules.

Pallister says the security company may be better equipped than some provincial workers to deal with threatening situations.

Manitoba RCMP say they issued eight fines between Nov. 2 and 13, including one for a gathering of more than five people in a private residence.

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12:05 p.m.

The country’s top medical officer says Canada has now seen 302,192 COVID-19 cases countrywide, and 11,027 deaths.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says that including the 4,802 new cases reported Monday, nearly 51,000, or 17 per cent, of those total cases are currently active.

The number of Canadians with severe illness caused by the virus continues to increase, with an average of 1,675 patients in hospital daily over the past week, including more than 330 in critical care.

Tam says the past seven days have seen an average of 66 COVID-19-related deaths reported daily.

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11:55 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning young people that the pandemic is “incredibly serious,” and not simply a concern for their grandparents.

Trudeau says all Canadians need to double down on caution until a vaccine is widely available.

The country’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the number of new cases and hospitalizations continues to rise, with troubling developments that include transmission spilling over to older Canadians.

Tam says the number of patients with severe illness due to COVID-19 is on the rise, with those over 80 years old having the highest coronavirus incidence rate.

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11:20 a.m.

New Brunswick is reporting four new cases of COVID-19, bringing its number of active cases to 32.

Public health says three of the cases are in the Moncton region, involving two people between 20 and 29 years old and one person between 30 and 39.

The remaining case is in the Fredericton area and involves an individual between 20 and 29.

The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick throughout the pandemic is 379.

Of those, 341 people have recovered and six have died.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 982 new cases of COVID-19 and 24 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, five of which occurred in the past 24 hours.

Health authorities said today hospitalizations jumped by 47 compared with the prior day, to 638, and 100 people were in intensive care, a rise of 13.

Authorities say 1,328 more people have recovered from COVID-19 — hundreds more than were reported infected today — for a total of 107,326 recoveries.

Quebec has reported a total of 126,054 infections and 6,675 deaths linked to the virus. 

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10:35 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 1,249 new cases of COVID-19 today, and 12 new deaths due to the illness.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 569 cases are in Toronto, 256 in Peel Region and 94 in York Region.

The province says it has conducted 26,468 tests since the last daily report.

In total, 529 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 127 in intensive care.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2020.

The Canadian Press